Living Life Well Takes Practice: Part 4

I started this segment of my journey on December 31, 2022. (See entry titled, “Living Life Well Takes Practice: Part 3.) At the moment my weight has “stabilized” at 185.8.

A very serious question that I have had to spend time with is, “What am I willing to sacrifice in order to get what I want.” We humans usually don’t like “giving things up.” I am no exception. This is a deeply rooted part of human nature. But, I can’t keep doing the same things – eating the same things – and expect things to be different. Things need to cut out, modified, and yes, sacrificed.

Since my last post:
I have given up sugar almost entirely: no candy, cookies or baked goods that had become a regular part of my routine. (See entry titled, “Living Life Well Takes Practice: Part 2.“) I admit there was a day or two of binging, but those were isolated incidents and, honestly, to be expected in the beginning. By and large, though, I have not really craved sugary things.
I also admit to the moderate amount of sugar in Halo Top ice cream. (For comparison: Ben & Jerry’s Milk and Cookies Ice Cream is 380 calories per serving. Halo Top Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is 360 calories for the WHOLE pint.) Eating this in moderation has helped me out a lot. It’s an excellent alternative. No, it does not taste the same. But, I have a goal.

I have not given up bread, but I have seriously reduced the amount that I eat. I used to have a sandwich for lunch, a roll or piece of baguette with dinner, etc. Now, most days I don’t eat bread at all, but I do have half an English muffin as a treat on the weekends.

I have switched from regular jam and jelly to sugar free jam and jelly. Yes, it tastes different, but it does what I need it to do.

I have given up rice. Now, whenever there is a dish with rice, we just substitute cauliflower rice. Again, of course it does not taste the same, but it I have a goal.

My husband has been working so hard to find recipes that work for us, and he is AMAZING. He truly has leveled up to Hero status in the game of weight loss. (Dinner meal prep might need a post of its own.)

I take the stairs more than I used to at work. I have to go between the 5^th floor and the 2^nd floor a lot throughout the day when I’m at work.  So, I need to start doing this more often. (Every time I do take the stairs I am reminded how out of shape I am; my knees hurt and I’m out of breath!)

I have been going to the gym sporadically. This past week starting on Saturday, January 21, I made a commitment to myself to go to the gym every day. A commitment that I kept. I took the seventh day, yesterday, Friday, January 27, off.

My gym routine has been:
Saturday, Jan 21: Upper Body
Sunday, Jan 22: Cardio
Monday, Jan 23: Lower Body
Tuesday, Jan 34: Cardio
Wednesday Jan 25: Upper Body
Thursday, Jan 26: Cardio
Friday, Jan 27: off

For several weeks now, and especially this past week, I have stayed within my point range in the Weight Watchers app, and within my calories on the LoseIt app.

Commitment Works Better than Challenges (for me)

I have never responded well to “challenges.” I am not a competitive person by nature. Challenges just seem to be a way to make yourself feel superior (or, inferior) to those with whom you are competing with. I am glad that so many people find fulfillment in this. I don’t. (Perhaps that, also, deserves it’s own post.)

But, I do respond to commitments, especially commitments made for relatively short periods of time that are psychologically manageable so as not to be overwhelming.
The past week was not a “challenge” but a “commitment.” What got me into the gym on those days when it seemed ridiculously hard to even walk in the door was not feeling challenged, but I did it because I had made a commitment to do it.  

And, here we are. In this next week I plan to add to the commitment:
1. I will continue to log my points and calories into their respective apps.
2. I will continue to go to the gym every day, taking one day of the 7 off.
3.  I will start to take the stairs at work exclusively, unless something necessitates the use of the elevator.
4.  And, finally, I will avoid all alcohol for the week. If I want a drink on that 7^th day, then I will. If I feel that I want to return to drinking in moderation and within my points/calories range, then I will. But, for this week, I will not drink.

So, I am continuing with the two things that I was doing already, and added two things that seem reasonable to me.

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”