Works for Me Wednesday

Before I say anything else I want to make it clear that I don’t know anything about losing weight. I’m just a mom who finally figured out how to lose a few pounds. Not a lot, and not all of them that I need to lose, (just ask my Wii fit) but a few.

#1  -  I stopped listening to the experts.

It’s not that I think fitness and weight loss experts don’t know what they’re talking about, or that I don’t think it’s important to understand the facts and new information when it comes to eating and exercising. I just can’t do it all.

I’m a perfectionist. I don’t do everything right all the time, I just don’t want to do anything unless I can do it perfectly. So, when I read about all the things I’m not supposed to eat (sugar, white bread, white rice, bad fat, processed food) and all the things I’m supposed to eat (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, good fats, a bazillion different minerals and vitamins) and how I’m supposed to exercise (every day, in the morning, before eating, with weights, on a treadmill, uphill, downhill, for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 120 minutes for the rest of my life) I feel like I have to do ALL of that. I can’t!! I can’t even keep track of it all. Do you know how hard it is to find whole grain bread, that’s really whole grain, (not fake whole grain) that doesn’t have sugar as one of the first 5 ingredients?!?! I don’t think there is such a thing. Except for maybe Ezekiel bread, which tastes like cardboard.

I decided to stop trying to do what the experts said I should do and just concentrate on doing what I could do.

#2  -  I did what was easy.

I made the decision many times to start working out. Usually my plan was to work out every day. I tried Tae Bo, Pilates, T-Tapp… I tried running but I really hate running. HATE it. I started hiking the mountain near my house once. I really enjoyed it and stuck with it for quite a while but things changed and I wasn’t able to fit it into my routine anymore. I was trying to do what the experts said I should do and usually hated it, dreaded it and had a hard time making it work with my life. Every day when I woke up I groaned in my head at the thought of having to do whatever exercise I had chosen for the moment.

Eventually I just quit.

This year I decided I would just walk for 20 minutes 3 times a week. Just 20 minutes, just walking, just 3 times a week. I don’t mind walking. I have a treadmill and, because I like to hike, I decided to max out the incline on my treadmill during my 20 minute walk. It was a little harder, but not something I dreaded, and 20 minutes was something I could easily fit into my schedule.

After a month or two I found myself looking forward to my walk after work so I started doing it every day. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Then I decided I could run for a minute. Just a minute. And then I ran for a minute twice. And then I ran faster for half a minute. I enjoyed challenging myself and my body. Honestly, I have to work now to not let exercising take over my life. I could easily work out for almost 2 hours (with a few breaks to catch my breath) between the treadmill and some DVDs I have. I try not to do that, though, because I don’t want to start doing something I can’t maintain, and I don’t want working out to take priority over my family.

I could have just as easily decided to walk to my neighbors house and back if that was all I could bear the thought of. I just started doing something, but not so much that I hated the thought of doing it every day.

I don’t LOVE working out and there are certainly times when I really don’t want to do it. Sometimes I just don’t do it, And other times I decide just to do my 20 minute walk.

#3  -  I stopped trying to lose weight.

It’s not that I didn’t want to lose weight, but that’s not what motivated me to start this time and stick with it.

I’ve never made a real all-out attempt to lose weight. I’d given it some half hearted attempts, but after a few weeks, when my clothes didn’t start falling off and the scale wasn’t moving, I gave up.

Then I started taking the stairs at work. I work on the fourth floor and had to get to work early so I could catch my breath before I had to get on the phones. I hated those stairs but made myself take them because it was such a little thing, and when I was a stay at home mom I was jealous of all the people who could take the stairs like the fitness expert said. This was my chance.

I made the decision to start walking because I wanted to be healthier. I wanted to be able to take the stairs without needing a 5 minute recovery period. So when I didn’t lose weight right away it didn’t matter. I wasn’t failing. The scale wasn’t proof that all my hard work was wasted. Eventually the scale moved and I had to buy a belt, but that was just icing on the cake.

#4  -  I don’t get hungry.

I eat every time I feel hungry. I tried not snacking at work but came home so hungry that I inhaled several hundred calories of junk food within 20 minutes of getting home. So now, Even if it’s an hour before dinner, I’ll eat something small if my stomach starts to growl. I try to keep protein bars in my purse. I bake bran muffins to bring to work and keep around the house.

I try to eat healthier foods when I’m hungry. I find my craving for junk food isn’t as strong if I keep myself full on healthy food. I feel hungrier sometimes after eating some fruits and vegetables, so while I do try to eat more of those, they don’t really work for me as a “keep myself from getting hungry” snack. I know that carbs a supposed to be bad but I feel full longer if I include them in my meals.

#5  -  I eat foods I like.

I’m not eating pizza every night with cheesecake for desert and chocolate cake for a midnight snack. But if I want a piece of cheese cake, I’m going to have it. The funny thing is, once I started working out I started thinking about my food differently without even wanting to or choosing too. I would pick up a candy bar and think about how long I have to walk to burn those calories. “Is this worth an hour of walking?” Sometimes it is and I enjoy every bite. Sometimes it’s not, and even if it’s just a couple of M&Ms, it’s easier to say no. And sometimes it’s not worth an hour, but is worth 20 minutes, so I’ll have a couple of bites and leave the rest.

I also don’t make myself eat yucky food just because it’s healthier. Those protein bars I keep with me all the time? They’re the yummy ones. Some of those things are pretty nasty. I don’t eat those. I will by low fat versions of some foods IF it tastes as good as the full fat version. I eat regular yogurt because the light stuff has fake sugar in it. I hate fake sugar. I buy low fat mayo, ranch dressing and sour cream because I really don’t notice a difference in taste.

BONUS RULE

I stopped trying to do what worked for other people.

I used to read stories about DVD’s, exercising schedules, diet plans etc. that worked for people. They lost tens and hundreds of pounds and several sizes. If it worked for them, it can work for me, right? WRONG. I was forgetting that these people are different than me. They have different attention spans, different tastes, different schedules, different obligations. What they did, I might not have time to do. What they eat, I may hate. (Like those instant shake things. No wonder people lose weight when they drink those! I felt sick to my stomach the rest of the day!) And what they think is a fun exercise, I may consider a form of torture.

The same goes for this list here. Maybe you need something much more structured. If you need tasks to check off and rules to follow, that’s ok. What I really want you to get out of all of this is that you have to find what works for you. Just try something. If it doesn’t work for you, it’s ok. Try something else until you find something you don’t hate.