Went on my first run in the rain. Frankly it was wet, but oddly amazing. Kind of empowering in a way. Almost like a nothing can stop strong will and determination feeling. I took a before picture, wish I had taken an after. Definitely something to remember.
I currently live in Louisiana. The culture here is amazing, even more so the sense off state pride. Part of the culture is the love for amazing food. While I enjoy it, it sometimes makes it difficult to stay on track when around it. I do indulge on occasion if the hubs and I are out to have a good time...but weekly at work during orders or team meetings, lunches or breakfasts it is sometimes difficult to be the odd man out. I don't want others to think I am looking down on the culture, but I know for my own sake I have to stick to plan.
Generally, this means bringing my own meals on a daily basis and preparing for team lunches by knowing ahead of time what it will be and what I need to do.
Some days I literary feel like locking myself in my office in order to escape the treats, fried foods or carbo loads. I hope at some point my mind will no longer react to it and it will be as easy pie....well spinach or something.
Seriously. If you partake in one cheat day a week in order to jolt your metabolism do you "cheat" for the entire day or is it merely one item or meal?
Right now I am only doing an item to get my fill of sweets for the remainder of the week. It does the trick for me, but I am always interested in knowing what others are doing.
Sometimes I think that staying motivated can be the most difficult part of becoming and staying healthy. For me, it is harder to stay down the path than to begin the journey. I think the key may be keeping youself accountable anf using many different means to stay the course. For me blogging, reading and constantly learning have been huge assets.
What do you do?
I make all of my meals ahead of time. Salads and fruit are healthy, low calorie and easy to prepare ahead of time. Today mixed fruit and chickeb salad (I just cut up chicken breastv and put it in a separate small container so that I could heat it up).
I feel like I had a good week. I was able eat great almost everyday. Today being the negative. My hubs wanted to have a cheat day, so I indulged with him with a Cinnabon Bun. I admit all I could think of was the calories but I know I had good runs and workouts through the week. I was also down 2 pounds this morning.
I am debating whether or not I should invest in this concept of Cheat Days. I know that increasing your caloric intake every once and a while does help the process by not allowing your body to get used to the lower daily caloric intake, but I am trying to look at this as a lifestyle change that takes the negative foods out of consumption completely. I will have to think and read on this a bit more.
I am currently weighing myself everyday. It is kind of how I keep myself accountable. I used to do the once a week weight in, but I still found that I would get on the scale anyway. I also feel like it gives me an idea of my progress through the week. I definitely agree that daily weigh ins can be stressful and aren't right for everyone but it seems to work for me.
Feel free to weight in on the conversation. (See what I did there teehee).
Snack worth mentioning...Good ole' Ants on a Log. We had it right as kids. Celery, Peanut Butter and Raisins. Hydrating, super low calorie celery. Protein filled, and filling peanut butter and raisins for fiber, antioxidants and vitamins.
I have been chowing on these all week and they are super yummy. Try variations by switching raisins for dried cranberries or peanut butter for almond butter.
