January 28, 2011 By christieo
I am making becoming my own CEO a priority in my life. Where I have no answers, I am seeking them. And one by one I am writing down the plan to get there.
Here’s where I have been lost.
- No willpower with food.
- Time contraints to work out.
The two main complaints and obvious issues sure to thwart any journey toward healthy living.
Here are my solutions:
No Willpower With Food: On vacation, I went food shopping and we ate in most nights. Although I made healthy choices, I made just as many unhealthy ones and couldn’t wait to get back to my own pantry. I had my husband get the Sunday papers for me while I was gone and when I got back Monday, I sat down for an extensive meal-planning session. I clipped coupons, I went shopping, I restocked my fridge and pantry with the good stuff and I saved over $100 between BOGOs and coupons combined. My receipt was almost as tall as me.
And the guy at the checkout line actually stopped and stretched at one point while scanning in my stack of coupons and then resumed scanning them.
When I meal plan, my entire family eats healthy, my husband has healthy leftovers to bring to work for lunch, no one needs to eat out or do a drive-thru and I have healthy snacks on hand to reduce temptation. I also save a buttload of money. Best of all, I AM IN CHARGE OF MY EATING AND MY LIFE AND MY WEIGHT.
Time Constraints to Work Out: I am not a morning person but I’ve had to get used to the idea of the 5 a.m. workout when I know it won’t happen otherwise and honestly? It’s ok. It’s more than ok! I am showered and all worked out by 7 a.m. and the day is ready for me! I had a difficult time working out on vacation, but I was able to get two runs in. This week, I have gotten to work out every day and I have purchased this awesome planner to write my workouts in.
That little pocket there holds my food journal and yes, I am writing everything down. Writing things down, as big of a pain as it is, makes me not want to write bad stuff in it. We were going to go out to eat tonight for date night, but instead, we’re going to swim at the gym and eat dinner beforehand just because I don’t want to have to write something down in my food journal that I will regret. (That being said, what do we do afterward? I don’t know.)
I am also getting the children involved in the “being your own CEO.” They are 4 and 3, but I’ve given them simple jobs (put on your clothes, brush your teeth, be kind to others) and they have a chart and they get to put the stars on their charts when they finish their job. IT HAS BEEN AMAZING! THEY ARE SO PROUD OF THEMSELVES AND I’M PROUD OF THEM, IT’S AWESOME! We work together to set the table, they eat more veggies and last night the little one LOVED tilapia (hooray!), things are running smoothly right at this moment (knock on wood.)
More of what I’m doing: I am also reading “Racing Weight” by Matt Fitzgerald which has a great food plan I will follow (loosely) and workout plans for runners, cyclists and/or triathletes that will allow me some fatburning sessions rather than total endurance sessions, so those are the workouts that I am writing in my planner. I am going to the gym and working out with purpose, which I think is a really big thing. Sometimes it’s not enough to just go to the gym, you have to know why you’re there and what you’re doing while you’re there and it all has to fit in the big picture. Sure, just getting exercise is great, but at the point I’m at with the most stubborn pounds not coming off, I need to have a focus.
I also have a personal trainer one day a week and the only way I could afford it was to get a group of my tri buddies together to do a group personal training session and it equals out to about $12 a session for 5 weeks which is totally doable. Our trainer is a very, very sweet Jillian. She combines movements (squats with bicep curls, rowing and balancing, lunges and steppers, crazy pushups, etc etc and intermingles them with cardio bursts. I can’t move my arms and pits today.)
I am working in two strength training sessions per week and doing at least 5 days cardio (spin, ride, swim, run or bricks). I am meeting on Monday to work through my nutrition in more detail with my trainer and refining what I should and should not eat to get the results I’m hoping for. Oh and the goals?
This is the map to the bigger goals of:
- Being down to 125 (or lower) by April which is when the racing season. I am now at 137. Last year was my first full season trying triathlons and this season, I want to:
- Inching my way up the standings in my age group, (i.e. I WANT TO BE FASTER!)
- Reshaping my hind quarters which have become a more dimply version of myself.
- Running another marathon.
I feel like Dora. I have a map and my backpack is full of everything I need.
Now, to continue the motivation. That’s a whole ‘nother topic.