Tell me, do you know your weight? Your BMI? I know mine and I'm thinking it's time to scrap the whole idea that those numbers tell me what I want to know about my health. My chiropractor, who is a health nut, told me that as long as I am eating healthily and exercising like I have been, then I will be good. He basically told me to not care about my weight or BMI. He knows I have been working hard on losing the pregnancy weight and he was/is supportive of my running. He just encouraged me to forget about the scale.
I'm sure his advice would have been different if I was still packing extra poundage.
Anyway, I have been switching gears this last week to focus more on what I am eating. Before, when I was losing the weight, I was focusing on what NOT to eat. I was on a 1200-1250 calorie diet, not a lot of wiggle room. Now though, I am becoming aware of my body's needs. My body need protein every day, vitamins, calcium, etc. etc. I'm still trying to keep the calories in check, but not that low. When you exercise, you need to eat more calories, so I'm still trying to find the magic number.
I've been trying to find a smoothie that includes whey protein. I have come up with a few recipes of my own, I've seen some online, but I haven't found one I really love. Besides that, a person can pack a lot of calories in a smoothie really quickly! One morning my smoothie had about 600 calories in it! Usually I keep my breakfast calories around 300. YIKES! Thankfully it was a running day! So, I'm still trying to figure it out.
It is also a passion of mine to eat whole, or as some people call it, "clean". I rarely feed my family processed foods, but did you know that even the flour you cook/bake with, the milk you drink, the butter you put on your toast...it's all processed in ways that kill the natural goodness for you?! And then they add in the vitamins, minerals, etc. and call it "enriched". UGH! Oh, I could talk all day about this and I would get madder and madder in the process. Get it? PROCESS? Oh nevermind...
Anyway, I haven't met my goal of being 125 pounds. But, I'm not going to push towards it like I did earlier on. I've lost a lot of weight, I feel healthy, I'm eating
BTW, I have run 15 miles so far this month. My goal for the month is 50. I have a couple 5K races coming up in May and I am super excited that my sports watch FINALLY came! I have a lot to be happy and excited about.
Back when I first starting losing the pregnancy weight, I called it a journey. Well, I am still on that journey... it's lifelong! We should not work hard to lose the weight and then return to old habits. We shouldn't try every diet out there for a few weeks and then quit. No, we should lose the extra pounds by exercise and eating right. And when we keep up the good habits, we will keep the weight off. It's been a long journey for me to get here, and it's a long journey ahead. But, it's going to be great! Are you with me?
Scrap the scale and calorie counting. I grew up in that kind of house, and we will not be living that way. I want my kids especially my daughters to see modeled healthy eating and movement in balance with the rest of life and not become enslaved to numbers on the back of a package or on the scale. Good for you Cheri! Do you think that we could get to a place where we live healthfully and check our weight at the dr.’s office with our blood pressure and cholesterol? Can we judge our health on the whole picture, based on how we feel instead of our weight and pants size?
ReplyDeleteYou have acquired wisdom that has come to me only recently. Only just last year, I embarked on an exercise/diet goal. I was looking to do it for 3 months, get my body back, then resume whatever I was doing that got my body in trouble to begin with. I was Miss All-or-None with my eating and exercise. It was never going to be a part of my lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteSince then, a LOT has changed. I think all those bags of broccoli have awakened my brain to, HELLO!, just get in the habit of eating clean! Just exercising for 3 months every other year isn't going to cut it, either. So now I have accepted that exercise is a part of my life.
Flash forward to the present : I haven't weighed myself in months, haven't counted calories in weeks--feeling good about it, too! I am right now taking a week off from the gym and eating whatever I want. But because of the habits I've acquired this past year, I feel like I'm saying goodbye to bags of Cheetos at a time, and a pan of cinnamon rolls....in one sitting. I have FINALLY learned to listen to my body saying "one cinnamon roll is plenty" and "a handful of Cheetos tastes more awesome than the whole bag". So more power to ya, Cheri!