Thoughtful Thursday: Recap

Life will teach you the lessons, 

it is up to you to learn them.

~Unknown

Last week I decided I needed to get my weight under control and planned my 7 day temporary eating adjustment. You can read about it HERE. So here is the recap, I stuck with the plan until dinner of day 7 so I am calling it good. Dinner last night was on the road and honestly a few more hours wasn't going to make a huge difference. Sure one could argue that the principle of the darn thing was to see it to the end and that dinner was the finish line. I think if I approached it that strictly then I wasn't learning the right lessons. So what did I learn:

• Health improvements take discipline. This was much more difficult than I could have imagined and while the scale was initially my biggest motivator, I found the feeling of being in control is what helped me stick to it.
• Health improvements take time. I am obviously not at my goal, but it is very much within reach.
• Health improvements take time part II. I have to make the time. I initially planned to work out 4 out of the 7 days. I only worked out 2.
• Health improvements need options: Days 1 and 2 were challenging because I didn't have meals planned. Not like a menu, but I didn't have anything in the house that sounded yummy. A grocery trip made all the difference.
• Health improvements need options part II. A workout. One has to run outside right? Hit the gym? Nope, I discounted, as I often do, the value of doing a few sit ups or push ups in the living room. I need to re-imagine what working out means to me and make it happen.

I have an addiction. My addiction is to carbs. 

Today there was no eating adjustment and I got to eat whatever I wanted. There were so many options, made to order omlettes, sausage, eggs, french toast etc. My choices really define my eating habits: A bowl of raisin bran, a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, a slice of toast with peanut butter and jelly, cantaloupe and apple juice. I also had a half slice of toast with butter which was not as good as it looked so I didn't eat it all and the apple juice was too sweet, so I didn't finish it. While all this sounds amazingly high in calories, my total caloric intake was 578 and I am on my way to the hotel gym-- so on the day, it'll be fine. I am a firm believer that if one is going to have big meal, the earlier in the day it is had, the more time one has to burn in off. In addition to my carb addiction I eat too much. I need to learn the smaller portion thing and learn to be satisfied with less. Crap, that last sentence applies to many more aspects of my life, but we'll stick to health and wellness this post LOL

CARBOHYDRATES, oh how I love them so. I did not cut out carbs on my temporary adjustment, just bread and crackers.  

How do I learn not to be a total carb junky?

The Big Picture: Life is a learning process, and while some people have eating figured out for themselves, I don't have to solve the mysteries of my eating habits in one 7 day temporary eating adjustment.

Why I Kick A$$: I am heading down to the gym right now and trying a new medicine ball routine.

Thankful Three

1. For my friend AB and her amazing driving skills
2. For the next three days of my life where the gym is only an elevator ride away
3. For the temporary eating adjustment being over and dreaming about my next small effort