Inspiration, Motivation and Perspiration

Please bear with me on this, I will get to the point. Those who know me know I take the circuitous route, it is a learned trait but there is a point to all this.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being low and 10 getting pretty serious, my stress levels the last several months have been an 11, it has worked down to about 7, but still up there. During the 11 period I dropped 10 pounds without trying, I just couldn’t eat. I’ve also noticed in my life I deal with different types of stress differently, not eating or stress eating and craving sugar, that’s another blog for another time.

I shed 10 pounds without trying, I know many of you readers are not having any sympathy for me and I am not asking for any, again, just stick with me as I get to the point.

Everyone who knows me noticed it right away and told me I was too thin. So, from November through beginning of April, I have been eating whatever I want and still not putting the weight on. I even went to the doctor, spent time on the internet trying to self diagnose, in case it was not the mega stress doing this but a rare disease.

Along came the peach pie from the giant mega store. I bought it for dessert when we had friends over, by friends, another couple, so only 4 of us to eat this pie that I think serves the Russian army. We had pie and ice cream and ¾ of the pie is still left. So is the ice cream. So, the next few nights I had to eat a piece of pie with ice cream, it was going to go bad.

I started noticing mid-week that my gut was feeling ucky and my waistband was constricting my ability to sit at my desk and work. So I weighed myself and noticed 4 additional pounds.

Now, here is my point: I am truly uncomfortable, physically, with the additional weight. During the high stress period when it came off and I went to the doctor, I did tell him that while I don’t have a weight concern, I feel very comfortable at the lower weight. My LDL cholesterol came down, and this has been a problem plaguing me for years. Why am I telling you this? So you can pay attention to HOW GOOD YOU FEEL with the weight you shed and to continue working to keep it off. AND the pay offs: lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and your clothes are not interfering with your ability to breathe.

I readily admit, the last 3 weeks or so, my physical activity has dropped.
· I have been getting to work early cause I can’t sleep and I get the primo parking spot, you know, the one right in front of the building=less walking.
· I haven’t been taking my walking breaks as much as I usually do, probably because I haven’t had anyone to walk with me, so no one to come and pull me away from my desk=less walking.
· My dogs, my usual walking buddies when I get home are getting older and one of them will just stop walking, so I indulge him and we go home. I could take him home and continue with the other one but I haven’t been=less walking
· When this happens I usually get on my exercise bike and I haven’t been=less physical activity.

So, what happened? Less physical activity = I gained weight and don’t feel good.

Last night I:
· Walked the dogs but the old one stopped so we went home.
· I got home and rode my exercise bike
· I did kill the last small piece of peach pie, no ice cream and no more excuses.
· I had my choice of primo parking spaces this morning and chose to park further away.
· I asked a friend at work to walk at 10 and she said she will.
· And I promised myself, I will go alone if no one will walk with me.
· I can take my Ipod or better yet, enjoy the sun shine and the sounds of spring in the air.

Pay attention to emotional eating. Are you craving food from the neck up or the neck down? If it is the neck up, you are emotional eating. Sit down with your journal and write down what you are experiencing that is making you crave food? Bored? Angry? Sad? Stressed? Lonely? Go for a walk. Put on music and dance. Call a friend. Do housework. If you have a hobby, pick it up, get your hands and mind busy. Do you use an on-line support program, Sparkpeople.com or another? Get on-line and read and share, it is great support for so many people. Drink water.

The point of this is not about me, it’s about you. I encourage you, implore you, urge you to really think about how you are feeling physically with the positive changes you are seeing and feeling by virtue of your hard work to moving more and watching what you eat and making lifestyle changes. Pay attention to the emotional side of food. A dear friend of mine once said “food doesn’t judge me”. It may not judge you but it isn’t helping you either, it’s a very temporary fix.

Is that piece of peach pie really worth feeling miserable and having tight clothing? I don’t think so. It was good for me to get this wakeup call on physical activity too. It reminded me to how important it is to move.

I have been your laboratory rat, please learn from my experience and stick with your program.