discipline

Chuckling as I wrote that title, I realized that is sums up the way I’m feeling about my choice to embrace this challenge of the 30 Day Shred.  Yes, it sounds cheesy. Yes, it’s even teetering on the brink of sounding like a “quick fix” motivational gurus, but honestly, it’s been a long time since I have worked so hard in the physical fitness arena and it feels good. Well literally, it feels really bad, but physically and emotionally, I am overcoming an obstacle that was affecting many areas of my life. Now that I am over the cusp of “death” (yes, that’s how I felt those first few days), I’m slowly seeing changes in my energy level, my flexibility and even my appetite.
Moving up to Level 2 during our 30 Day Shred was a sure shock to my system, but it also made me realize just how far I have come in the last eleven days.  For those of you who have made it this far, I am SO proud of you. Can you even believe what you can do now that you couldn’t manage just one week ago?
For those of you who got to day three/ four and determined it was just too much, hop back on the horse and just walk it out. I know you can do it. Right now, I firmly believe this is 75% mental and 25% physical. Discipline stinks. I hate it. I am not a naturally disciplined person, but we just need to remember what we want. In the midst of quitting, remember. Why did you start this? You were tired of how you felt, looked and responded to food, energy, “xyz.” Yes, it’s treating our bodies to pain that we never knew existed, but don’t let past discouragement in this area bring you down again. Do what you can at a moderated level, but just stick with it. In one week, you will be ecstatic because level one will seem like a breeze. After two days now of level two, I went back and did level one and I was doing everything. Comparatively, it seemed “easy”. Those first days, I never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth, and now, as a treat, I may grant myself level one. lol
For those of you doing other programs, keep at it. We are in this together and I can’t wait to come back at the end of the thirty days and share our successes with each other.
Initially, I wanted to add exercise to my life so that I could still eat what I wanted, and yes, get my heart healthier. But now that I am past that first killer week, I realize I don’t want to deprive myself of my favorite foods, but I am naturally making better eating choices. After I finish working out, it acts as a bit of an appetizer suppressant (probably because I feel like I am going to throw up..haha),  so I am trying to be more conscious in my choices. If I am going to “torture” my body every day, I want to see a little more results in the skinny jeans department. I have two pair of pants in which I don’t come close to zipping and those are my goal clothes. Again, I am not dieting, but just being more cognizant of my food choices.
Here are a few changes I am making in the eating department.

  1. Late night munching is my downfall. I’m trying to not eat anything past our late dinner hour (which is a problem), and drink more water. Ideally, one shouldn’t eat past six, but that just doesn’t fit into our sports schedule. When I get those late night munchies, I actually have resisted and just guzzled water to fill my tummy. Last night, I went to bed hungry. I think I have forgotten what that feels like and I need to reacquaint myself with that feeling just a bit. I’m also trying to drink two glasses of water BEFORE I eat..
  2. I am not a morning breakfast eater, and that has changed. I do the “good mom” spiel about breakfast being the most important meal of the day, but then I don’t practice what I preach. Now, I am trying to eat a few eggs (good protein) very thing, and then focusing on my largest meal at noon. I also know that in order to kick start my metabolism, smaller meals or snacks every three hours is important. It’s counter intuitive to most of what we’ve heard for years and years, but it makes sense. This doesn’t mean Doritos every three hours, but eating fruit or a healthy snack to keep that metabolism working is key.
  3. I’m reading labels again. Wow, it’s been a long time since I checked the fat gram content in items. When I lost my largest amount of weight in my 20’s, I was very conscious of fat grams in reference to my food choices. (This does not include healthy proteins, of course.) For instance, I LOVE Starbucks Java Chip/Mocha Frappuccino ice cream. LOVE, love, love it (almost as much as my french fries), and often I will snag  a few spoonfuls throughout the day. What’s just a few little bites, right? Well, it equals a LOTTA fat grams. So, I moved over a shelf in the freezer and right next to my Starbucks (sniff, sniff) was the 1/3 less fat Breyers ice cream. The difference? 15 fat grams in one half cup vs only 3 fat grams in one half cup. I can have FIVE times the Breyers and trust me, the low fat vanilla bean is yummy. I still indulge, but moderated. I’ll come back to the Starbucks for a once in a while treat. Same thing with fast foods. As much as I try to cook our meals at home, during football season, we go to the drive through for a few Dollar burgers as the boys snack. I tend to get just a little something as well. I mean, it’s just a dollar! And so the last time I went, I opened those nutritional guides they have hidden in the corner and that cured me. I love McDonald’s new Mocha Frappes, but the fat content? UGH…so I snagged one of their new fruit smoothies instead – a great alternative calories/fat gram wise. (Please, no emails about how they are still bad for me…it’s all about taking little steps. :))

So let’s chime in…how are you doing? Are you hanging in there?
Can you get back up on the saddle? I know you can. We can do this together.