WGOM Fitness

WGOM Fitness: 10 January 2013, One Step Forward, Two Steps Fat

54 Comments

I started working out again last week.  I did so again on Tuesday.  Nothing too impressive - just a mile and a half on the treadmill, with some light lifting.  I'm in the worst shape of my life, so any start - even a slow one - is a good start.

And then I turned around and ate worse than I ever do the next couple days.  Baked goods, more soda and beer, chipotle.  Usually my diet - except for pop (and if I'm being honest, I eat fast food too much) - isn't so bad.  I cook most of my food, I cut out butter and oil and salt from recipes, I eat reasonable portions, etc.  But something about this week kicked me into wanting to seek refuge in fats.  I think the fact that I worked out contributed to the unhealthy eating.

I know from past weight-loss efforts that the longer I keep at this, the better I'm going to be about everything.  So I'm trying to keep this from being too defeating.  I'll eat better tonight.  And at lunch.  And even though I have a brutal cold, I'm going to go try to jog a mile on the treadmill.  I expect it to be painful.  But at least it wll be another step forward.

54 thoughts on “WGOM Fitness: 10 January 2013, One Step Forward, Two Steps Fat”

  1. As the Boss has documented, fitness is a journey, not a destination.

    I've managed to cut soda out of my daily routine. That's a small thing with big, long-term consequences.

    1. I also haven't had a soda this year. Sure, it's only the tenth day, but I probably would have consumed 15 to 20 by now if I stayed at my 2012 rate.

        1. Saw that. It's always been a stress reliever for me. When I'm having it only every so often (and not using it as a crutch), I find it makes me quite happy.

          2. When I'm having it only every so often (and not using it as a crutch), I find it makes me quite happy.

            So much this. Toward the end of last year, I found myself buying 2 or 3 sodas at the hospital gift shop every day because... hey, why not? Now that I'm down to one soda every couple of days, I find that I enjoy each of them that I do drink a lot more.

            1. The sound of opening a can of soda at night - somehow it seems to sound different in the night - is one of my favorite sounds in the world. The smell of a pepsi freshly poured into a glass over ice is one of my favorite scents. It's all weird, I realize, but I enjoy so much about pop.

  2. And even though I have a brutal cold, I'm going to go try to jog a mile on the treadmill.
    If it's brutal, then you might want to take some time off and rest. You will recover quicker and be able to work out better when healthy.

    1. Although I agree that I'd be able to work out better, I'm still at the point where "go to the gym" is the bigger hurdle than "have a good work out." Even if I end up walking that mile, it'll be better for me.

  3. Congrats!

    When I first tried to start losing weight it was because I stepped on the scale in the morning and it said 210 (I'm a shade over 6-feet-tall). I lost 30 pounds! and gradually floated all the way back up to 205. Then I lost 15 pounds! and gradually floated all the way back up to 200. Then I lost 15 pounds again! and gradually floated back up to 195 which is when I started my most recent weight loss campaign.

    Point being to echo the above that it's a journey, but also that you can change your expectations for yourself. I get motivated at 195 pounds like I once did at 210 pounds and that's a good thing.

    1. Oof. I hit 210 and I'm a shade under 5'5".

      But yeah. I'm aiming for 185, and my hope is that by the time I start making real progress I'm well-hooked into the journey. I've gotten myself back down towards 200 a few times the past couple years, but then things tend to fall apart. I think keeping up with this community is going to help.

      1. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. The important thing is you've recognized where you're at and where you want to be. You should be lauded for that.

        1. Oh, no, I didn't take it poorly. Just a statement of where I'm at, and where I want to be. Honesty matters to health, right?

        2. I think just as importantly, you need to recognize where you're at and where you don't want to be. I'm right at 6' and 200 lbs. It's not ultimately where I want to be, but it's the current high water mark that I don't allow myself to get above (much).

  4. I'm guilty of eating too much fast food, as well. I regularly felt like crap because of it, and I always made terrible choices. However, the convenience factor is largely what lead me to it. What I've done is make strategies for a handful of different places and eat there when I don't have time/have a fast food craving. There's some tasty, not-so-bad for you choices at most places if you concede a little bit. I love the giant burritos at Qdoba (unfortunately we are Chipotle free), but I usually get the hard shell tacos instead as they are far lower in carbs and calories. If I get the burrito, I get a whole wheat tortilla, a tiny amount of rice, and add beans so I am getting plenty of fiber.

    Cutting it out completely would be ideal, but it's also not terribly feasible. Having coping strategies like this allows me to avoid the guilt of eating from a drive through, which would inevitably send me down a shame spiral.

      2. Oh yeah, it's a killer. The whole wheat tortilla at Qdoba is still 240 calories, but it also includes 4 grams of fiber that offset some of the carbs. The hard shell tacos are like half the calories and carbs, but sometimes I just want a giant burrito. It's definitely only treated as a sometimes food.

        Though next time I get to the Cities I may have to go to Chipotle multiple times. I've been fiending for it for months, and I'm not sure when I'll be down next.

            1. I think I like the burrito bowls better than the burritos. With the burritos, I end up with one bite all cheese, one bite all salsa, etc.

  6. While I'm thinking about it, I made these last night. I made them little and we ate them as sliders on dinner rolls with some roasted cauliflower. The kids loved 'em.

    I've made them a couple of times and the recipe lends itself to whatever you have on hand. (I used some shredded cheddar instead of feta and some baby spinach and green onion.) They bake up really nicely and are actually better that way than fried.

    2. I'm a huge fan of quinoa patties, sometimes mixed with sweet potato. I wish that stuff was cheaper, though.

          1. Sucks. It's good stuff. We've been eating farro a lot lately too. I like it though it's basically indistinguishable from barely to me. I just call it rice and the kids don't argue.

        2. I don't know... she has a recipe for carbonara on there that doesn't include peas. I'm suspicious.

            1. I can see why, from a purist/"authentic" point of view, peas would be left out. But almost every place I had carbonara in Italy (and I probably had it a dozen times) served it with peas. I'll concede the suspicion, but not the overall quality of the dish absent peas.

              1. they have Olive Gardens in Italy??

                *I keed!*

                Interesting. I readily admit that back when I was allowed to make things like carbonara, I added sauteed onions. But I saved the peas for cream sauces.

                1. also, I've never been to anywhere outside the country (street taco stand in Tijuana and fly-in fishing trip to Canada excepted), so what do I know about authentic?

                    1. I had the lengua tacos. My wife almost barfed on the spot, watching, but they were de-licious. Sadly, no cow skull was present.

                      speaking of which, I went with a spanish-speaking friend to a local grocery/deli recently and had awesome tacos for dirt cheap (1 lengua, 1 al pastor, 1 carnitas, plus a roasted jalapeno as "vegetable").

                    2. I did have lambs' brains when I was in Rome, so it might be part of the authentic recipe.

                    1. who am I kidding? "Authentic" in my house means "this was authentically sitting there on the shelf and so I put these things together with it hoping that would taste good."

                3. That's pretty funny. This was in 2001 of course, so... whatever I said should be taken with a grain of salt. Which, if memory serves, is also the authentic way they prepared carbonara.

  8. I might as well add that for a few hours after my work out I felt really good. The cold has caught back up to me, but there was a sizable honeymoon period.

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