Long Weekend of Chill
Ah, yes…a four-day holiday. I’ve needed this. I plan to chill, but looking around my apartment I see all sorts of more constructive things I should be doing. In addition to chilling, methinks.
I also hope to catch up with my best friend Tara, who I haven’t seen face-to-face since just before last Christmas, as well as my niece (by phone, since her Skype somehow got hosed). Other than that, I have lots of Doctor Who DVDs, Stargate DVDs, and loads of reading to catch up on. Oh, and sleep to catch up on, as well.
I find myself feeling depressed tonight. I’ve made the mistake of thinking seriously about losing weight, and the reality is bogging me down, as I feared it would. But I must overcome it with positive thinking and self-talk. I’m good with the self-talk. I believe Gandalf called it speaking to the most intelligent person in the room. So here’s me being positive: I’m taking concrete steps to lose weight. I’ve modified my eating habits due to paying more careful attention to what I put in my mouth. I’m choosing fresh fruits and vegetables over chips and crackers, brown rice over noodles (except for the other day when I had a bowld of Udon noodles for lunch). Still, my rings and clothes feel tight, so I need to make a better effort. I’m still not as active as I’d like, due to continued pain from my leg and shoulder injuries, but I hope to do a little bit of walking, or at least housework this weekend. It’s a start.
I also think a good night’s sleep might help with this latest bout of depression. I find I sleep better when I know I won’t be awakened at 5:00 AM by my alarm clock. Just knowing I can sleep myself out makes it easier for me to fall asleep and stay asleep. I get a bit anxious about having to wake up early in the morning. I’ve never been a morning person, nor have I ever really been a good sleeper, so I kind of stress out over getting up before my body wakes up naturally (usually around 8:00 AM). I’m expected to be at work by 7:00 AM, mostly because I sometimes have to talk with my colleagues in Belgium, which is always a treat. They’re the kindest, most delightful folks. And how can I fail to be charmed by guys with French names, French accents, and who refer to me as “Dear”? I mean, really? The first time I was on an email one of them sent to a group of us and saw that we were collectively addressed as “Dears”, I just melted. Yes, yes, I know that’s just the custom, but I’m an American, and we’re not usually that charming. J’aime ces messieurs!
Hmm…I wonder if there are any movies out that I might like? I haven’t paid attention lately. Must look into it.
I have a four-day weekend and have no idea what to do with it. Perfect holiday!
Kathy, sounds to me like you are trying hard enough. Now you just need to keep doing what you’re doing and wait. Will probably take about a month or two before you have lost enough weight to notice it in your clothes. This is a situation where little things add up. You don’t want to invent yourself a regime you can’t stick to.
If you want to see progress on a finer grain scale have you thought about weighing yourself once a week? I find seeing the scales going down keeps me motivated until the real benefits start to kick in.
The only thing you need to remember with that is the human body is a big sack of water and variations in the water can make more of a difference to your weight than the fat you’re losing. You have to force yourself to be more interested in the trend than a particular data point. I found a really great excel graph for weight tracking that takes that into account. I’ll have to dig it out for you.
The other thing I remind myself when I’m not seeing weight loss benefits to healthy eating is how much better I feel putting good things in my body. That’s something worth having even if I can’t immediately see the difference on the scales.
Sounds like you’ve had an amazingly good week! Give yourself a mental gold star for getting started and just concentrate on making the next good eating decision. The first part is always the hardest because it takes a little while for your body to catch up with the regime change.