Week 2 update for Ten in Ten

I guess the biggest update is that I left the group.  What I thought was a thoughtful response to the criticism I received for my decision resulted in numbers being thrown at me.  I don't have time for that kind of crap and I was quite disappointed that was what was offered.

I know my life and what I can do and I'm sticking to that.

So - I'm on my own and I'll post my own challenges and updates here.  Why not?

So the check in is not as good as last week's:  I'm up .8 lb - 178.8.

This week's goals:

• Consume less alcohol at night - ie, skipping the evening cocktail until Wednesday (our mid week "date night")
• Log my food and hunger levels.  
• Stay hydrated
• Remember to breathe when the stress hits.

That's it for now.

Decisions

I made a decision about exercise this week and posted it to the Ten in Ten group.  The decision is that I'm no longer going to stress about how I'm going to fit it in.  When I can, I will.

This decision raised concerns  - that were very kindly expressed - that I was practicing self-sabotage.  I've been thinking about that for a few days here's my response:

My decision to not make a commitment to exercise was the result of the stress I was feeling whenever I would set an exercise schedule and almost invariably, I got stuck at work or in traffic and didn't get home in time to get my workout in.  Right now, I don't have an answer to this road block so instead of continuing to keep adding that stress, I'm simply removing it.

Thru my experience with weight loss, and maintenance and then gaining, I've come to the conclusion that exercise should never be made critical to weight loss and maintenance.  Life throws crap at you at times (illness, injury, work, etc) that prevents consistent exercise.  This is not ideal, of course, but it happens.  And when exercise is critical to weight management and that crap happens, then losing or maintaining becomes almost impossible.  

Instead weight management really is about healthy choices about what to eat and how much to eat.  That, no matter what life throws at you can be more consistently practiced.

I'm not saying that exercise is not critical to overall good physical and mental health. It is.  And when I can, I will exercise.  I'll even, when I can, shift things so that I can get some extra movement in.  I'm just no longer going to stress about it.

Today's exercise:  over an hour of Kundalini yoga.  And OMG - I had not idea how breathing a certain way can raise the heart rate.  I'm half way tempted to wear my heart rate monitor the next time I do the practice just to see how the much my heart rate did get elevated.  There was definitely a "cardio" aspect to the practice, even though it was very gentle and slow.

I'm not giving up on me - just taking a slightly different approach than I have in the past because what I did in the past is no longer working

I truly appreciate the comments - they made me think about what I'm doing.  And that is always a good thing.

Ten in Ten Challenge - Week 2

One of the challenges in Week 2 in the Ten in Ten challenge is exercise - to start moving more.  Um, any movement at all would be more for me, these days.

I looked at the challenge a bit differently.  I have mental roadblocks up about exercise.  And some real ones.  My job for this week is to remove those roadblocks.

And repeat over and over to myself:  I deserve to be fit and healthy; I deserve to be at my ideal weight.

Ten in Ten Check In

OK- so I started the Ten in Ten challenge at 180.4.  That was last Monday.

Today's weight:  178.

What I did right last week:

Tons of positive reinforcement going to and from work (audio activation weight subliminal weight loss)
Stayed aware of my hunger level
Made healthier choices when eating out this weekend.
Remembered that this is a sustainable path and deprivation is not an option - so I enjoyed half a piece of chocolate pound cake.