HYC Check In…Where AM I?

Happy Tuesday, everybody!  And Happy Week 39 to all the HYC-ers out there.  Hope it’s a great one.

Haven’t talked much about weight loss or even fitness in a while, so I thought I should probably post a quick update since this IS check-in day.  I’m doing fairly well, actually.  I haven’t lost anything that I know of…I’m not weighing, except on the WiiFit, and that’s at a different time every night, so it’s hard to gauge accuracy. (But based on that, I haven’t lost.)  I started this morning with a new routine, though; I’m going down first thing in the morning to do my Body Test, so I’ll get an early morning weigh-in and it should be more consistent.  So I’ll know eventually if I’m losing.

I’ve been doing the WiiFit pretty regularly – I’ve only missed a couple of days – and I’ve been adding additional cardio and a little additional strength with varying levels of consistency.  That is going to be the part I work on for the next couple of weeks – consistency.  I’ve been doing all right with the food and all right with the exercise – but it’s not consistent.  It’s sort of all over the place.  So while I feel I have been doing well with being healthy, it’s not a weight-loss track.  It’s more of a maintenance track.  So I’m ready to start buckling down and exercising a little more control.  And now that my stress levels have decreased considerably, I should be able to do that.

For me, control is a double-edged sword – I am more than moderately obsessive-compulsive, and I tend to try to overcontrol the entire world.  But when I work on letting go, I go to the extreme and let go of everything.  So for now, I’m thinking in terms of balance (my personal watchword to live by!).  I am going to work on letting go of things I can’t or shouldn’t control, and staying in control of the things I can and should – like my eating and my exercise.

My first step has been to start getting up early and doing my Body Test and 30 minutes of yoga first thing in the morning – I started with that today.  That is my new morning routine.  Yeah, I will lose a little sleep.  But I know from experience that if I am eating right and exercising consistently, I will need less sleep, so it balances out.

My next step is going to be to set a regular rotation for my evening exercise.  I need to balance a few things:  the WiiFit, which I really do love; extended cardio, which I really need to add, and usually is either a long (one to one and a half hours) walk with B. or an hour-long session on the treadmill.  I’d like to rotate so I can do both, because I get very real and very different benefits from both – and I really like having time to hang out and talk with B.  So I need to get that on a sort of schedule.  And then I need to add in some more intense strength training, because while the WiiFit does offer some kickin’ strength exercises, there are some gaps that I want to fill, like more intense arm and ab work.  So I’m going to sit down with a list of things and build myself a routine.  I’m actually pretty excited about that.

Another step, which will come pretty much in conjunction with the new exercise routine, is getting meal plans put together.  I’ve been playing fast and loose for too long and I need to get back to basics.  That means putting together menus for myself for at least a few weeks, to get myself back into the habit of planning and executing.  This comes at just the right time, because it’s time for me to do my monthly grocery-shopping, so I’d be doing menus for the family anyway.  So I plan to work on that tonight.

I am, however, trying not to let my enthusiasm run away with me.  I tend to jump too far, too fast, and too hard when I make a decision, and then I can burn out easily.  So I’m aiming for slow and steady – not trying to do everything all at once.  Pre-planning helps me do that – get all the pieces in place without killing myself trying to implement them all.  I’m not pushing my body too hard, and I’m building in rest days.  And the meal plans will be a ton of work at the front end, but they will allow me to go totally on auto-pilot as far as eating for the rest of the month – I won’t have to think about anything, because it will already be decided.

I’d like to start food-journaling, but I know from experience that’s one too many pieces to add at the same time.  I may start that next month, particularly if I feel I am still struggling to keep things in line.

My goal for the moment is to be feeling really good about myself by the end of the year.  We have tentative plans to take a fairly major vacation then (I won’t say more as ED might be reading and it’s supposed to be a surprise) and I want to be in a good place mentally and physically if that happens.  I’m not setting a numerical goal, because the numbers really aren’t what I’m after.  They are going to be a good way of measuring progress, but it’s the feeling I’m after.

And lastly…I am so over-the-moon excited about this.  I knew it was coming some time ago, because as a member of Jillian’s online program I got emails about it.  What I didn’t know was that it would utilize the WiiFit balance board (not required, despite what you may read on techie sites that should know better and do a little more thorough research, but it does allow you to use the game more fully).  This is exciting to me because honestly, at some point, I will have gotten all the benefit I’m going to get from the WiiFit.  With this, I will still be making use of the equipment, plus I get back to working out with my very favorite celebrity trainer of all time.    I mean, how much more exciting could that possibly be?  [Also, it comes out October 24, so that gives me added incentive to get off my butt and get myself back into fighting trim by then, because I know from experience that if it's a Jillian workout, it's going to kick my butt.]

Okay, I realize not everyone will share my excitement about this.  But that’s all right, I’ll be excited for you.  Heh.

So that’s where I am with regard to living healthy.  And now I’m off to get some work done.  Have a wonderful day, and a wonderful week!