Wednesday, January 6, 2010

New Dawn

First, I must say how much I've been touched by the response I've already gotten from writing this blog. I never thought that just by being honest, so many people would support me even more than they already did. And this is only the second entry! All of you that have contacted me and let me know that you were moved by my words, you should know: it was you I thought of in the gym today when I wanted to stop running, but kept going anyway. It was you I thought of on my drive home when I wanted to pick up mexican food, and got a salad instead. It was you I thought of at lunch when I wanted to have 2 pieces of leftover pizza, and only had one. YOU inspired me to stick to it! And I hope that I have the same effect on you all - I can be someone you think of when you're having a hard time. Not to make you feel guilty or berate you if you gain a couple of pounds. That I will be someone who will celebrate your successes and understand your defeats. That whether you're on the highest weight loss peak or the lowest possible point of weight gain, I'll be here and I'll understand both parts.

My New Year's resolution is two-fold this year. 1) Live a healthier life and take care of my body, mind and soul. 2) Be a better friend, especially to those who aren't close by. These 2 resolutions might seem backwards to some, might seem selfish for putting myself before my friends. But I realized that I can't be the friend I want to be until I love myself as much as my friends love me. (Or at least half as much!) If I depend on my friends for the acceptance I can't find in myself, that's putting an awfully large burden on them. And that's not really being a good friend at all.

Today has been a good day. I woke up later than expected, but still managed to spend about an hour and 15 minutes at the gym. I'm lucky right now in that I don't work most afternoons, so I have time to be a little leisurely as far as when I get to the gym. But too much free time can be dangerous, too because I'm VERY prone to bored-snacking. So next week starts the new waitressing job - I'll let you know how that goes! Anyway, for those of you that are curious, here were my gym activities for the day: 10 minutes of abs, 15 minutes alternating running/walking around the track, 15 minutes of arms and 20 minutes on the elliptical. Add stretching and that was my workout! (I'm a HUGE advocate of stretching thoroughly before and after working out, especially if you're relatively new to working out regularly. Please do it!) This is my usual gym workout. For the record, I HATE arms and DESPISE abs. But (maybe not surprisingly) these are the parts of my body I'm least proud of. So, I've found that if I do abs first and get it out of the way, it's not as despicable. Arms I put in between cardio so my heart rate stays up while I do them. I'm really not a fan of running either, but most of the people whose bodies I admire are runners. So, I'm trying to work my heart up to running. Right now I can't run much more than a lap (at my gym that's 1/12 of a mile) without maxing out my heart rate. Which I think at 23 is incredibly depressing, but it's pushing me to work harder to fix it! And speaking of heart rate, I'm also a HUGE advocate of heart rate monitors! You can plug in your own weight, age and sex, and it will tell you exactly how many calories you burn! A fantastic tool if you don't want to sit on an elliptical machine during your entire workout and still want to know how much you burn. Get one at your local sports supply store!

For those of you interested in how I'm keeping track of my calorie intake and burn, I'm on Weight Watchers. I'm a HUGE advocate of this program. I think it's the only program out that there really teaches you how to make decisions for yourself. Who wants to eat prepackaged meals at home every day of the week? And have to turn down your friends when they go out to dinner, or risk gaining weight because you went off program for one day of the week? Weight Watchers give you the option to have a dessert one day or a slice of pizza another day. I'll explain all the details another time, but for now suffice it to say this is how I lost weight in 2006 and I KNOW it works. They give you all the tools you need - after that it's up to you! You learn what you can and can't eat for yourself - or how to sacrifice a little if you REALLY want that extra cookie! The one mistake I made before was I never followed through with them and learned how to maintain my weight. This is a step I certainly WILL NOT be missing this time around!

Thank you all again for being such an inspiration to me and for taking time out of your lives to read and respond!!

3 comments:

  1. I'm on WW too! I just got the app for my phone so I can track my points better. I'm getting back on the Weight Watching "wagon" after gaining back 15 lbs of weight. I started last year when I got a bad cholesterol panel back and two separate doctors told me I needed to try and lose some weight. I'm with you all the way Danielle!

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  2. WTG today. Aren't those heart rate monitors expensive or am I just uneducated because the only one I looked up was the one they use on The Biggest Loser... lol.

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  3. I totally agree with you about the WW program. 100%. What a great thing to read this morning before work!

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