BFL in Hampton Roads

Have the headache from hell today, and … while I’m still losing weight, it’s slowed to a creep (that’s because I’m losing it properly. at current pace, I’d still lose 2.8 lbs every 14 days, which is 1.4 lbs a week… but when you go from losing 2-3 lbs a week to this… well, this is week 12. Between work and commute, I just don’t have much time for exercise, even though I do my best in the evenings. Yeah, I’m discouraged. I’m mentally beating myself up, which isn’t a good thing, but…it’s the way things are at the moment.

I’ve reached a plateau — next week is the 13th week. Supposedly, I should shake off the plan, shake off the FitBit, and everything — it’s the “jumble week” that allows you to start fresh the week after so that you can rotate through the plan 4 times a year. I’m not going to do it next week though. I’ll do it the week after, when I’m off from work on holiday. I won’t be where I wish to be, location wise, but that time is coming. Helen Steiner Rice wrote a poem I keep beside my desk, because it gives me inspiration:

“If I can endure for this minute
whatever is happening to me
No matter how heavy my heart is
or how dark the moment might be…
If I can but keep on believing
what I know in my heart to be true,
That darkness will fade with the morning
and that this will pass away, too —
then nothing can ever disturb me
or fill me with uncertain fear,
For as sure as night brings the dawning,
my morning is bound to appear.”

“When it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I’m already better than them.” – Marilyn Monroe

The three most limiting phrases in the English language: “I don’t…” “I can’t…” and “I won’t…” If I have to hear one more person attempt to sabotage someone’s self-improvement by saying “I don’t do that,” “I won’t help them”, “I can’t do that,” or anything like that, especially when it comes to something as simple as cooking and eating healthier…I am going to DONKEY PUNCH YOU INTO 2013! I’m sick beyond the beyonds if someone is attempting to better themselves by losing weight and getting fit and all you can do is bitch about not being able to eat take out or the restaurant selection thereof.

Sorry folks, I’m NOT a violent person. But I’ve had it up to HERE —^ when it comes to people who are so selfish or self centered that they can’t see beyond their own selves to be able to help someone out.

Have you any idea how bad eating out really IS for you? Take a time to read the labels on food. I mean REALLY read them. Read portion sizes (Pop Tarts are packaged 2 per non-resealable package, yet a serving size is *1* tart), read the sodium (remember those mg’s add up quick if you double or triple their “serving size”.  Almost anything in a can is heavy in sodium. Even frozen is better for you than that.  That’s why I do 99% of my own cooking at home. Dishes that are full of flavour, low in salt and fat, and no, they don’t take forever to cook.

The person I was referring to claims “I’m just too tired to cook when I get home.” Let’s compare. I’m 41, they’re 61. Okay, ball in their court there. We both get up about 5:45am. Both leave for work at 6:45am, both at work at 7:30. They work until 2:30, I work until 4:30. Even match. They get home at 3 pm, I get home at 6 pm. Ball in my court. They work with 28 students. I work with 109 faculty. They prefer eating take away Chinese, Kentucky Fried Chicken, etc. I cook healthy meals in 20-30 minutes. Game, Set, Match, I win.  “I don’t like to cook” they say. Well, I do like to cook, because I know what goes in my meals and that’s what makes me feel better about myself. It’s also how I’ve lost 28 lbs so far. They don’t like to exercise. Hell, *I* don’t like to exercise. But then there’s this:

“Just remember this: If you walk even just one step further today than you did yesterday, that is making progress. Progress is measured not in leaps and bounds, but in steps…and sometimes, baby steps.” – F. John Barker III

Looking for suggestions on what to cook? Visit my other weblog, “The Wannabe Gourmet“. Leave me a comment. Remember that just because you don’t like an ingredient in a dish (or can’t eat it) doesn’t mean you have to turf the entire recipe. Substitute. Retool. Recreate. Improve. Not only live, THRIVE.

Here we go again. How much weight did I put back on?
Six pounds.
Six pounds in two years.
Body For Life is an incredible journey, a plan that even when you don’t realize you’re working it, helps out in little ways.

….and get back in the game.

I was sick yesterday — so sick, that I actually missed my lower-body workout. Sure, I could have pushed myself, but I would have probably only ended up making myself more ill.

So, I took the day off, still eating right. Tonight is my treadmill workout. I don’t feel guilty about missing a workout, because I didn’t do it thoughtlessly, or carelessly. When your health is at stake, your body tells you what it can and cannot take.

Remember to focus on progress, not perfection. We all stumble along the way. The important thing is to pick yourself up and get back at it — don’t give up, and don’t get discouraged.

I made a major post over on my main blog, Ramblings of Silver Blue about what I’m considering to be a “setback”, at least in the part of my program of Universal Reciprocation.