Summary of Week Two

WEEK TWO:

I just completed my second whole week of this new thing I'm doing.  I was talking to my friend Will about how I hate calling it a "diet" because of the stigmatic connotations to that word.  You know, I say "Well I'm on a diet" and people immediately look at me like I have an eating disorder and then spew out the customary, "You don't need to be on a diet, you look great as it is!"  But that's just the thing - I may look ACCEPTABLE, but I am not at the level I WANT to be at.  I hate it when people feel compelled to tell me what I am doing is pointless because I don't need it; I know I only have about 5-10lbs to lose (and twice as much to gain in muscle!) but losing weight isn't the only reason one should want to be on a diet.

And for that matter, I'd like to point out that according to the Merriam-Webster Online Disctionary, the word DIET first and foremost means:

       

        a: food and drink regularly provided or consumed   

        b: habitual nourishment

Or more simply put, it just means the types of foods we choose to regularly consume.  If you ate fast food 3 meals a day, you would technically have a fast food diet. 

In any event, Will suggested I adopt his term - he says he's on a "Program."  I love that! I've also used the term regimen although that sounds rather stiff...

Anyway, in week two, the following was enacted:

Diet

I started a food journal. And by "food journal", I mean I put my left-brained, math-nerd, Excel-junky genius into it. Sure there are sites like SparkPeople and MyFitnessPal, but those aren't for me.  I did one time sign up with My Fitness Pal (it seemed to be the most user-friendly IMHO), but they grossly underestimated how many calories I burn in my workout and, thus, the goals for my caloric intake were about 500 calories less than my actual target.  And of course they calculate your carb, fat and protein targets, but I have my own distribution (I have decided to aim for 20% fat, 35% protein and 45% carbs), so the whole thing was just off.  Nonetheless, it has a great database for food journaling! But I chose to make my own template.  We're talking a multi-tab spreadsheet, folks. (If you want the template, let me know and I will email it to you). I began to modify my eating habits slightly (I cut out the obvious - copious amounts of nuts, sugary treats in the break room, no junk food, etc.) But after just one week of what I considered to be "eating good", I was utterly SHOCKED at my sodium intake, lack of protein, and high caloric balance without an equal level of nutritional value.

Exercise

I have written out plans for my workouts so that I know I am covering my bases each week.  Each day at the gym (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday), I do a different type of cardio for the sake of not plateauing. I do one type of elliptical one day, a different type of elliptical the next, and the treadmill the third day. I also make sure to build in time for a proper warm-up on the bike.  As for weights, I  planned out well-balanced routines and made sure to increase the weights I was already using. In addition, I've added new exercises that I traditionally said I "didn't need" because the other things I was doing "should be sufficient" -- which they were obviously not! I added squats, lunges, and planks, among other things. I continued to play 6 hours of volleyball on Saturdays and Sundays, Fridays I do 1 hour of stair climbing at the Santa Monica Stairs (10 sets), and Wednesdays are my rest days.

One social sacrifice I had to make was to stop going to happy hour after volleyball because "I deserved it"; what I REALLY deserved was to look, feel and BE what I've always wanted: a well-oiled machine. Food isn't the only way to treat yourself, so I have decided to change my philosophy and save my money (and calories!) spent on weekend consumption, and put it towards a new dress or top as I get more and more fit.

I have actually, as of yet, not experienced any withdrawals or cravings.  I think part of it is because I ate a pretty low-carb and sensible diet to begin with, but I think pure motivation helps.  I've also kept the following mantra at heart (understanding though that my goal is not to be skinny, it's to be FIT!)