July Bootcamp 2012: Making an Olympic effort in the area I need to improve the most

This has been a great bootcamp challenge. Thanks to Stephen for coming up with the idea! I’m now pleased to award myself with a silver medal, because I followed my eating and exercise plan every day, worked in the workbook Food and Feelings every day, and lost four pounds for the month.

Yahoo!

I’ve been very diligent this week about diet and exercise. I lifted weights twice, and when I did it this morning I noticed that it is probably time to increase the load again. I did lots of cardio, from one to two hours,every day except Monday. On Tuesday, Wednesday and today I exercised in the morning and in the evening. I recorded every bite that I ate and stuck with healthy foods, mostly fruits, veggies and protein. My daily caloric intake was between 1400 and 1500 each day, except on Thursday when I ate a little more than 1200 cals.

And my weekly weigh-in showed that my weight is exactly the same as it was last Friday.

Argh. One thing I wonder about is my fat intake. At around 10-15% daily, it is lower than the recommended 30%, but I can’t figure out a good way to add some healthy fat to my diet. I have a green smoothie every morning & guess I could experiment with adding some fat into that. Hmmm…I’m not sure what sort of healthy fat would not taste yucky in a green smoothie…

I’ve stuck with all of my goals all week. Exercised for at least an hour a day (usually) more 6 days, added in strength training twice, followed my eating plan carefully and recorded everything I ate. Most importantly, I worked a little in my workbook each day. The results I want (weight loss) are coming more slowly than I would like. Unexpected other goals (mental/emotional/spiritual healing) are happening quickly, though.

I am grateful:
- That the Mighty SnowLeopard had a sunshiney birthday.
- That Mr. Wren serendipitiously met our former doctor while shopping and learned that he will be practicing in a new clinic. Can’t express what a relief this is.
- For green smoothies.

I did these things well:
- Did some strength training before work, even though I was short on time.
- Made a little progress in bonding with the annoying woman at work.
- Disagreed with my boss in a firm and professional manner.

I have been sticking with my plan of exercising daily & sticking with my food plan. Yesterday I lifted weights, too. I feel discouraged about the possibility of meeting my gold medal goal. As usual, weight loss is elusive despite my best efforts, but I will stick with it. I ought to be measuring myself. My clothes are loose enough that I can take my jeans on and off without unbuttoning them, and it might be more encouraging to measure my progress through measurements, rather than on the bathroom scale. I just feel sort of inept at accurately taking my measurements.

The Olympic effort continues. The wording of this goal came in very handy today, because, after steadily losing weight and following my plan to the tee, my weight mysteriously jumped up by three pounds. Instead of giving in to discouragement, I reminded myself that Olympic athletes redouble their efforts in the face of set backs, so that’s what I did, too. Before work I did 30 minutes of circuit training, and after work I hiked for 75 minutes, burning over 1300 calories for the day. I logged in every bite and stayed well within my eating plan, and I did some work in my workbook.

Did okay yesterday. Worked in my workbook, followed my food plan, recorded every thing eaten, hiked for 65 minutes. Check, check, check and check!

Did a good job in all areas yesterday. For cardio, I hiked and ran in the morning, then went for an easy evening walk. I lifted 12 and 15 pound free weights (24 & 30 pounds total), 3 sets of 12, a number of different exercises. I devoted some time to my workbook. I made good food choices and recorded everything that I ate. I get an especially big gold star for making a healthy food choice when we went to a restaurant for lunch. I chose a Chinese soup with lots of vegetables.

Another good day. It was my scheduled rest day, so that was easy enough to do. I also tracked all the food that I ate and stayed on plan, and I worked in my workbook. This book is really helping me understand a lot about myself. It’s helping me to not use mindless eating to keep emotions at bay…and I am experiencing a lot of anxiety as a result.

Another winning day! I hiked for 90 minutes (almost 1200 cals), I tracked all my food & stayed within my eating plan, and I did some work in the workbook. For a special mention, I resisted fries and milkshakes and instead chose a turkey on wheat sandwich at the hamburger stand. Gold star for me!