L'Art De Vivre

[Jié Xī]

Hello again. It's been awhile . . . but I'm back.

I've seriously lost the same 5 pounds four times already this year. I'm 172 again. My lowest this year so far was 162 (Feb). Shot back up to 172. Got back to 165 (March). Shot back to 172+. Got back to 167. Shot back to 172. Then 165 (Apr). And now back to 172.

I've wanted to lose weight and be a size that I felt good at since my early teen years. I basically dieted my whole life and only actually reached goal twice (once at 19 -- 138 lbs) and once in my early 30's (hit 129, but maintained 134 for a year). The rest of my life and every time I had a pic taken (every vacation, every Christmas, etc.), I felt shame and swore that next time I would be at goal. Obviously, that only happened twice.

We went on family mini-vaca the week before last and hubby took a pic of me with the kiddos and it will never see the light of day. But in that moment I realized that I am going to be 43 this summer. And I will be d@mned if I spend the rest of my 40's chasing the same elusive dream of my 20's and 30's, I will NOT turn 50 and think "Wow, I spent my whole life trying to lose weight and failed . . . my whole life on a diet, hating how I looked."

So. Yea. This is it. We are going on vacation (the same cabin) again the last week in September and I WILL be at goal (<139.9) by then. And I will maintain that weight at least until menopause (not sure if I can force my body not to gain after that, lol).

 

[Jié Xī]

Goal #1: Le régimé (diet) — Low carb, low calorie. Started last week; Good on the low carb, not as low calorie as I would have liked. BUT, I am down to 3 blocks of 90% cocoa chocolate each night (from 6-8 blocks). And, other than a few wine coolers on vacation, I haven't drank since February.

Goal #2: Musculation (weight lifting) — 5-6x a week. Started last week; so far so good.

Goal #3: Je fais du yoga (doing yoga) — 4-5x a week. Started last week; haven't quite hit 4x a week, but the fact that I actually did it 2x in one week is unheard of.

I'm launching my business in a few months and would like to be mediagenic ("attractive, charming, and comfortable on camera"). I've never been called charming, and am freakishly uncomfortable on camera because I feel the opposite of attractive. Thus, the goal is to lose weight to feel attractive which hopefully translates to feeling comfortable. As for charming, well, shooting for 2 out of 3, lol.

 

[Jié Xī]

Today was hard. Cheated and ate a pepperoni Stromboli on low carb wrap. It was low carb, but not low calorie. Very munchie today. Not sure why. Ugh.

But I did lift weights (2 sets per muscle group) and did my 12 minute yoga emergency legs DVD.

I'm heading over to Pinterest now to create a private inspiration board. Hopefully that helps me keep my long-term goals in mind. (I'm ADHD, so that doesn't come naturally at all.)

 

[Jié Xī]

Did yoga again. Go me. Two days in a row. Did not lift weights but only because I am very sore today. I messed up yesterday. My upper body routine lately was just shoulders (2 sets of 4 different exercises) with dumbbells out in the TV room. Lower body is mostly barbell in another room. So while I was there yesterday I did chest presses and tricep presses. I figured that wasn't my shoulder muscle so I should be good. Ha! Nope. My arms are so sore. So, today is unexpected rest day and from now on I won't attempt upper body exercises on lower body days.

Diet. Okay, so dieting is the bane of my existence. But I think I have stumbled onto something that just may work for me. If you remember from challenges ago, I started successfully doing the dinner dishes because I would watch an episode of What Not To Wear while doing so. Well, now I am into content marketing YouTube videos on launching your own business, sales forecasting, demographics, etc. Very exciting stuff if you are ADHD and that is what you are hyperfocused on at the moment. Anyway, I never stick to my diet. I always go over my caloric goal. ALWAYS. This is why I set a very low caloric goal, because no matter what that goal is, i will go over it. And then of course I complain that I don't lose weight. Year. After. Year. But . . . yesterday I thought of something: I want to go over caloric goal, fine. Then I cycle the extra off. Because I have all these YouTube videos I want to watch (let alone reruns of Biggest Loser), I have actually done this 2 days in a row.

I know I am suppossed to like cardio. But I don't. And I never will. But I do like to eat. So if I continue to stick to this plan, it comes out to the same thing. And now I will have stuck to my calorie goal, bonus I get in cardio, and I get to watch videos I otherwise wouldn't let myself because my to-do list is too long. Win-Win.

 

[Jié Xī]

So, I hit 167.6 on Friday. It's only .2 more than I had hoped so I'll take it. I've seen 167 a million times this year already and 165 2x and 162 1x, so getting under 167 (hopefully by next week) will def help increase my motivation. I stuck to plan perfectly all week -- i.e., I cycled off the extra calories every time I went over on my diet, lifted weights and did yoga several times. I made a vision board on Pinterest of outfits I'd love to wear and I'm going to dye my hair burgundy brown when I hit 159. Trying to just keep focused. I think that's the hardest part, not losing focus and eating all my favorite foods.

 

[tipperary]

Poo a new colour hair sounds interesting