Week 2 of 6 week Commitment

Last week maybe went a bit better than week 1 of the 6 weeks of commitment. I tracked my carbs consumed in snacks for 5 out of 7 days, I think. It continues to be difficult to know for sure when I've logged everything since myfitnesspal won't allow me to close out the day due to the low number of calories consumed. This week's tracking solidified my belief that I tracked more than 1 day last week. I only went over the 135 once, averaging 95.4 carbs in snacks per day.

This week's goal was to exercise for at least 10 minutes three days per week. I exercised twice. Today was day 1 of exercising for this week. I will do better this week with goal two, much like I did better with goal 1 the week after it debuted,

Week 3's goal is to drink at least 6 glasses of water daily. Thus far (3:30pm), I've consumed 5.5 glasses of water. A few weeks ago, I purchased big bottles of Dasani because they were on sale. They are perfect for now. The 1 bottle is nearly 6 glasses; 2 bottles will easily exceed my 10 cup goal that's to come.

Although I am comfortable with the progress I'm making, the commitment, my scale did not tell me a happy story on Friday. I had gained 1lb for the week but the most alarming thing was to generate the grid to see my weight for the year. It's gone up and up and up, about 12-14 lbs, I believe. Disheartening. Then again, that doesn't sound right. I believe I'm 6 lbs away from my high so I guess the 12-14 is the increase from my recent low. I find the graph to be a bit motivating. It's a fact that weight loss does not tend to motivate my actions, only health. But seeing the increase from my recent natural weight-loss (side effect of going gluten-free) made me want to go back to my previous weight. Truly, my low made me want to lose a few more pounds to cross one those theoretical weight line (increments of 25). I'm not jumping up and down to become a calorie counter with an intense exercise schedule, but I am hopeful that weight-loss will be a byproduct of my simple, gradual, intentional changes. Next week's goal is going to be to exercise 17 minutes a day at least 3 days a week; funny how the goals are coming to me faster than the weeks are passing.

Here's to strength and health....

2nd take of 2016

My job has been sending e-mails trying to hype employees up about a new fitness/health program being offered to employees. I believe it incorporates nutrition, exercise, and mental well-being into its curriculum. It's distinct from Weight Watchers, which is also offered. I admit that I’ve given thought to joining this group. Problem 1 is I’m stationed off main campus and really don’t like the hassle of getting to campus to participate in a 30 minute group. It takes about 30 minutes for me to complete the round trip traveling. Problem 2 is I haven’t fully committed to anything health positive recently. I believe the time my body fell apart every time I exercised is the last time I was committed (February 2016). Well, one of the e-mails encouraged us to make one change per week. Slow and steady. It’s the kind of thing I would come up with myself while everyone else looks at me like I’m crazy, lazy, and uncommitted (Problem 3, BTW). Although I haven’t joined the class, I made the commitment to change 1 thing per week for 6 weeks and told my wife to encourage her to keep me accountable (I don’t think that part is working though, as she is not making the same commitment). My changes?

Well, post-Easter I went crazy with the candy, especially those of the pure sugar variety. As peeps continued to be on clearance, I began thinking about my diabetic status and what my snacking was likely doing to my A1C (average blood sugar reading). How to scale back? Figure out how much damage I was doing and work from there. I managed to track my carbs consumed as snacks for 5 days and had an average consumption of 169 carbs per day (in snacks). I want to get down to no more than 100 daily and therefore decided to set my first goal at 20% less of original consumption. Goal 1, week 1, was to limit my carb consumption through snacks to 135 carbs or less. To help reach this goal, I realized that 135 carbs divided across morning, afternoon, evening, and night snacks allows up to 34 carbs per time of day period. That was manageable. If I wanted to eat a Snickers at 11am, I’d look and say, “Okay. It’s 11. How many carbs in snacks have I had today and how many do I have left before noon?” Sometimes, it was necessary to wait a few hours before getting that snack. Manageable. But how’d I do? Well, let’s start by saying I did not carb count one day this weekend—not Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Friday I went to an outreach event at work and had access to a ridiculous amount of sugar while there. No restraint. Strike out. Bad. Saturday, I went to a wedding. That allowed for a slice (and half) of cake but didn’t involve a whole lot of sweets. Today, I am craving but the day’s guilt is about pizza + sweet bites + blended coffee  in one sitting. Besides that, I tracked my carbs through snacks 2 full and 2 half days out of 4 days last week and stayed within my limit one of those days. Wow. I thought I did a better job tracking my snacks last week. My gut says I tracked for 3 days but myfitnesspal won't let me mark the day complete when my log says I didn't eat enough calories per day. 

Week 2 begins tomorrow but I began my action today. This coming week, I commit to walking 10 minutes per day on at least 3 days. Today, I walked for 10 minutes at 2.0 miles per hour. Around minute 4 or 5, I had great leg pain. That’s when I knew that this week’s goal would be 10 minutes, not 15. I still remember last time. I also experienced hip and back pain at the speed I figure is about as slow as I can go while still moving. Session over, I applied ice packs to my calf muscles. I’m trying to stay “healthy” and stable with the exercise this time. I will also continue to track my snack consumption.

6 weeks. I haven’t given much thought to what goal I will set per week so this journey will be interesting to see unfold. Also, I’ve been having issues with my shoulders, which have prevented me from spending time on the mat. I’m still in the phase of nursing my right shoulder and don’t think it wise to balance my weight on it. Some days, I put too much on my left side which then screams in ways similar to the right. The doctor says if I don’t get better with the shot he gave me and meloxicam that I’ve opted to take, that I seem to be a surgery candidate. I sure don’t want or plan to have surgery. Maybe rotator cuff exercises should be a week 3 goals. Lol. Namaste and Peace.