You probably thought I disappeared, but I'm here. I was continuing my battle with my weight with ups and downs as does everyone. But I never gave up.
I read so many books and all of the continued to influence me in what exactly I would want to do to stay on this healthy path. You see when you decide to make a lifestyle change it's different than going on a diet. You have to find what can work for you for the rest of your life...not just until you lose 5 or 10 lbs. I don't want to ever go back to my non-caring, unhealthy way of life.
I read books like the Cardio-Free diet, which really pushes the importance of strength training. I read Body for Life for Women, which is a great book for encouraging older women (which I unfortunately am) that it's never too late. And of course I invested in many, many healthier cookbooks to indulge my love for cooking.
On the path I tried different things, some of which I felt I could continue and other that I did not. Over time I feel I've found a plan that works for me.
I also invested in a Body Bugg - which measures the calories you burn throughout the day and even through your sleep. I found that I burned far less calories than I had previously thought with my exercising. The Body Bugg is 94% accurate and it showed that my Heart Rate Monitor and my exercise equipment showed me burning way more calories than I was. EXACTLY why you can not out work bad eating habits. So I came to the conclusion that I MUST cut my calories significantly to attain the deficit that I wanted.
Now I'm eating around 1200 calories and working out 6 times a week. I do Stationary Interval Biking Mondays, Strength training Tuesdays (Legs & Butt), Treadmill Interval Wednesday, Strength Training Thursday (Arms & Shoulders), Stationary Interval Biking Friday, Strength training (Abs, Back, Core)
I know it sounds impossible to keep up this pace, but I've been doing it pretty consistently and I'm not being ridiculous about it. If I have a busy weekend and need to take a day off to get the house ready or something I do. Working out 6 days a week consistently allows me to take a day here and there and not feel guilty.
In the process I've lost some weight. I'm getting ever close to my goals! And I feel fantastic. I can tell you that my stamina has improved so much it surprises me every day. I can keep going well into the night and still feel energetic. It's awesome and a side benefit I had not expected.
Current Weight: 204
Only 4lbs to go to finally get below the dreaded 200lbs!
After 20 odd years I'm going to celebrate that milestone and never EVER return to it!!!
Tammy
