Touching down on Friday: weekly healthy lifestyle report

What a week! Welcome Friday and the upcoming weekend!  I made some changes this weekend.  Have they made a difference?  In some ways maybe…in other ways it’s too soon to tell.  But we will get there. 

The first line of business is the challenge.   I have done really well.  I continue to track my food and I’ve been really good about keeping my calories in check…so I am earning a check mark (Star) for each day!  GO me!  Exercise…..I failed last week, but I am nailing this week and I have made up some of my missed time from last week…ok, not some….ALL of my missed time from last week has been made up! As I mentioned on Monday, we walked on Sunday….and I walked during my lunch breaks!   The weather was fantastic and it was neat to walk outside in really nice weather (74 degrees) around a lake that was still frozen!  

So I walked on ………..  On Monday night I even walked after work with Jason!  Go me!!!  By Wednesday I had recouped my missed time and sat at 185 minutes….and my goal by today was at 160 minutes so anything toward the end of the week was above and beyond.  The latter part of the week was a little less exercise...the weather kept me in during my lunch break (threatening rain).

 

It is true, I am only walking…but I have to start somewhere!   Some gals at my job decided to do squats every once in a while (at predetermined times)  at our desks (when we can amidst our work)….I have been doing some squats and WOAH…my legs are on fire!  All those squats that I used to do in Zumba made my legs strong and a few  squats didn’t affect me…but boy oh boy do they affect me now!

This week I decided to go back to something that I’ve done in the past.  I decided to use protein powder and make a protein shake as part of my lunch.  I went to the store and debated which powder to buy.  I ended up buying a handful of single use packs to try some.  I got home and laughed because the ones that interested me were all the same brand.   But that’s fine.

On Monday I tried the Garden of Eden Organic Whey…chocolate with Peanut butter.  It was Delicious!  I didn’t have any aftertaste or negative thoughts. 

On Tuesday I was anxious to try the Garden of Eden Organic Whey…the same as Monday…but Strawberry flavor.  Once again I LOVED IT!

I figured Wednesday would be a repeat of deliciousness.  Afterall, it was the same brand…just a different type!   I chose the Garden of Eden Protein with Greens…vanilla flavor.  Holy cow…YUCK!  It felt like I was drinking chalk!   This will NOT be a repeat!
So day three was so horrible that I just couldn’t bear to try it again on Thursday or Friday!  (The ones I have left to try are in this same ‘family’ of protein packets...the raw protein).   I do know that when I go shopping this week I will pick up a big jug of the first kind I tried.  I’m trying to decide...strawberry or chocolate peanut butter?  Or should I just sink the money and buy both???

I have grand plans for a tracking system for me. Simple and easy!   I’m trying it out....and if it works I will be sharing it shortly!   Meanwhile, I vowed this weekend that I was going to start running.  And what do you know?  I’m feeling sick!  (Cough, sore throat and just exhausted!).  It seems like every time I make plans and I’m determined that life throws me a curve ball!  Oh well!

So I am trucking on and working on this healthy lifestyle thing!   Perseverance is the key!!!!

Effort: the effect on weight loss

Effort.  What a simple word.  Defined by the dictionary it means “a vigorous or determined attempt”.    We put forth effort all day and every day.  On those mornings where it’s really cold outside and you just don’t want to get out of bed and have to brave the cold to go to work?   You expend effort to get moving.  You put forth effort when it comes to cleaning your house, cooking dinner, completing your tasks at work.   All sorts of effort is expended.  But what about effort when it pertains to weight loss?  What effort is there?  How do our efforts parlay into success….or failure?

A while back I saw a statement on a blog that I regularly read .  It talked about effort and there was something that stuck out at me….a connection that I made in my head.   I popped the phrase into my data base in my mind and I sat on it a while.  I may be totally twisting what the message was in the original post, but it’s what has come around in MY head from a simple post!  So without further ado, I have two mathematical equations for you.  Ok, don’t panic…they are SUPER easy!

1.         Effort   =  The joy of success

2.        Lack of Effort  = absolute  failure

I told you they were easy didn’t I?  So simply put….if I put in the effort, I can reap the joys of success….but if I fail to even make an effort I fail.  Woah now…. So one brings most probablesuccess and the other one is absolute failure?   What kind of nincompoop would chose the absolute failure?    Who wants to fail?  No one!  It is human nature to want to be successful in all of our endeavors.

So once we get to this point in our thinking we can safely assume that to have success, you must have effort!  I will go further and say that if you never put forth any effort, that you will never be successful.  (I will qualify this by saying that there are extenuating circumstances that can bring around successful weight loss without effort….I mean….we could all have some horrible accident that causes us to break our jaw, requiring it to be wired shut for months……a liquid diet absorbed in pain may do the trick without actual effort!  But the AVERAGE person will need to expend effort to show success!)

Is there risk in the effort?  Well of course.   There is always a risk in pushing ourselves forward and putting effort into something.  But what rewards would you be able to reap if you try????  Amazing, joyful success!  

So it really boils down to a decision.  You can weigh the possible risk with the possible benefits of success?  But in the end, really think about it….because if you never try, what hope do you have of success?   NONE!