TALES FROM THE SCALES LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Posted by Karen on Oct 24 2007
Ok, I had a stroke of genius this weekend. Or maybe it was just some bad beef. Whatever it was, I think it’s going to help. The thing is this…..I play mind games with myself and it sabotages my progress. I’m sure that’s not new to many of you. And really, it’s not new to me. I just never knew how to counteract it before, but I think I have a plan.
Let me give you a bit of background on a non-weight-loss related issue but definitely something people avoid…..flossing. Yes, flossing your teeth. See, I used to get yelled at each time I went to the dentist. The lecture was always the same, “You need to floss.” And I’d try. I’d make it about 3 days, maybe 4, and then I’d just quit. Six months would go by, another dentist appointment would be scheduled, and I’d have to sit through the lecture again.
So finally I decided to do something about it. But I had to play a mind game with myself to accomplish it. I made a deal with myself, and ultimately with my gums and teeth. I decided that I would ONLY floss Monday through Friday. That’s it. I would not have to floss on the weekends. That way, I could start flossing and when day 3 or 4 came along, I could say to myself, “No, you can’t skip flossing today because it’s not a weekend. Floss today and tomorrow and then you can have two glorious, wonderful, delightful days off.” And I’d floss.
Of course, I went in six months later to the dentist and the hygienist asked me if I flossed every day. Stupid me, I said, “No, but I do floss Monday through Friday….blah blah blah.” She told me that wasn’t good enough. But for me, it was. It had to be. Otherwise I would give it up totally.
And guess what happened? Flossing became such a habit that now I can’t imagine not flossing my teeth every.single.day! My teeth feel ick without flossing.
Light bulb moment–why not translate that stragegy to exercise? So last week I began exercising on Monday. I did 30 minutes of interval training on the treadmill. Ah, felt good. Tuesday, I dusted off an old Walk Away the Pounds video and did a two mile walk. Wednesday, I did the 2 mile walk again and this time the kids joined me! Thursday I started to do the walk, but my daughter was heading up to the shower and she wanted to walk too. So I waited until the afternoon and did it then. Bingo….FOUR days in a row. I could do this because I knew I didn’t HAVE to exercise on Saturday and Sunday!! As long as I could make it Monday through Friday, I was good. I had played a mind game with myself.
And then bad news hit. Friday morning I woke up and felt sick. My throat hurt. I was achy. I was tired. So I lounged around all day. I didn’t exercise. Saturday, same thing. I felt blah. Not only did I feel blah because I was ill, but I felt blah because I had failed. My mind games were telling me that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep up with an exercise schedule. Not even for one lousy week!
And then another light bulb moment happened. Who said I needed to kill myself exercising? Who said I needed to do a 12 minute mile or do every single move in a Walk Away the Pounds DVD? On days I feel icky, I can still exercise, just not as vigorously!
So here is my new, and improved plan. I will exercise Monday through Friday. If I want to skip a day, I will tell myself, “No, you can’t skip today. Remember you have Saturday and Sunday off from exercising.” On exercise days I will give it my all. I will incorporate good, heart-beat-raising workouts into my day. Thirty minutes. Sweat producing. Invigorating.
And on those days where I feel sick, or blah, or I come up with a million and one reasons NOT to exercise, I will at least get on the treadmill and walk a slow walk. Even 30 minutes at 2 miles an hour is better than nothing! Then I’m not failing my plan. I can honestly say I exercised! And when the illness or the blah has passed, I’ll kick it up a notch again.
I am ALL over this. I CAN do it!
Update on my stats…..I am now 161.4 lbs which is down 1.2 pounds from last week and 1.8 pounds total.
I had my 60+ ounces of water every day.
I worked on healthy, planned dinners.
I didn’t eat after 7:30 except the one night when we had dinner at 8 so we could watch the ball game and last night when I got home late from play rehearsal.
So far this week I have exercised Monday and Tuesday! And I have NO excuse to not exercise today!! Especially since I’ll get this weekend off!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 9:56 am 1 CurvyJones said …
I play the same mind game with myself. I give myself Fridays and Saturdays off. I push myself to workout 5 days a week but sometimes Saturday rolls around and all I can think about is the gym, and going, and getting a good sweat going, and sitting in the nice hot sauna, and doing the leg press till I want to collapse.
Is it bad that we are so easily manipulated by ourselves ?
on 24 Oct 2007 at 11:27 am 2 reba said …
hey I say whatever works, i figure everyday that i exercise is better than sitting on my butt. this week i have to revamp my routine cause i am supposed to be taking it easy
on 24 Oct 2007 at 11:49 am 3 Courtney said …
Thank you for all the great comments. Isn’t it weird that was your 3 words, you love the bucks and so on? I love the buckeyes! Are you from Ohio, I am guessing? We did have great seats especially for the script ohio. I can’t wait to be able to go back!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 12:30 pm 4 Suzanne said …
Down 1.2 pounds - way to go!
You’re awfully brave to post your weight! I attend TOPS (www.tops.org) and we announce at meetings how much we lost or gained that week. Even amongst others who struggle with their weight, announcing it can be difficult. It does motivate a gal tho, doesn’t it?
Keep up the good work(outs)!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 12:57 pm 5 Deb - Mom of 3 Girls said …
Way to go! I need to come up with a mind game to get me motivated to start exercising to begin with. And to eat better, etc. Sigh…
on 24 Oct 2007 at 1:20 pm 6 JanB said …
Congratulations! Your plan seems like a good idea, I like it!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 2:35 pm 7 ValleyGirl said …
Excellent idea!! I’ll have to try that. I know ALL ABOUT self-sabotage, especially in this area!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 2:47 pm 8 ValleyGirl said …
P.S. We picked your suggestion and named our puppy Shadow.
on 24 Oct 2007 at 4:08 pm 9 Julie said …
For exercise it helps to have a dog who is ready to go as soon as you get home from work to modivate you into exercise. I don’t want to disappoint him and I know I will feel better afterwards. As for flossing, I skip Sat.’s because it is the only day I don’t have something planned that I go to.
Congrats on the 1.2 lbs lost.
on 24 Oct 2007 at 4:29 pm 10 mamasutra said …
Congrats on the 1.2 lb. loss! The flossing story made me laugh because I did the same Mon-Fri thing, I just never told the hygienist I didn’t do it everyday! I’m now trying to apply the delayed gratification to my latte habit; I have a terrible time with short term stuff, but once I get rolling I can go for a long stretch because it makes me feel so virtuous! But exercise…I just don’t know what I’m going to do about that! Good job on getting your exercise in!!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 4:46 pm 11 MamaBearJune said …
Great job, Karen! You are awesome! Congrats on the loss and making healthy choices.
By the way, if you ever want to know the calorie count on those lattes, email me. My daughter was a barista at Starbucks for a while, so we have a pamphlet. It’s not pretty! My favorite Starbucks treat; venti, non-fat, decaf white mocha has 480 calories! Yes, that’s with NONFAT milk! Venti, decaf, nonfat vanilla latte is just 280. JUST!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 5:37 pm 12 Thea @ I'm a Drama Mama said …
That sounds like a great plan…I may have to steal it!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 6:06 pm 13 Katie said …
Great Job!! It sounds like you have a great plan and are sticking to it well! Way to go!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 9:26 pm 14 Jennifer said …
I totally think the same way! Even about the same subjects, I now LOVE to floss. Too bad I don’t LOVE to exercise!
on 24 Oct 2007 at 9:54 pm 15 Lisa Kay said …
What a great way to “trick” yourself into doing an activity you don’t always want to do!! I do something similiar when I’m exercising. I often tell myself, “OK, I’ll stop in 2 minutes.” “The next mailbox/bush/tree I’ll stop walking…” It’s like giving yourself permission NOT to do something makes me not mind doing it.
Thanks for sharing!
Lisa Kay
on 27 Oct 2007 at 9:03 pm 16 wobmia » Blog Archiv » TALES FROM THE SCALES LIGHT BULB MOMENT said …
[…] the details here Der Beitrag wurde am Wednesday, den 24. October 2007 um 08:09 Uhr veröffentlicht und wurde […]
on 04 Nov 2007 at 1:40 pm 17 PHAT Mama said …
That’s a great idea! And thanks for the link to the Tales From the Scales, I hadn’t heard of that site before.
on 13 Nov 2007 at 2:24 am 18 Susanna said …
That’s great! I just went to the dentist today, and got that same lecture about my once-a-week frequency. But my hygienist was kinder than yours. She said, Just start out with every second day…
I do already exercise every Monday to Friday, tho! I gave up my parking spot at my work, and now I park leave my car at my daughter’s daycare and walk the rest of the way, which is about 20 minutes each way. And my weight STILL hasn’t shifted! (See also a response to your no-sugar-on-cereal post.)
I’ll give my weight, too: about 155 lb, depending on the day. It fluctuates a lot. Another factor in not staying motivated. And I’m only 5′3″, so that’s too much by at least 10 lb.