The Human Body is an Interesting Thing

I was working out for a long time and recently just stopped. I became so frustrated with the lack of weight loss that I felt like I was working out for nothing. I finally came to the realization that I need to come out of denial and admit that I need to adjust my eating habits. Now, I'm not an un-healthy eater. I almost never eat fast food and our home-cooked meals are extremely healthy. I do have a huge weakness for dessert, and I snack a lot.

On a given day, I would eat a bowl of oatmeal in the morning at around 8am. This would be the instant oatmeal with all the sugar & stuff. By 10:30 I found myself starving. My stomach would growl and I would sometimes get light-headed. The same thing would happen at 3pm. The only way to overcome this was to eat more. Yes, I was a snacker.

So about a month ago I changed things. I gave up the sugary processed instant oatmeal and switched over to fruit & yogurt. I'll have a sliced peach with some low-fat vanilla yogurt and some unsalted sunflower seeds. I actually look forward to this breakfast every morning. Here's the odd thing. The other day I looked at the clock and it was 12:30pm. I hadn't even noticed how late it was because my stomach hadn't growled and I wasn't feeling light-headed. A good breakfast actually helps me overcome those mid-morning snack attacks. And, it lasts throughout the day. I'll eat lunch around 12:30 and will be OK until 7pm dinner. This whole chain of events stems from just one thing, a better breakfast.

Now I've added on constant exercise, about 5-6 days a week. This is not necessarily just the gym. Ben & I have been doing a lot of walking, about 45 minutes each evening. On the weekends I manage to work out more than once a day. I'll go to the gym in the morning for about 2 hours and I'll walk with Ben that evening. I don’t know why, but I love the gym. It’s fun for me.

So far I have not stepped on the scale in about a month. I hate the scale. But today as I was getting dressed I was feeling pretty damn good. I don't feel like I have a protruding gut anymore. I'm short, so every excess pound totally shows on me. I'm starting to feel better and I know that I have cut my daily calories tremendously and increased my metabolism. Who knows? I’m only 20 pounds from wearing a bikini again. Next summer….

4 comments:

:) said...

sweet..good deal..congratz. im kinda the same..except no desire to wear a bikini..but..i get starved at 10 or 11..i was just talking with my wife last night that i need to make 4 small meals..7, 11, 3 and 730pm types of things..i heard thats a good way to go..have 4 or 5 small meals..then you dont snack..cuz when we snack..its like..some cookies, candy, chips..usually..not a piece of fruit or something remotely healthy.
my wife and i walk most evenings too..about 30 min or so though..but up hills :) good deal. we are all in the "i want to lose 10 pounds" club. not fatties..or even close..just a lil soft in some areas ;)

Unknown said...

I noticed my breakfast change has helped me feel full longer too.I have Kashi heart to heart cereal and a bananna.I am full till about 12:00.I am on a plateu weight loss wise though.It is driving me nuts!I have about 20 I want to come off.But I am also short...5'1 so that extra twenty really shows...I work out 6 days a week for 50 minutes.I think I need to start hitting the weights more...ugh...so much work for so little result...sooooooo frustrating.I will say I feel like a different person since I have started to eat healthy though.I have triple the energy and I remember a time not so long ago that I felt sick every day when I woke up.Nothing I could put my finger on just sick and tired and not good.Now I feel great every morning so I can't complain too much because the changes I have made have made a difference in that respect...good for you!That is so nice you husband go out walking together everynight too.Greg is a mailman so the last thing he wants to do at night is walk...we do go walking on different trails on the weekends though that is always fun...

Unknown said...

man,could I have had more typo's and mispellings...

Kiddo78 said...

Good for you! I still haven't really gotten motivated to rejoin the gym yet. I envy people like you who are so good about it!