Friday, October 10, 2014

October 10th, 2014 I'm Winning

October 10th, 2014 I'm Winning

The late night weather coverage last night resulted in me oversleeping this morning. At least it was for a good cause, right? For some unexplained reason, I was full of energy right up until about 1:30pm when I started crashing.

I couldn't take a nap because I had things to get done before my emcee duties at a local elementary school carnival. The station I work for is a partner in education with this school--and two times a year I contribute my time to emcee an event. It's always a decent turnout. Tonight marks the 5th or 6th year in a row I've emceed this particular event. It went well. I didn't prepare very well, though. I should have packed some food. I didn't. I declined the offers of popcorn, hot dogs and chips tonight--opting instead to meet my daughter Amber and her fiance for dinner at my favorite little Mexican restaurant, immediately after the event. Once again, Fajita Crispy Tacos was the dinner of choice!

I had the calories coming, so I indulged in some chips and salsa with a little sour cream mixed into it, making a nice creamy dip. I counted my chips, declined the cheese, rice and beans--ordered corn taco shells instead of the typical flour tortillas and got out of there within my budget. Still, I have a feeling I'm eating out way too much lately. Will it show up on weigh day, Wednesday the 15th? Maybe. We'll see.

I fell short on my water consumption today and although my rest day was Monday, I decided to take another rest day today, skipping the workout tonight. My FitBit still is giving me a calorie adjustment of over 230 calories based on my activity.

I'm exhausted and simply need to sleep as long as I can to really soak up some good rest. I'm taking some melatonin here in a few minutes and I hope it keeps me from waking up early, instinctively.

I'm not beating myself up for any of this today. I'm still taking extraordinary care and sometimes that means allowing an extra helping of self-compassion. Negative self-talk does an incredible amount of damage--far greater than the physical damage of not getting enough water or exercise, or eating out too often. 

I'm winning, so why try to convince myself otherwise?

My Tweets today:














Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean

10 comments:

  1. Looking after yourself is definitely winning.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Again, great post! We are to quick to beat ourselves up for what we didn't do. I was doing this in the beginning way to often. And then it hit me! Whatever I'm doing now is a hell of a lot better than what I was doing then! And this is what I tell myself quite frequently lately as the plateau's have hit me like a sledge hammer! Any secrets of breaking it?
    Thanks! Rosie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rosie-- Great perspective! Yes-- even when my day isn't hitting on all cylinders--it is still far better than when I was in full on binge mode and living a "secret life" in isolation with the behavior. It's worlds better!!!
      Breaking a plateau... Two things I know to try:
      Eat more. Elevate your workouts some.
      The eat more thing is sometimes hard to wrap our minds around--but it's based on the idea that our metabolism needs a little more fuel to kick in and start working more efficiently again.
      Evaluate your calorie budget, Rosie-- Then add 200 or 300 calories per day for a couple of weeks. Try to make those extra calories good--wholesome things, whole foods-- fruit, veggies--meats if you prefer, or a good combination of all three... Increase your water during this two weeks too (interesting coming from me--Mr. I don't drink enough either!! LOL) And then, evaluate your exercise and do something to increase it...You don't have to go crazy here--just add some time, a little extra--just enough to say to your body-- "hey, we're breaking out of this stall--here we go!!"
      If you commit to this for two weeks--it might just work, Rosie. If you do, give it all you got! It might feel crazy to add the extra calories each day--but look at it as adding wood into your wood burning stove (your metabolism)...you want the fire to burn hot again--so it needs more fresh wood to burn.
      If you give this a chance-- please let me know how it worked for you!

      Delete
  3. It's all about progress, not perfection...and there's such a fine line between holding yourself accountable and giving yourself much-needed grace and forgiveness, Sean. And I can't even tell you what a difference I see in the old Sean who was dieting his way down to goal a few years ago, and the Sean you have become.

    There seems to be a pattern of “all or nothing” thinking with a lot of compulsive overeaters...either dieting with rigidity and expecting perfection or bingeing back up the scale. The last few months, you seem to have found that middle ground where you hold yourself accountable and have some absolute boundaries with eating but you also are aware that expecting perfection only sets you up for certain failure. You don’t jump on the self-defeating behavior bandwagon but now do the opposite…see the short-comings for what they are…being human, and learn from it, offer yourself much-needed grace and forgiveness, instead of negative self-talk, which can be deadly. You are no longer the problem you are trying to overcome, but part of the actual solution, if that makes sense.

    It’s not about dieting at all, I’m learning… because 95% of people who diet, gain all their weight back, and usually more. It’s about changing inwardly, so that we respond to life in a new, healthier way, one day at a time. This post was very inspiring to me. Thanks, Sean. Shirley from TN

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Progress-not perfection--yes!! I sincerely appreciate you noticing the difference between my initial weight loss and now--it is a very different perspective and approach!
      I agree about the prevalence of "all or nothing" type thinking...the middle ground is much better, in my experience. You also hit the nail on the head--there is a very fine line between compassion and excuses--and the challenge is tempered with self-honesty. I know if I'm truly in need of a little compassion or if I'm just being lazy because I don't feel like doing anything.
      As I take things one day at a time--I'm learning to also realize that one day is just that, one day. And I don't have to do it all in one day.
      It is about changing inside!!!
      Making those changes in how we respond and react to situations, unforeseen circumstances and emotions--is the work we must do. The fundamentals we utilize must run in the background of our life---and what I'm discovering is, life is so much better when I'm maintaining the "background program."
      I'm glad you enjoyed the post, Shirley! Your support has been an absolute gift to me. Thank you!

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Thank you, Fog Dog!! It's working well, for sure!

      Delete

I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. Thank you for your support!