You know those times of year that encourage you to slack off on exercise or diet? Me too! In fact, I experienced one of these this past summer. What can we do when we realize we’ve put on weight we don’t want or aren’t exercising as often as we like? I’ll tell you how I get back on track and hope that it helps you do the same. After all, life happens and the sooner you stop beating yourself up about it the sooner you can focus on feeling healthy and happy by moving in the direction you know is best for you.
Since I enjoy walking or running outdoors it is very easy for me to cut back on exercise during the hotter months. I was up 10 pounds (ssshhh) by the end of summer and didn’t like how my clothes fit or my level of energy. Time to dial things back in!
To get started, did I go out and run the same distance as my last run 3 months earlier? NO!!! It was best for me to make a minor commitment to ease myself back into the routine. I made the commitment to either walk 20 minutes or do strength exercises such as weights or yoga, 6 days a week. You may be saying to yourself, six days a week? That’s extreme Cecil!
Here is the reason why, if you aim for six a week you’ll likely complete 3-4. If you aim for three a week how many days will you complete? Studies show 1-2. Aim high and you’ll psychologically be setting yourself up for better results.
Between this commitment and eating healthier, I’m back on track and feeling great. I weigh in Saturday mornings and this past week I was only down 0.6 pounds. I’m used to 1-2 pounds a week so I was a little disappointed, AT FIRST. The reason being is that I also track the body fat percentage from my scale and take measurements around my neck, waist and thighs.
Once I plugged all of the data into the spreadsheet I could easily see that although the scale only dropped around a half a pound, my body composition had changed dramatically! Although using the body fat percentage to calculate my lean body mass/fat isn’t as exact as getting dunked in a tank. By doing it weekly I get a good idea of the changes happening in my body. I could tell that I had put on 2.15 pounds of muscle and lost 2.75 pounds of fat. Hence the 0.6 pounds of overall weight loss. That is enough to keep me on track instead being wrapped up in that weight number and telling myself it’s not worth the effort.
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