Have you ever caught yourself putting little roadblocks in your way? I don't know about you, but I'll get really intensely motivated for a couple of weeks about something and then it'll slowly fade away or suddenly get dropped. For example, I really wanted to learn how to play the guitar...but I couldn't reach far enough to play harder chords than the basics so I just stopped playing. OR I wanted to be a personal trainer but between graduating and settling in a new city, it slipped off my radar.
For those of us who don't seem to be able to commit to interests long-term, finally having something click with us is kind of a miracle--but when it clicks, it CLICKS.
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When I was playing softball, one of the first things our trainer said to us was "If you eat one bite of pasta it will ruin your whole diet." Along with the fight against pasta and other breads, our other major rules were to eat mostly protein and to not count calories. That's right--don't count calories.
Over the last few years of being an off-and-on dieter/healthy person, I've done a lot of experiments with various tactics to being healthy. Here's what I've done, here's what's worked, and here's what hasn't: 1) Calorie Counting (with an app) Apps like FitBit or MyFitnessPal are awesome if you're interested in keeping track of your calorie intake. What I like about this is that it keeps the amount of food you're consuming in check--instead of reaching for your 3rd slice of pizza, you're going to see that you're going way above your calorie count for the day. Also, these apps hold you accountable by making your intake very visible. What I don't like about calorie counting is that it gives you the opportunity to ingest unhealthy kinds of food--as long as you don't go over your calorie limit. Also, as with most of the logging-through-an-app opportunities, you have to weigh everything or measure everything you consume to get the exact number--and that's ridiculously time consuming. Personally, I keep ebbing and flowing with this one, and find that I'll log my calories once a week then forget to do so again, just because of how tedious it can be. 2) Macro Tracking (with an app) According to a trainer I saw recently, your macros (or macronutrients e.g. protein, carbs, and fat) at the end of a full day of eating should be about 30-40% carbs, 30-40% fats, and 15-20% protein. While this information was specifically geared toward me and I encourage you to go see a health professional for more information, watching my macros was helpful because it gave me an idea of whether I was eating the right kinds of food or not. However, if you've planned your meals for the week and they don't actually fit with your macro percentages at the end of the day, then you're out of luck. Additionally, the same pitfalls that come with calorie counting (such as need to get exact measurements) apply to any situation when you're using an app. 3) Keeping a Food Diary--No Numbers What's nice about keeping a food diary or journal is that you don't have to sit on your backside for an hour after or before every meal trying to pick apart what you just consumed to log exactly what you ate. You log everything you've had for the day and see if it complies with your diet goals, and you are also given the opportunity to stop eating when you're full instead of when you've hit your calorie limit for the day. The downfalls to this are (as I've seen and experienced): you can end up over-eating even with the healthiest of meals, and forgetting to log meals or just plain old falling off track is common. 5) Carb Counting This is a new one for me--in fact, I'm in the middle of trying it right now. My partner was actually the one who told me about this process, and he has been using it for food management off-and-on in this last year. What we're doing for the next couple of weeks is counting only the carbs consumed for everything. Did you know that a medium apple has 25 grams of carbohydrates? I sure as hell didn't until this week. The rundown is that you choose your maximum value of carbs for the day--we chose 50 grams--and consume food within that range. What's great about this is that the calculations are fairly easy--every measurement is online. What's difficult is that if you've hit your limit for the day and are still hungry, you need to get creative, and "creative" for me has been eating a lot of eggs and more cheese than normal. So, while it's been relatively easy so far, you have to make sure that you're getting proper nutrients and not snacking on foods that don't have the nutrients you need even though they're low-carb (like cheese). Also, sometimes you don't get exact measurements and can only guess that your salad was probably about 13g of carbs. Here's an example of the menu we've had this week: Breakfast: protein shake (11g carbs) Lunch: Panera greek salad with chicken (13g carbs) Dinner: Burrito bowl (27g carbs) Total: 51g carbs Breakfast: 3 eggs, cheddar cheese, sugar-free ketchup, 5 blackberries (6g carbs) Lunch: Spaghetti squash w/ turkey and vegetables (15g carbs) Dinner: Hamburger with no bun and veggies (8g carbs) Dessert: Dark chocolate squares: (9.6g carbs) Total: 38.6g carbs I hope that you found some of these methods and pros/cons helpful! If you have any questions or other ideas, please feel free to comment on this post, or you can email me directly here. As you'll come to find, I am absolutely an advocate for self care. In some cases, this might mean going to the gym and swimming for cardio rather than running, or it might be going to a yoga class. It could look like taking a bath or a shower, cleaning your living space, or reading a book. In other cases, it could be cooking a meal, singing out of key to your favorite songs, or eating some pizza with some friends. Regardless of what it is that you do for a self care day, if you feel you need it, do it.
This week I've been sick with a really wonderful nasal/throat/achey cold. Not to mention, I'm still in a weird transitional place between summer and school (which happens almost every year and causes a month-long funk). There are certain foods I eat and things I do when I'm sick that I don't partake in on a regular basis. These have always helped me with recovering from a cold or flu. That being said, here's how this week went when it came to self care: Usually when I'm sick, I'm knocked down for at least a day and just stay in bed and recover. This time, I wanted to try and push through by going to classes and the gym. On Monday, I went to class despite not feeling fantastic, and then went to the gym after for a light workout. I walked for 20 minutes on the treadmill, worked my core, then did an upper body workout using half the weight I normally would. The next day, I went to class again, felt awful because of the heat, and went home to do some laundry and chores, watched a movie, and promptly quit at trying to do anything other than staying at home, watching Parks and Rec, and (joyfully) making dinner for me and my boyfriend. Wednesday, I knew that I needed my "sick day off" to recover and re-charge. My alarm had been going off at 6:30am because that's when I've been wanting to get up and start my day, but my body just wasn't able to do it. So, I turned the alarm off and slept until noon (which I haven't done since early high school probably), then went to dinner with the Lutheran Campus Ministry group and ate mac n cheese and bread without any guilt. When I'm sick, I usually completely listen to my body so that I can take care of it. This includes having a couple of carb-heavy meals, resting for a full day, and accepting that I'm being told to rest. This time, however, I was more frustrated by the fact that I couldn't go to the morning pilates class like I had wanted, didn't feel like eating the fresh vegetables in my refrigerator, and tried pushing through my regular days because I wanted to do better than last week. Instead of listening right away, I ended up prolonging my sickness by not doing what my body was telling me it needed, and ended up in yet another funk. Self care can come in many different forms, and listening to your body and what it truly needs is one of the main ways to engage in self care. Today, I'm planning on eating some carbonara made by my fantastic boyfriend. I will enjoy the food, eat in moderation, and use what I consume to get over this sickness, and prepare myself for a busy Friday and a good workout. Next week, I will not need this kind of food, and I know that if I consume it as I have been, I'll start feeling guilty. Often, when I feel guilty for what I've eaten or am trying to justify it to make myself feel better about the decision, I know that I did not need what I consumed. While I will never recommend having pasta or mac n cheese and the like every single night, I have been listening to my body's needs, and I'm so excited to start new, healthy routines next week as I start logging my food every day, going to morning pilates classes, and participating in a female-only strength training class during the week. This week I've learned: 1) When you're sick, it's your body asking you to take a day off--so take a damn day off. 2) Enjoy everything in moderation. 3) Sometimes we need a reset week and it's ok to fall short of goals, as long as we pick ourselves up and get back on track. I hope you have a happy, healthy, and productive week ahead! |
AuthorElena B. Archives
June 2020
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