Obsessions

Do you calorie count? Does it drive you batty? My answer to those questions is yes and yes. I am a person that can easily obsess over things. And calories are one of the things I obsess about. Since I started using the SparkPeople website last year I have become aware of the calories I consume. One thing that I have learned is I rarely consume enough calories. That's right, I don't consume enough. When I cut back on the fast foods and other not so healthy foods, I replaced them with healthier foods. But doing so dropped my average consumed calorie count down to the 900's. If you are looking to lose weight, the minimum amount of calories you should consume is 1200 with the maximum amount of calories being 1550. So the past couple of weeks I have forced myself to eat more. Not something you typically hear from a dieter! But in doing so, I have seen some really nice results on the scale.

My husband saw a motivational speaker recently and learned that people who have lost weight and kept it off for 6 years or more have 3 things in common:
   1) they eat breakfast
   2) they weigh themselves daily
   3) they exercise at home

Those three things are also things I obsess about. I will spend an hour or so each day thinking of something to eat for breakfast. Each day I think I will have something creative and delicious. However, I usually just go with the protein shake and a piece of toast or bowl of cereal because I have wasted too much time thinking of something to eat. But I make sure I consume a minimum of 300 calories at breakfast to get me off to a good start. If I can eat a healthy breakfast I am more likely to make better food choices throughout the day.

I do weigh myself every day. At first I hated it. But now that I've been doing this for awhile I find it helps to keep me on track. An added benefit is I've noticed a trend. My body tends to gain 5lbs when a certain time of month is about to happen. When I get on the scale and I'm 5lbs heavier for no apparent reason I know something is about to start (of course, I do immediately go and search the cupboards and refrigerator to make sure I didn't go on a eating binge in my sleep. I've never gone on a binge like that, but you never know, it could happen!). 

I gave up on having a gym membership not long after my daughter was born. I just didn't have the time to go to a gym. Not to mention the lack of a person to watch the daughter as I went somewhere to exercise. (my husband is a very busy man who does alot of traveling and is not always physically there or mentally capable of preventing the chaos that children often bring) So exercising at home really became my only option. At first I found it nearly impossible to find the motivation. There are always a million other things that need to be done. But what I have had to convince myself of is that its okay if the house is untidy if it means that I am taking the time out to do something for me. Something that will make me feel better about myself. I'm not going to lie. Its really really really really hard some days to let go of everything else and exercise. However, when I do exercise, I become more focused on the important things that need to be done. I feel like because I exercise, I am able to accomplish alot more. Yesterday I felt like Wonder Woman. I did a 55 minute workout, I worked on work, I did almost all of the laundry, did the dishes, prepared 3 meals, did some clothes shopping for an upcoming vacation, went grocery shopping, took my daughter to her dance class, bathed the kids, got them to bed, changed the bedding on our bed and then shuffled the super sleepy husband from the couch to the bed. And I still had time to sit for an hour to read through some friends blogs, celebrity gossip websites and spend some time on Facebook before going to bed myself. I truly feel that if I hadn't exercised, half of that stuff would not have gotten done.

Exercising at home is challenging. There are plenty of distractions but you have to work through them. If you are able to, I highly suggest getting outside. Do some power walking, maybe go for a run or ride a bike. I love to do those things in the summer. Its awesome to have my daughter ride her bike and put my son in the stroller and jog along. In the dead of winter though, I tend to stay inside. I cannot stand being cold or being outside in the cold. I often wonder why I live in a state where it snows... But anyway, I do alot of DVD workouts in the winter. I also have an elliptical trainer that I use. I do the elliptical when the TV is being used by other members of the family. I used to do it when the kids were playing in the same room, but then they decided that they wanted to be on it too...it became a recipe for disaster. So now I do it when the kids are either sleeping or are being entertained by Daddy. Sometimes though, I just run up and down the stairs. Just to get in some variety. At home there are endless possibilities to exercise. You can do it anytime. You can do it while you are cooking. You can do it while you are doing laundry. You can do it while watching TV. Talking on the phone? Do some lunges or calf raises. Seriously, there are no excuses.