Someone asked me this weekend how I’d managed to lose weight (I’ve lost over fifty pounds in the last three years). My answer: one habit at a time. Habit one was writing down everything I was eating. Nothing like having to write down “five cookies” to make you eat “two cookies” instead, even if no one else sees your list! (Habit two was walking the dogs at least 15 minutes once a day.) (A whole series of positive habits has ensued; I expect I’m somewhere around fifty now, but I still write down everything I eat and I still walk the dogs at least once a day, come rain or shine, snow or sleet, or dark of night.)
Thank you. I am completely a stress eater and dealing with my aging parents is making me nuts. I have got to figure out that aspect of the problem.
It can be hard with the lifestyles we live these days to do the things we know we should. For a variety of reasons, this year at work has even been more stressful, more intense, longer hours, you name it (put it this way, I am trying to figure out given the crap that is piled on my group until the end of the year, how to even be able to take any time off). I was doing really well until around march, I had lost a good amount of weight, and wa exercising regularly and was feeling fit…then the job went crazy, and that went out the window, working 10,11 hour days continuously, working on weekends, long commute, and i got so run down I couldn’t even think of exercising…and suddenly, started seeing symptoms all over the place, I was experiencing chest pains, pains in my side, heartburn, which made me seriously wonder if I was in the throes of heart disease, it really scared me. I went to the doctor and he ran a full spectrum on me, turned out the pains were probably battling off epstein-barr virus exposure, and the rest was simply being run down, not getting enough sleep, stress, you name it…it at least made me feel better, but I am still trying to get myself to a point where i can get back to getting fit. People tell me “get up earlier and exercise”, but when I am getting home from work at 9pm, I don’t get to sleep until midnight, then I would need to get up at 5am to exercise and then commute, I already don’t get enough sleep most of the time…and exercising at 10pm? By then I am shot, plus it would likely deprive me of sleep, too…and I generally spend my day at my desk, I don’t have the 1 hour lunch, I try to get out and walk when I can, but there isn’t time. I could walk from my office to the bus station I commute from, but that would add 45 minutes to an hour and a half commute probably…I am hoping things will eventually slow down, but this often is the nature of the way things are now, it isn’t just Amazon where they ratchet stuff up. And yeah, I could get a new job, but having a kid in college paying pretty much full freight, I also can’t switch right now, due to financial constraints…
I am doing what I can to eat well, we generally do, and I also don’t have other bad habits, I don’t drink much, I never smoked, but at this pace it could turn into something worse…just have to hope I can get through it.
I am moonlighting this evening with a home care client. Since I worked 8-2 with the pastor job and now 3-11 with her there is no time to exercise. So now that she is asleep I am walking up and down her steep and high stairs. Over and over again. Gotta make do with what is available.
Whatever works!! I just jogged back and forth in my hallway to hit my 10,000 steps goal on my fit bit.
I march in my kitchen a lot while watching Sports Center at 11 pm!
Get a dog. I’m dog sitting this young puppy and he made me get up early and walk and then walk when I get home. I’ve been sleeping really well that I don’t remember my dream.
I’m not sure I lose weight this week or maybe it’s been plateauing.