Hi! It is our second week of
Wild Workout Wednesday! Each week I will be linking up with Annmarie of
The Fit Foodie Mama, Amber from
Bold Fit Mom, and Upala from
Pretty In Pink Fitness. We will be bringing you lots of awesome workout motivation, recipes, new workouts to try and much more! You can join in by reading along or link up with a healthy living or fitness post and snag our button to share on your post and site. To check out all the "rules" of the link up you can visit
my page with all the info. I look forward to reading all the posts that are linked up today!
Grab your cup of coffee and join me for a little bit... Today I want to talk about something that I struggle with and have been working really hard to overcome. The feeling of wanting results like yesterday! In this fast paced world where you can get almost anything you want when you want it, it is hard to be patient. I have shared with you
my struggle with my past of restricting then binging. I have been keeping a journal and really thinking about why this is something that I really struggled with. It all comes down to wanting quick results. Maybe you can relate...you have been off your routine of working out and eating healthy and are feeling pretty sluggish, so you decide to make a change. You decide to get back to working out and cleaning up the foods you are eating. This
is was me. I would hop back on the wagon and go full force. Usually swearing off sugar, wine, cookies, cakes and anything that was what I considered "bad" for me. I would look for a challenge to join, or a restriction diet to follow that promised quick results. Believe me when I tell you I have tried it all...Weight Watchers, Jillian Michaels Body Revolution, Paleo, South Beach, The Eat Clean Diet...I could go on, but you get the idea. What do all of these things have in common? Restriction! (Although I will say that Weight Watchers is great for allowing treats within your points, so not a total restriction program). There is even a program I considered that consists of having 2 shakes a day as meals then one actual meal...like only eating real food once a day...no thanks! But this was the mindset I was in. What can I do for a short term fix that will get me results NOW?!?
Then one day something changed...I stopped and looked at what was the cause of all my ups and downs. Why was I only able to stay on a "program" for so long before I gave up and started to binge eat on all the foods I had been avoiding? I would see many success stories of people who had succeed on these programs and I started to wonder if the problem was me, my lack of commitment? Then I realized that anytime I started something new and I would restrict foods I would immediately crave those foods. For example when I started Paleo about 3 days in I was in the Panera drive thru getting a bagel...something I don't really eat or even crave for that matter, but because I "couldn't" have it I absolutely wanted it. So I ate it, then I felt guilty about it. This is not the way I want to live...in this pattern of restrict/binge with a side of guilt. It was suddenly clear to me...the pattern was obvious and I made the decision to stop doing this to myself and my body time and time again.
I made the decision that I was going to commit a full year to getting myself where I wanted to be. This doesn't just mean with my weight or body, but mostly with my mindset. I decided that enough was enough and I didn't want to keep repeating the patterns that I had for most of my teen/adult life. I talked with my friend Amanda from
Balanced Brunette about tracking macros and reverse dieting. She figured out my ratios for me and told me to eat whatever I wanted in those macros, and that includes brownies, wine, pizza, etc as long as they fit in my macros for the day. This feeling was so freeing. I had tried IIFYM in the past, but I don't think I was in the right mindset for it at the time. Now for me it is not something that I am doing as a quick fix, it is something that I am doing to change my relationship with food. Nothing is off limits...it's just fitting what I want into my day. I am not worried about the number on the scale, I am not worried about losing x lbs in x weeks. I am changing my life and my mindset. I am deciding that I don't want to continue on the way I have been, and that it is time for something new. A new way to view food and free myself from restrictions.
So far things are going really well. It has been about 3 weeks with tracking my macros and working out regularly and I feel like I am moving in the right direction. Working out has never been an issue for me, I enjoy it and I love the way I feel when I am done with a great workout. I am working on adding muscle right now and challenging myself with new workouts. I eat to fuel my body. I eat within my macros and I eat the treats when I want them. I don't stress about not being 100% in my macros every singe day, but know that getting as close as I can is perfect. I am a work in progress, it will take time to get to where I want to be without tracking macros and just being able to listen to my body and eat according to that. For now though the tracking keeps me on the right path and moving toward reaching my goal. I did mention that I will be doing reverse dieting when I get back from my trip to Florida in February and I will be sure to share that journey with you too. I want to get my metabolism built back up so I can then drop calories to lose weight I won't have to cut my calories too low (which would result in the restrict/binge pattern all over again).
I am not stressing about quick results anymore. I have learned that Slow and Steady Wins The Race. I will get to where I want to be with my weight (don't really care what the number is, but I will know when I get there) and then maintain that weight for the rest of my life. I do want to have another baby, so I know that by getting my metabolism up and getting myself to a healthy maintainable weight, when I get pregnant I won't gain the weight I did with my first one (60 lbs!! EEK!). Things that are worth having take time. The programs that promise quick results are the ones that are not going to be maintainable for the rest of your life...you are not going to be eating out of color coded boxes forever, or drinking 2 shakes a day for the rest of your life. Think about what you want in the long run...a healthy relationship with food, a fit and healthy body and eating food according to your goals...plus leaving room for the treats you love. Yup, this sounds exactly what I want for myself...you too!
Don't forget to link up with us today for
Wild Workout Wednesday. Grab our cute little button and add your link! We would love to have you!
Happy Wednesday! Are you ready for another Wild Workout Wednesday Link up? Every week I link up with Annmarie, Amber and Upala to bring you some great posts about fitness, running, nutrition, motivation and much more! Be sure to check out the blogger who are linking up, I have found a lot of great blogs I enjoy reading from this link up, I know you will too! Also, if you are a blogger, we would love to have you link up with us as well.
