Sunday, March 6, 2011

Weekly Meeting Topic Week 9: Shake It Up

It was nice to get to my meeting for the second week in a row, but I'm afraid I probably won't make another meeting for at least two weeks.  This upcoming Saturday I'll be getting back on a plane again, this time heading to Yuma, Arizona to visit with my good friend Kathy for March Break.  I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to get to a meeting while I'm there, I'd like to.  Its always nice to go do a different meeting and get a different perspective on things.  Looking at my schedule this week I don't think I can squeeze a meeting in at a different location.

I did weigh in at my meeting on Saturday, and I'm down 1.5 lbs from February, so that's awesome!  It'll be a  challenge to keep it that way while I travel again.

This week's meeting was about shaking things up.  Many of us get into a rut, a food rut and an exercise rut.  I'm the first to admit this.  I tend to eat the same/similar foods a lot of the time.  Not for the same meal or the same order but my grocery shopping list is pretty static.

 Also my exercise routine, well its same old, same old at the gym.  I blame things being the same at the gym because I just don't know better, I'm afraid to experiment with weights on my own for fear of doing it wrong and hurting myself.  Sadly I just can't afford a personal trainer at the gym I go to, they want you to commit to 3x a week for a minimum of 3-6 months.  I just don't have thousands of dollars on hand to do that.  I wish the gym I went to (Goodlife) would allow you to hire a trainer to help design a program to fit your goals, show you how to execute that program and the techniques, then just check in with that trainer every 2-4 weeks.  That I probably could afford.  I must admit I always look upon the people at the gym with trainers a little wistfully, and with a slight tinge of jealousy.

So we need to shake things up, especially if our weight loss starts to slow or even plateaus.  This can help you reach your weight loss goals.  Also if you eat the same foods and do the same exercises constantly one of two things can happen.  You can become bored very quick, give up or give in to binging on unhealthy foods.  Or if you keep it up (like I tend to) your body becomes used to that calorie intake/calorie burn and will hold onto your extra weight.  You need to change things up to keep your body guessing.

4 Ways to Mix Up Your Meals
  1. Experiment with new recipes
  2. Swap recipes with another WW member, ones you know that are good!
  3. Add a new fruit/vegetable now and again
  4. Revamp old stand-bys
4 Ways to Mix Up Activity
  1. Add accountability - I actually keep a calendar I write all my work outs down on and how many days in a row I earned activity points.
  2. Put on some music - music is used by athletes to focus, get in the zone and pump themselves up.
  3. Try variations, walk a different rout, try altering speeds, etc.
  4. Buddy up

Another shot of me in the D.R.

Well, that's it... short and sweet this week.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I am cursed with the fear of change. I must force myself to do different things - shake things up. It's too easy to get stagnant and not even be aware of it!
You look absolutely amazing in that photo, by the way. Look how incredibly FIT you are!!

Lisa said...

I'm lucky in that my gym allows you to book 10 sessions with a PT and it actually works out fairly reasonable. I did that, worked with him and also he did me a programme to do on my own, but I can understand your frustration if your gym's policy makes it prohibitive for you.
It is good to change things up though. I started trying new classes etc in the New Year and have learned to love some new foods lately, and it definitely helps the boredom.

Unknown said...

I wonder if that is just the policy for your particular chain of goodlife. I was a member of Goodlife and had a trainer. I paid for a certain number of sessions and could use them however I wanted. Perhaps it is something you should look further into and see if perhaps it is just something your gym is trying to "trick" people into doing