It's summer in the city with temps in the 90s, crazy humidity and lots and lots of pollen. Not only am I dripping with sweat as soon as I dry off from the shower but my eyes are puffy and my nose is raw from sneezing constantly, it's not pretty. Thankfully this weekend the temps are supposed to drop into the sweet 60s. Ahhhh....
So, not only did I fail to mention that
Mir a/k/a the Princess Dieter, was one of the masterminds behind the Slimmer this Summer ("StS") challenge along with
Debbi, apparently I didn't pay close attention to all the rules. Ooops. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they won't kick me out for breaking a few of them. What can I say, I'm a bad girl that has issues with authority, likes to buck the system and likes to make my own rules as long as I'm not breaking any laws, well, maybe a few of the stupid laws.
These are the rules that the StS Challenge "require" and my reasons for breaking some of them. Oh, and if breaking the rules wasn't bad enough, I also need to redefine some of my
initial goals because I decided not to take the job so some of my goals just don't apply right now.
1. Track food and water:
Over the years and the numerous diets I've been on I've tried my hand at tracking my food in a paper notebook, on SparkPeople, on my FitBit, on Twitter, in a Word document and a few other random places but it always made me feel like I was going to confession or I'm being judged. Of course, I know the only person doing the judging is me but I've always been my harshest critic so it can get pretty bad. Objection! Sustained! What were you thinking eating that? How could you eat so much of that? I know tracking is a great way to, well, track but it just doesn't work for me. I obsess and beat myself up over the things I shouldn't have eaten instead of just enjoying them and moving on. I've come this far without tracking so I'm not going to force myself to do it.
I have been keeping track of my water consumption and I'm definitely not getting enough. Drinking 100 ounces a day was the only goal I set for the Small Change Challenge and I didn't do very well the first week. I've only been getting around 60-70 ounces a day but the heat and humidity the past few days have been a great incentive to stay hydrated so I did chug all 100 ounces the past 2 days.
2. Keep calories around 1200-1400 a day/10K or less per week:
Counting calories, like tracking food, drives me nuts. How am I supposed to calculate everything? How many calories are in 3 french fries? How much milk did the girl at Dunkin Donuts put in my coffee? Am I estimating too high or too low? Should I round up or round down? Was that one serving or two? Who the hell knows? I've never been able to count calories or points but I can count how many scoops of ice cream there are in a large compared to the kiddie size so I just shoot for reasonable portions and make the best choices I can at any given moment.
3. Stay hydrated:
I am definitely working on this one. 60-70 ounces a day isn't bad but I'm going to concentrate on reaching that 100 ounces consistently.
4. Weigh in weekly:
When the challenge started on the 6th I weighed in at 151.2 and today I weighed in at 148.2 which would be a 3 pound loss. WooHoo! Wait, not so fast...my official weigh-in days have always been Friday and my weight on Friday the 3rd was 147.9 which means I gained .3 this week. I'm going to keep using my Friday weigh-ins for this challenge so I had a slight gain the first week. Looks like I'm going to need to kick it up a notch. If I learned anything over the past year and a half it's that my body weight can fluctuate wildly from one day to the next so I'm not worried about a .3 gain. I'm doing what I need to do so I know the results will come eventually.
5. Stick to your exercise goals:
Since I didn't go back to work this will be easier to stick to because I have the time to continue to workout on my regular schedule. I tweaked my knee (again) at TaeBox on Tuesday but was able to workout for an hour on the elliptical Wednesday and Thursday and today I went to Tabata. I also got a few miles of walking in almost everyday so I'm sticking to my exercise goals.
6. DO NOT QUIT:
I WILL NEVER GIVE UP! If I didn't give up after years of struggling and gaining I'm certainly not going to give up now. I'm so close to my goal I can almost taste it. Quitting is just not an option.
7. Keep blogging:
Hi, I'm here!
8. Encourage others:
I've been trying to get around to everyone's blog and comment but between spotty internet connections and blog reading from my phone that sometimes makes it impossible to comment, I haven't been able to get to everyone yet but I will. I'm so happy to have some new visitors here too. It's always fun to meet new friends and make new connections.
So, what do you think? Can I stay in the challenge even though I'm not following ALL the rules? Aren't some rules meant to be broken? Are you a rule breaker?
Hope you all have a great weekend! Stay cool.
It's summer in the city with temps in the 90s, crazy humidity and lots and lots of pollen. Not only am I dripping with sweat as soon as I dry off from the shower but my eyes are puffy and my nose is raw from sneezing constantly, it's not pretty. Thankfully this weekend the temps are supposed to drop into the sweet 60s. Ahhhh....
Posts
I sure want ya to stay. Great goals. I plead the 5th on breaking rules, ok? Gracie
ReplyDeletehttp://graciestoughjourney.blogspot.com/
I think there's a little bit of a rule breaker in all of us. I'm glad you're part of the challenge, otherwise, I may not have found your blog. I'm the same way with counting calories and logging my food. This is the first week I have done it, and now I realize why I'm sitting here 100 pounds overweight. I feel it's important to track to get my eating under control, but when I reach goal I hope to have it figured out and just know how much and what to eat to prevent me from gaining it all back.
ReplyDeleteWay to go!!! You're doing great!
ReplyDelete.3 pounds is almost nothing. Probably water weight if you've been staying on track. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteSometimes rules can be a nuisance, but sometimes, they really are good for us. For instance, tracking what you put in your mouth. Yes, round up, yes estimate if you have to and yes, it's important so that you can accurately gauge if you're getting enough nutrition in the food you eat. It's not just about the calories; rather, it's about a healthy balance of protein, fat, fiber, vitamins and minerals...not necesarily to lose weight, but also to be as healthy as you can be!
ReplyDeleteGood work and keep at it!
As one of the coordinators, I figure as long as you update weekly, keep in touch with our peops, and meet some self-decided goals, sure, why not, stay, its fine. :)
ReplyDeleteI just never understand why someone who hates rules would even wanna join a challenge with a bunch of rules. How come? I'm just curious.
My perspective, for any who might care: I like the structure challenge rules provide to ChALLENGE my lazy tendencies. My life tends to be UNSTRUCTURED, so challenge rules are actually a beneficial change for my undisciplined self. :D Left to my own devices, entropy takes over.
I think one of y'all Brandoesque rebels should start the next series of challenges: We Ain't Got Not Stinkin' Rules Diet Challenge, Leather Jackets and Tattoos optional (of course, cause ain't no rules). hahaha I'd like to see how to set that one up!
Anyway, happy to have a maverick on board for the check ins. Happy week to us all...
I love that you are already breaking the rules !! lol.. Looking foward to following you along on this challenge !
ReplyDeleteI was going to tell you to hide from the law (aka Princess Dieter) but she's already been here! LOL
ReplyDeleteYou've been losing weight without tracking or weighing so obviously that works for you. You've learned how to guesstimate portions and you stick to that. Different strokes for different folks, I say. As long as it's working, right? :)
Talking about breaking the rules? I didn't follow my goals very well. Weigh in is tomorrow for me so we'll see how bad I did.
ReplyDeleteKeep going and you will see results!
I say you gotta do what works for you so as long as you are working on losing I will try to stop in to continue to encourage ya:-)
ReplyDeleteYep. Me: efinitely a rule breaker.
ReplyDeleteYou Fantastic weight loss on the first week of STS. Here's to another great week. Stay strong, michele
Oh you rebel!! :-) If you are able to successfully lose weight and get to your goals and this challenge can somehow help with that, then of course stay. Many are new and CANNOT lose weight without sticking to tracking and counting calories. If it were as easy as "just watching portions", then we'd all be skinny. I'm glad it's working for you but for the rest of us, we need the structure and "rules".
ReplyDeleteI think we made the rules because we just didn't want people to just "talk" about losing weight, we wanted to see results. There is no ONE way to do it, if what you are doing in successful, then keep doing it and I wish you well!!