It's rare that I weigh myself. For the past few years, I've limited my weigh-ins the doctor's office and to random friends' homes who happen to have scales in their bathrooms. Truth be told, I haven't owned a scale for years until very recently, and the only reason I bought the scale that I currently own is because I needed a way to weigh my suitcase for my Australia trip last fall. Note to self: just because the weight limit is 50 pounds does not mean that the suitcase needs to weigh 50 pounds...what a nightmare that was...but that's a story for another time.
I went through a period of time in high school where I was obsessed with my weight...I would weigh myself several times a day, and I would basically starve myself if I found the weight on the scale to be offensive. The lowest I got in weight was 109 pounds, and I still somehow found that offensive. I'm glad that I got out of that habit before it became dangerous, but as a result of it, I don't like having a scale in the house, afraid that I'll revert back to that behavior again. The scale currently hangs out in Simon's bathroom, so I rarely interact with it, and truth be told, I can pretty easily avoid and ignore it.
For the past few years whenever I would have my infrequent doctor's office weigh-ins, my weight was always the same. I don't like to weigh myself because even after all these years, I still get fixated on the number, when I should be more fixated on how I look and feel and how my clothes are fitting. A number is just a number, after all...good to be aware of, but pretty arbitrary in the broad scheme of things. Mid-June of this year I had a doctor's appointment and I was up about five pounds. I didn't really let it bother me too much...five pounds isn't all that much, really. And then July happened.
July began with our 4th of July party, which was a large social gathering complimented by good friends, a pinata, and copious amounts of food and drink. I ate with aplomb, and drank whatever suited my fancy at the time. The nice thing about having friends with diverse tastes is that we ended up with a lot of really interesting food and beer, and of course I had to sample a bunch of them. After 4th of July we went to Phoenix a few times to visit our friends Jim and Jess, who love to eat, and who coincidentally have a knack for taking the time to find really good restaurants with unique offerings. With Jim and Jess, every meal is enjoyed almost to bursting, with no regard given to portions, calories, or fat content. They also introduced me to the Concrete Mixers at Culver's (Jim's combo: vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, peanut butter, and peanuts...soooo good), and let me just say, I'm thankful we don't have a Culver's up here in Flagstaff, or I would be in some serious trouble. As an aside, it's funny that I hadn't had a Concrete Mixer in Minnesota, as Culver's are about as prolific as Burger King up there. And then we had my nephew's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese two Sundays ago, where we noshed on pizza. I'm not typically a pizza person, and Chuck E. Cheese admittedly doesn't have the best pizza in the world, but I still managed to take down at least four slices (I had to sample each one, you know) and drink a good sized soda besides. I also had to have a piece of cake, of course...it was a birthday party, after all. And then later that evening we went to a movie where we took down a large soda, half a large pretzel, and a large bag of popcorn. To add insult to injury...on the way home that night Simon and I had Taco Bell (because Culver's was closed). *facepalm* So it's safe to say that not only was I not paying any attention to what I was eating, but I was also not paying to attention to how much or how often I was eating. That makes for a pretty dreadful combination.
A couple weeks ago I noticed that the butt of my scrub pants were feeling unusually tight. I didn't want to think about it, but the tight fabric would not be ignored, so I hopped on the scale. I was now up 8 pounds since the middle of June, which was when I had my last weigh-in. I knew then and there that I had to buckle down and do something about it. The mid-30's are very unkind when it comes to weight gain and fat distribution, and given the remarks from my older friends and family members, it's only going to get worse. So change was a necessary implement.
At baseline, I'm a moderately active person. I go for long walks when I can and I get myself to the gym at least 2-3 days a week, mostly for weight lifting, but occasionally for a spin class. I've also been trying to get out and run, but I'm pretty lackadaisical about that. When I initially was made aware of the 8 pound gain, there was a tiny, feeble little voice in the back of my head delusionally trying to tell me that it was probably just muscle from working out. Ha! I've been working out steadily for going on 3 years now and my weight hadn't budged...pretty sure gaining 8 pounds in a month didn't have anything to do with muscle mass. I silenced that little voice immediately and logged myself into my calorie tracker and got to work.
I use the My Plate app (formerly known as the LiveStrong app). It's not rocket science...I just plug in everything that I've eaten during the day and it keeps track of the calories for me. It's pretty simple, and basically idiot-proof. The app has about every convenience food known to man loaded in its database, including menu items from popular restaurants, and specific food items from grocery stores. The app even has chocolate covered espresso beans and coconut cashews from Trader Joe's (two of my favorite snacks) loaded into its memory. It's extremely comprehensive. It even has recipe items from popular cookbooks and cooking magazines. I've even found food items in there that were featured in cooking shows on the Food Network. When it comes to cooking at home, it's a little more tricky, but doable. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to get a rough estimate of what you're eating. There's also the option to make custom foods, so if you're able to keep track of the calories in your ingredients, you can figure out the serving size of your meal and add a personalized food item. This also works for restaurants like Chipotle, who have a website that lets you generate your exact burrito and tells you the estimated calorie content of your meal (it's at www.chipotlefan.com...go here at your own risk; it's scary how quickly those calories add up...not to mention the sodium content...yikes!). In addition to food tracking, it also keeps track of your weight, your exercise, and your water intake. It keeps a running tally of your net calories for the day, so you can easily see how many calories you've taken in and how many you've burned with your exercise. If you exercise, it takes the calories burned and subtracts them from the calories that you've taken in, thereby giving you the option to indulge a bit if you so choose.
The app is only as good as the motivation and the honesty of the person using it. If you're going to cheat and omit logging calories in order to keep from going into the red, there's really not much point to using the app. I don't feel bad necessarily when I go into the red, but it does make me reevaluate what I should be eating versus what I want to be eating. For instance, for the past few weeks I had gotten into the habit of buying a little bag of kettle chips on my way into work for the evening. I didn't really think much of it...it's not a very big bag, after all, and it was only three times a week. But now that I'm tracking, I realize how much work it takes for me to balance out those 270 calories with some form of exercise, and I realize that it's just not worth it. And nutritionally, what I am really getting out of that bag of chips anyway? To take it one step further, now that I'm aware and keeping track of what I'm eating, I find myself making healthier choices and eating when I feel hungry, versus before when I was just eating whenever I wanted. I'm not saying that I'm never going to eat another little bag of kettle chips or a Concrete Mixer or have that second (or third) beer, but in the future I'll save them for random occasions, rather than having them whenever I feel like it. It's interesting...making myself aware of what I'm eating actually causes me to enjoy my food more, if that makes sense. Probably because I'm making a more definitive choice on what I'm choosing to eat, versus just eating whatever happens to be lying around because I'm bored.
Truth be told, I haven't made a lot of changes in the two weeks that I've been calorie tracking, but I've already managed to lose 6 of the 8 pounds that I gained, simply by paying attention to what I'm eating and drinking and by making better choices...I've also been trying to get out for some sort of exercise every day, even if all I manage to do is take the dog for a walk. Every little bit helps. It really is eye-opening to see how much what we eat affects our weight. I don't really care to lose much more, if any more, than what I've gained this summer. I don't want to obsess over my weight and think about every single calorie...I still want to enjoy food and to not feel guilty if I skip a day of exercise. I'll most likely abandon the tracker in a few weeks, feeling like I'm on the right track and am able to make healthy choices on my own without jotting them all down...this is usually my pattern. But if I slip up, back to the tracker I'll go. I don't really like fixating on numbers...I prefer to judge my fitness and my weight by the way my body looks in the mirror and by the way my clothes fit. As long as I'm not having to buy bigger pants and I feel comfortable in the size that I have, I'm good with that.
We're only human, and we should treat ourselves as such. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a cookie or a glass of wine or a really good meal every now and again. It's when it gets to be an everyday occurrence that we start to see the pounds creeping up, the waistline widening out, and the pants getting a little tighter. The obesity epidemic is dangerously real, and if small changes can combat it even a little bit, it's worth it. This is a wonderful world we live in, we deserve to be healthy enough to enjoy it. That's the least we can ask for, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment