Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Time to Get Off My Butt! Won't You Join Me?

So I've mentioned before how I follow a low carb/high fat lifestyle aka LCHF. It's a very simple way of eating aka WOE but it does take determination, will power and the ability to plan ahead and be organized with your WOE.

In case you don't know what LCHF is, you can visit The Diet Doctor link HERE, or you can to go Atkins.com for more info. I could explain it in this post but it would go on forever and I would never be able to explain it as well as those two websites do.

I've done this WOE for several years and have had a lot of success with it. I feel wonderful when I'm LCHF! I have energy, sleep well, my digestive system works great, those aches and pains from inflammation and arthritis ease up and on the plus side I lose weight. No bloating or gassiness, no heartburn or acid re-flux!

So knowing this...why do I go back to bad habits? Why do I go back to eating sugar, wheat, flour and processed foods? I don't honestly have an answer. I think about it often and wonder why I sabotage myself when I know that on LCHF I feel awesome! I guess it's because I'm human and weak and give in to temptation and because Cheetos are SO DAMN GOOD! 

A couple of weeks ago I was finally sick of myself. I had lost 22 pounds a year or so ago and have put them all back on plus some, so I realized I had to make a change and quit thinking, "I'll start tomorrow."

So I did, for the past two weeks I have stuck religiously to LCHF and I lost 5 pounds. Now in the past when I've done LCHF I would lose 10 to 15 pounds in the first two weeks, but as you get older your metabolism changes, your body changes and nothing is as easy as it was when you were younger...am I right?

Anyway, it's been two weeks and I'm 5 pounds lighter and I know that I have to stick to this way of eating for my health, for my family and for my own self worth. So I'll be back to posting low carb food and things having to do with my WOE, hoping it may help someone and that it will help me to be accountable to myself.

I've also been trying to exercise. It's hard to go from being a couch potato whose biggest form of exercise is walking from her house to the car to the office back to the car and back home. Yeah, that's probably a whole 2 minutes of exercise per day!

So I have started slowly by using the Leslie Sansone Walk at Home Videos. I started by doing her Energy Boost 5 Minute Walk. Trust me, in the beginning I couldn't even do 2 minutes and now I'm doing 5 easily and probably should move to a different video. But because of my back and Sciatica issues I tend to be very careful so I don't end up hurting myself. 

I do the 5 minute video below when I wake up, on my 10am break at work, at lunch time, on my 3pm break and around 7pm. So all total I'm doing 25 minutes of exercise per day. If I knew that right now I had to stand up and do 25 minutes of exercise I would just make excuses, but who doesn't have 5 minutes, 5 times per day? Or even 10 minutes...it doesn't matter how much, the point is to start and get your body moving. 

This is the energy boosting video and it really does give you a boost of energy, I can feel it working already in how alert and active I am when I get home from work. Instead of just sitting and being a couch potato I'm being more active and cooking, exercising, watering my poor plants and cleaning my house!



Tonight I had time to try to find another 5 minute video and I found the next one I'm going to post. This one seemed a bit more fast paced and I'm going to mix it up and keep doing these for another week and then perhaps move up to ones that are a little longer in length.

This one seemed to give me a better workout, so it may be one I want to try early in the morning when I'm rested and have more energy because even though it's similar to the one above I believe she moves faster because I got a little winded!




I also want to share this next one even though I haven't actually done it because it's one to work the legs and with my Sciatica it couldn't hurt to strengthen my legs, so I will give this one a try tomorrow.



Can't wait to wake up tomorrow and try each of these videos. See what I mean? Moving gives you energy...so move!

   

10 comments:

  1. I have also started doing her videos. I do feel better. I don't know why I let myself stop once I am on a good schedule. I am proud that you are doing 25 minutes. You Go Girl!

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    1. I think life just gets in the way. They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit, so stick with it 21 days and it should just become part of your life, like brushing your teeth! You Go Girl as well!

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  2. Here's to you for determination! I wish you much success with this.

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    1. Thank you Rebecca! I'm definitely determined to stick with it. Tired of feeling tired! Thanks for commenting!

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  3. Walking and exercising are very good for general health.So is weight loss.
    From my experience, however, the first two won't do much to help with loosing weight.
    Genetics and nutrition are the major keys to body weight. We cannot fight genetics but we can do a lot about our food.My favorite diet is the calorie count diet.I did it in the past and it was successful.The thing is that whenever I reached my goal, something sad happened in my life and that made be go back to food comfort,so here I am again wishing to get rid of some pounds of fat, but unable yet to decide to go on diet.

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    1. It is difficult. The funny thing is my mom and dad were both tall and slender, my mom still is, yet I'm short and lets just call it curvy. So genetics doesn't play a part in it for me, maybe a bit. I've tried calorie counting but my metabolism is so off kilter due to the removal of my thyroid for thyroid cancer that eating more than 20 carbs per day kills me. I am also trying not to weigh myself because your thought process can do a lot to sabotage weight loss, if you gain a pound you figure what's the point! Same thing with sad things that happen, and even happy things, like a birthday, you tend to splurge just to celebrate. It's crazy and hard but I am determined this time! Thanks for stopping by and try the walking videos 5 times a day, if nothing else it helps with moving your body to relieve stress and those aches and pains we get from sitting too much.

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  4. Hi Alicia,

    Great post. This is my 3rd try trying to post a comment. Let's see if this one goes through.

    I'm with you on the 5 minute walk. That's better than doing 30 minutes of exercise non-stop. I'll be your workout buddy so we can get back in shape and kick each other in the behind. LOL!

    Angelica

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    1. Yay! Third time was the charm because I actually received your comment this time. Thank you for being stubborn...lol!

      I don't know what I would do without you my work buddy and workout buddy! Together we can do it though, no doubt!!!

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  5. When I lost 55 lbs 4 years ago it was not through exercise. I had always worked out, but that never made a difference. The important ingredient for me this time to lose and keep the weight off was through what I eat and how much I eat. Like you I eat a no carb (or barely any carbs!), high fat diet. And I finally eliminated those foods that I love but are allergic to (wheat, gluten, soy and some nuts). It isn't easy and food is also pretty tied up with emotions for me (see some of my recent blog posts), but when I stop eating for the body I wish I had and start eating for the body I have it makes all the difference!

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    1. You are so right! I can barely tolerate any carbs myself. Just a few chips kill me! And so many things I didn't even realize affected me, like diet soda. I figured I could drink all I wanted, no carbs right? But now I find they make me feel bloated and heavier the next day. They make me stall with weight loss. And as you get older it gets more and more difficult. I wish I had stuck with LCHF from the time I started it back in my 30's.

      Congrats on your weight loss! And I will definitely go check out your blog posts.

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Please leave a comment.I would love to know your thoughts!