HappyMedium's Healthkicker

Premarital Sex vs. Premarital Love

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:08:06 GMT

For ages, there has been an emphasis on the person you marry being the first (and only) person you sleep with, especially for woman. It makes you 'pure,' the 'good wife.' Traditionally speaking, it determines the color of your dress on your wedding day.

Meanwhile, no one looks at who you've said "I love you" too. If you've loved another man, you're still in the clear, as long as you didn't sleep with him. I disagree with this choice of what to applaud. Shouldn't love be much more intimate and reserved than sex? Why is it okay in our culture to throw those three words around like birdseed, yet your sexual past is so vital to your moral being? I personally think that people who are too easy to use the words "I love you" are making a much bigger mistake than those who are... well too easy.

I know that I am much prouder to say that I am marrying the first man I've ever loved (and the only one I've ever told I loved with the exception of family, and my chocolate lab) than I would have been to say that I'd married the first man I slept with.

Do you think society has it's priorities wrong, in emphasizing holding out on sex over holding out on love?

Accomplishments and goals!

Mon, 18 May 2009 23:04:59 GMT

I ran 10 miles yesterday, and am very proud! I never would have thought I could do that! I've set a personal goal to run 50 miles by June 7th, and I don't that should be hard since I've already run 20.

Up next: Half Marathon!

Days 6 & 7

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:35:37 GMT

Okay, so this is not pretty. Easter with the boyfriend and family clearly is not made for healthy eating...

Day 6:

[ ] No more than 1,500 calories 4/6
[x] Exercise 4/6
[ ] Run outside 2/3
[ ] Log calories
[ ] Only eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full

Bad, Bad, Badddd!

Day 7:

[ ] No more than 1,500 calories 4/6
[3] Exercise 5/6
[x] Run outside 3/3
[ ] Log calories
[ ] Only eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full

Again, bad, but I expected this given that it was Easter.

Oh, and I am definitely guilty of #3 and #7 from the other day's post.... and possibly #2 and 5. Woops!

VERDICT:
I only succeeded at 2 goals: running outside 3 days, and running 8 miles. That said, the two goals that I am the most angry at myself for failing at are logging calories and only eating when I'm hungry. Because they aren't all that hard, and because I think I should always do these! And because I expect myself to eat too much on holidays and when with family. That is life, and I want to enjoy it.

Day 5: Falling off the Bandwagon

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:51:45 GMT

As per usual, I do really well all week, and then weekend comes and there goes the diet plan. It's the boyfriend's fault! That said, this was not nearly as bad as a usual weekend day.

[ ] No more than 1,500 calories (1,700) 4/6
[ ] Exercise 3/6 (I planned to but then I got a freakin migraine!
[ ] Run outside 2/3
[x] Log calories
[x] Only eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full

Day 4

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:05:36 GMT

[x] No more than 1,500 calories (1,135) 4/6
[x] Exercise 3/6
[x] Run outside 2/3
[x] Log calories
[x] Only eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full
[ ] No fake sugars <--- I might as well just eliminate this one, it's just not important enough to me to make an effort

7 Deadly Diet Sins: Mind Games that will Blow your Diet

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:39:33 GMT

Our minds work in funny ways. Or in ways that aren't so funny when we hop on the scale! These are myths- ways we justify and rationalize our eating habits, that need to be debunked! Many of them, I bring up because I find myself making them!

1. I just worked out, I can have this cake. People work out to lose weight (or get in shape) but many are disappointed that they don't see results fast enough, or even gain weight. Why? Well, one reason is because working out increases your appetite, and people often overestimate what they've burned and justify a splurge. A 125 pound woman burns about 600 calories an hour running. One splurge can easily cancel this out. Even ellipticals and treadmills overestimate what you've burnt by 10-20%. It's definitely true that if you're exercising more and generally don't eat very many calories a day, you may have to increase your intake to fuel your workout. But for most workouts, this wouldn't be more than 200 calories a day. So if you're exercising to lose weight, keep in mind that weight is only lost when you burn more calories than you take in.

2. I usually drink on weekends... since I'm not drinking tonight, I can eat more. This is one the most ridiculous ones I find myself doing. I'll tell myself "well, if I was out drinking, I'd be consuming at least 500-1,000 calories. Since I'm staying home, I can have this ice cream sundae." Okay, well, drinking isn't part of the balanced diet.

3. I've already messed up my diet today... might as well eat what I want and start fresh tomorrow. I think this is one of the most common diet blowers. You splurge, and figure you may as well start over. The worst is when we do this at breakfast. I don't know how we rationalize the idea that because we've had a carb-fest with a side of animal fat for brunch, what we eat for lunch and dinner can't make it any worse. But we do! But a calorie is a calorie, and 3,500 is a pound of fat... Eating two more bad meals, is like doubling down in poker when you know you have a bad hand! So have some protein a few hours after brunch (the carb-fest makes your bloodsugar drop rapidly) and then have a reasonable dinner, and you can save yourself a lot of damage!

4. I have a party to go to tonight, and I know there will be a lot of unhealthy food... I better save up my calories by not eating much all day. I think the thing we don't take into account with this one is how many calories those unhealthy party foods have. It's easy to go to a party and have a few drinks, a h'orderve or two, chips with salsa, a mini sandwich, some cheese and crackers, and one of those cute cupcakes, you've piled on over a days worth. It's much easier to just have some fruit and veggies with hummus if you're not frickin starving! So have a normal breakfast and lunch, and go into it with a plan for what you'll consume.

5. I'll finish my unhealthy meal tonight so I don't ruin my diet tomorrow by eating the leftovers. Another one I find myself doing. I'll finish a burrito when I'm already pretty full, just so I don't have to log half a burrito into my food journal the next day. But this is absurd. You're eating the calories either way, it might as well fill you up for two meals!

6. Miscounting calories. I think that most people, even those who do count calories, miscalculate how much they eat and how many calories it has. I would bet money that I do. I've read food journals that reported "banana and peanut butter, 100 calories." This would be about half a banana and half a tablespoon of peanut butter. Have you seen half a tablespoon of peanut butter? It's almost nothing. And a cup of anything, especially something airy like chips or cereal, is much less than you would think if you aren't measuring it. So count or measure things, and go online and take a look at calorie counts.

7. Special Occasions. Two things fall into this area. First, we often deprive ourself so much of the time that when Christmas and Thanksgiving come around, we binge binge binge. To the point that we're not enjoying our food, we're just eating it because we can! And we only can today! I still do this, so I can't help you there. It's more of an observation really. Second, is the tendency to become a little loose about what we consider a special occasion. You don't need a piece of cheap grocery store cake every time an intern has a birthday, or 2 slices of pizza everything it's offered free at a meeting. If it's not something special that you would really want anyways, don't eat it just because it's free or because everyone else is. And try to limit birthday celebrations you eat cake for to people whose name you know.

Do you find yourself doing any of these things? Are there any other 'mind games' you've played or observed that derail a diet?

Day 3

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:16:08 GMT

[x] No more than 1,500 calories (1,365) 3/6
[x] Exercise 2/6 (forced myself to go to the gym. glad i did)
[ ] Run outside 1/3
[x] Log calories
[x] Only eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full
[ ] No fake sugars <---Again, not close. Who would think this would be the hardest?

P.S. I promise I'll start writing about something substantive and interesting to other people again shortly!

Day 2: Not bad

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:35:53 GMT

[x] No more than 1,500 calories (1,295) 2/6
[ ] Exercise 1/6 (Tuesday is always my day off)
[ ] Run outside 1/3
[x] Log calories
[x] Only eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full
[ ] No fake sugars <---Not even close. Splenda in coffee, sugar free jam, AND sprite zero.

Reading this you'd probably think I was a serious calorie constrictor. But really, I usually try to stick to around 1,600... I don't consider 1,800 bad if I've had a lot of exercise. And weekends are made to have fun. So why so low all of a sudden? Coincidence I suppose.

Day 1: Success

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:19:56 GMT

[x] No more than 1,500 calories (950) 1/6
[x] Exercise 1/6
[x] Run outside 1/3
[x] Log calories
[x] Only eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full
[ ] No fake sugars <--- I came SOOO close. But I had a spoonful of Splenda in my coffee.

Other:

[x] Run 8 miles (this is the one I'm the proudest of!)

Goals for the week

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:13:34 GMT

I feel very gross about the way I've been eating and how little I've exercised this week. I think I need to set some goals for the week. Especially since I'm going out of town next week...

Daily goals, starting tomorrow:
[ ] No more than 1,500 calories (at least 6 days)
[ ] Exercise (at least 6 days)
[ ] Run outside (at least 3 days)
[ ] Log calories (all 7 days)
[ ] Only eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full (always)
[ ] No fake sugars (I know this is unlikely to happen)

Other:
[ ] Run 8 miles