January 25, 2010

Don't Be Afraid To Screw Up


Would you believe that these screws are the same ones that usually keep my head on straight? Somehow, someway nearly all of them fell out this past week.

It all started last Wednesday ~ it wasn't such a good day as far as eating healthy goes. Somehow pizza snuck in (I ordered it) our door, and pizza is a BIG weakness of mine (I know this). And, I demonstrated that weakness with perfect rhythm and rhyme. And, a little regret too.

But, it takes more than a pie to keep this girl down! So, to make up for it, Thurs-Sun I thought I'd adopt a new approach: When I eat bad {piggish} one day, the next couple of days I go really light {rabbity}. Makes sense, right? To me it does ~ I can see myself sustaining this approach as a way of dealing with the ups and downs with food.

Started out well Thursday and even Friday, but something kicked in Saturday and I got sort of carried away with mimicing our furry friends. Then, my body protested IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (read crashing blood sugar, leg cramps, sleeplessness, splitting headache, etc. etc.). So, I sat down Sun morning and figured out how many calories I had the day before. Turns out I ate 1030 calories, burned 350 of those working out for a net of 700 calories.

Now, I'm a big girl, and according to some websites that calculate how many calories I need to maintain my present weight, I should be eating around 3600 calories a day. So, I created a calorie deficit of 1,900 calories on Saturday. But, I didn't know this because, honestly, I don't count calories. I was just trying to eat light and healthy.

As a result of all this ickiness in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, the rest of the day was a wash in terms of energy. I had NONE. ZIP. NADA. I ate pretty well, making sure to get enough protein and some complex carbs to stabilize my blood sugars, but working out was just out of the question. And, I had a sinking feeling like my new little approach was going to fail. Through tending to my body needs, by the end of Sunday my body felt normal again, but wow, what a trip.

I actually think what I did to my body on Saturday was worse that what I did to it Wednesday evening!

Guess my little plan didn't work so well. :( And what was my result? I lost the same amount of weight that I probably would have had I not been so {insert your favorite word for extreme here}, 1.2 pounds down for the week. Not really complaining about the number, but after all that??? Just wasn't worth it.

So, I went a little crazy like I said, but I really wasn't trying to be crazy about it. I sincerely felt GREAT on Saturday, thus an amazing workout ~ wasn't hungry, but ate when I was, small things like veggie salad, an egg white, half a grapefruit, and drank lots of water. What didn't I do? I'm pretty sure I didn't have enough protein. Or, really plain and simple, enough calories.

I guess some of this journey is about trial and error, learning new things as I go along, listening to my body. I know I will never be perfect when it comes to always eating exactly what I should, so compensating either before or after the fact seems smart to me. But, I messed up royaly and really didn't end up with much to show for it. Just a bunch of screws on the floor. Ugh.

What do you guys think? What else could I have done or done differently?

7 comments:

  1. A wise man once said when reviewing his failures he learned to say to himself, "Next time I will ..." and made a plan for future success.

    You are winning and taking others with you! Thank you for blogging about this process.

    God speed!

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  2. I think balance can be tricky. Good to try to balance out an indulgence with being dilligent the next few days. But you just took it too far. If you love pizza make healthy pizza. I will post a recipe or two today.
    Hugs, we'll get this all figured out someday, LOL!

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  3. So true! Hmm...what yo could have done differently...well I think you learned from the experience that protein and complex carbs are good things to inject into your diet, even if you are trying to make-up for an indulgence...but like you said, this is a trial and error journey...best part is learning from our errors.
    Weight loss is GREAT! I hit a 0 loss/0 gain week this week. Bit disappointed, but not allowing myself to get discouraged. Keep up the good work my friend...we are moving in the right direction!

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  4. Well, at least you recognize it! :o) You had only a minor set back, and still hit a weight loss. :o) Maybe a plan like WW or even the ones you see in the magazines for a healthy diet would help keep you on track. It is hard! I know I am far from perfect but at least we are still on track even if we stop and smell the flowers a little too long here and there! Cheryl you are doing well! I am proud of you! Great job on the weight loss! See you soon!

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  5. Ok, I actually wrote the last post. Forgot to Log Gary out!

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  6. Perhaps if I'd made Saturday a more normal food day, it woulda all worked out. Because, honestly, I felt soooo good on Saturday...until the evening when everything started to go downhill.

    Thanks everyone for your comments and words of wisdom. Glad you are all along for this journey!

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  7. Wow! 7.4 pounds... I'd say you're doing most things right! Good for you girl. You are so inspiring! Your pendulum will swing less and less as time goes on. I'm glad you're not being too hard on yourself... picking the pizza crumbs off and moving on. :) xo
    Congratulations!

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