BelovedHeather
Cathlete
I am posting this early to get it out of the way so I can make a fresh start in June. May was not a good month. Not good at all. My Cathe calendar does not look pretty this month. I have 2 weeks of blank spaces. If you heard a loud kaboom radiating from Central Texas, that was me falling off the wagon again. I had family visiting from out of town. I spent a week cleaning before they arrived and a weekend celebrating while they were here. I had a delightful visit. It was a positive experience, but I did a lot of emotional eating this month. Not binge eating by the grace of God. There is a difference. Growing up in a Southern home, I have a strong “food is love” connection that I need to break. Everywhere we ate had clean choices available for me. I consistently chose Southern comfort food. I do great with my eating when I am at home and in control of what I fix. I pack my meals and snacks for the next day. My portions are small. I get on track and start making progress then fall off the wagon when I have to deal with eating out. Because I used to binge on ungodly amounts of food, I have no real concept of normal portion sizes. I can easily eat a restaurant meal without feeling stuffed. When I think about it after the fact, it dawns on me that I just ate 2-3 times what I would serve myself at home. I moderate my portions at home by eating on a salad plate. I tried to do a detox last week, and that backfired on me. I rebel against anything too restrictive and overeat in response to it.
I took a break from planning meals and working out this week to pray and ponder. The 80 percent of the time when I pack my meals and snacks and eat clean is moving me closer to the prize. The 20 percent of the time when I deal with eating away from home is stumbling me. I need to conquer the occasional episodes of emotional eating and learn to handle weekends, holidays, vacations, celebrations, and social eating with grace.
I also had an interesting visit with my doctor this month. I had a skin cancer scare. I am diligent about protecting my skin, but I suffered a blistering sunburn in high school. I was concerned about a spot on my arm that thankfully is not cancerous. The visit with my doctor turned out to be a blessing. I am having some hormonal issues that are causing my skin to break out, adding fuel to the PMS fire, and making it more challenging for me to shed this fat. We can regulate my hormones with birth control pills, but I need to drop 40 pounds first. It is not worth the risk at my age and weight. Ironically, my hormones will likely level out when the weight is gone. My doctor has female patients my age and weight with similar issues who have lost over 100 pounds in a year. I am greatly encouraged because none of them resorted to surgery or drugs or legalistic diets. He prescribed 90 minutes of cardio at least 5 days a week for me (in addition to 90 minutes of weight training a week). My eating and calories in general are right on target according to him (other than occasional emotional eating as mentioned above), but he told me that I am not exercising enough. Oh my! I am grateful that he did not counsel me to cut my calories, but I was shocked when he told me that 60 minutes of exercise a day is not enough for significant weight loss at my age and size! Apparently, being more than 50 pounds overweight causes hormonal changes and makes it more difficult to shed the stubborn fat.
Cardio twice a day is the only thing that has worked for me in the past. I started doubting myself when people commented about too much cardio. I also got tired and lazy after a few weeks. You do what you gotta do, and I am determined to avoid being swayed by public opinion this time. I love cardio, so this is good news!
As far as results, I gained 10 pounds this month. I am not discouraged. I have hope. Keeping my Cathe calendar and a journal this year have really helped me see patterns of behavior and discover what works for me. I dropped 16 pounds in January by adding bonus cardio to my rotation. My eating was not even as clean as it could have been. My body also responds to Cathe’s intensity. I tried adding less intense instructors to the mix, and that did not work for me either. After 130 days of plant-based eating, I also indulged in meat this month (a petite filet mignon Mother’s Day weekend and plenty of chicken). I feel miserable. Evening workouts (in February) did not work for me. A 3-day split with the Gym Styles (in March) did not work for me. Back to Cathe, cardio, circuit training, and carbs I go!
Blessings,
Heather B.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).
I took a break from planning meals and working out this week to pray and ponder. The 80 percent of the time when I pack my meals and snacks and eat clean is moving me closer to the prize. The 20 percent of the time when I deal with eating away from home is stumbling me. I need to conquer the occasional episodes of emotional eating and learn to handle weekends, holidays, vacations, celebrations, and social eating with grace.
I also had an interesting visit with my doctor this month. I had a skin cancer scare. I am diligent about protecting my skin, but I suffered a blistering sunburn in high school. I was concerned about a spot on my arm that thankfully is not cancerous. The visit with my doctor turned out to be a blessing. I am having some hormonal issues that are causing my skin to break out, adding fuel to the PMS fire, and making it more challenging for me to shed this fat. We can regulate my hormones with birth control pills, but I need to drop 40 pounds first. It is not worth the risk at my age and weight. Ironically, my hormones will likely level out when the weight is gone. My doctor has female patients my age and weight with similar issues who have lost over 100 pounds in a year. I am greatly encouraged because none of them resorted to surgery or drugs or legalistic diets. He prescribed 90 minutes of cardio at least 5 days a week for me (in addition to 90 minutes of weight training a week). My eating and calories in general are right on target according to him (other than occasional emotional eating as mentioned above), but he told me that I am not exercising enough. Oh my! I am grateful that he did not counsel me to cut my calories, but I was shocked when he told me that 60 minutes of exercise a day is not enough for significant weight loss at my age and size! Apparently, being more than 50 pounds overweight causes hormonal changes and makes it more difficult to shed the stubborn fat.
Cardio twice a day is the only thing that has worked for me in the past. I started doubting myself when people commented about too much cardio. I also got tired and lazy after a few weeks. You do what you gotta do, and I am determined to avoid being swayed by public opinion this time. I love cardio, so this is good news!
As far as results, I gained 10 pounds this month. I am not discouraged. I have hope. Keeping my Cathe calendar and a journal this year have really helped me see patterns of behavior and discover what works for me. I dropped 16 pounds in January by adding bonus cardio to my rotation. My eating was not even as clean as it could have been. My body also responds to Cathe’s intensity. I tried adding less intense instructors to the mix, and that did not work for me either. After 130 days of plant-based eating, I also indulged in meat this month (a petite filet mignon Mother’s Day weekend and plenty of chicken). I feel miserable. Evening workouts (in February) did not work for me. A 3-day split with the Gym Styles (in March) did not work for me. Back to Cathe, cardio, circuit training, and carbs I go!
Blessings,
Heather B.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).
