I MUST be insane (and lazy)

eminenz2

eminenz2

Cathlete
...because I keep making the same mistakes, continue making the wrong diet choices, exercising with all the enthusiasm of a rock (when I do exercise), and still expect a different result.

I am hopelessly addicted to sugar. I don't know how to stop. I mean, I do know how to stop, but I give into the cravings again and again. I feel like a failure. Why is it so hard to give up sugar?

I can't live the next 30 years of my life counting calories, not having chai, no chocolate, no cookies, no treats. Yay. Broccoli again.

My exercise momentum is kaput. Just six or seven years ago, (or even two years ago!) I could bang out six workouts a week and not think anything about it. Now? Pppppppbbbbbbbbtttttttt. THe hell with it.

Over my lifetime, I have lost and gained the same 20 pounds more than a dozen or so times.

I know what I have to do. But the thought of trying again makes me sick in my tummy. I can't bring myself to make ONE MORE TRIP down the scale, only to have it bounce back.

What happened? When did I get soooo lazy? Is this what letting oneself get old does to a person?

I apologize for not bringing any cheese and crackers with my whine. :eek:
 
I get to feeling this way as well. In the past I keep trying to remind myself that I love wo and I do. So j think of how it makes me feel. But ya I have addictions that make losing harder. But I keep trying. I was Proud that I keep trying but this week has been hard as well. I hard to make myself exercise today and all week. I'm hoping ill get a renewed feeling soon.
 
Check out the book The Hunger Fix by Dr. Pamela Peeke. It's about sugar addiction and very interesting
 
Eminenz2,

I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through.
I hope you are able to find a new approach.

Don't - Give - Up.
Yo-yo weight gain and loss is very hard on the body.

Instead of thinking about workouts as a means of losing weight think about it as a way to enjoy some personal time and release some tension.

The book Kariev's mentioned has gotten excellent reviews and have changed lives; I hope that it helps you, too! It's in a Kindle edition and hardcover:cool:
 
I have similar sugar addictions, just love my sweets. However, I don't diet. I find balance by living a healthy lifestyle. I exercise regularly...feel like crap when I don't. I eat what I want in moderation. I took approximately 20 pounds off over 15 years ago and have maintained that weight loss.

I could probably count calories, restrict myself from what I like to eat and weigh less, but at 45 I'm happy with my idea of a healthy lifestyle.

Find something that works for you, but get off the couch and do anything to get active! Take one day at a time and good luck to you.

Lisa
 
Ahh....eminenz2. Don't feel like a failure for a having a sweet tooth! I have one too and I know that guilty feeling. Maybe instead of completely cutting out sweets you could still have some now and then but just in moderation? I try to do that -- some days I fail but most days its a success! For instance yesterday, I really wanted a pumpkin spice latte in the morning. I know one is about 400 calories. So I made a deal with myself that if I had that latte, then I would eat a salad at lunch and salmon for dinner.

Also, how about trading out one sweet for a heathier version? For instance, just a change from milk chocolate to dark chocolate? A lot of people don't realize this, but most baked goods can have their sugar cut in half by adding fruit purees in place of the excess sugar. Little substitutions like that can make a big difference!
TLC Cooking "Low-Sugar Baking Tips"

As for working out, have you thought about joining one of the checkin groups? I know it's been a big motivator for me because I read what everyone else in my group is doing and I want to do some of those workouts too! Plus, they have become my friends and I will work out just so I have something to post and say to them. Ours is the Push It group and I know we would all love to have you join!
 
eminenz2 said:
...because I keep making the same mistakes, continue making the wrong diet choices, exercising with all the enthusiasm of a rock (when I do exercise), and still expect a different result.

I am hopelessly addicted to sugar. I don't know how to stop. I mean, I do know how to stop, but I give into the cravings again and again. I feel like a failure. Why is it so hard to give up sugar?

I can't live the next 30 years of my life counting calories, not having chai, no chocolate, no cookies, no treats. Yay. Broccoli again.

My exercise momentum is kaput. Just six or seven years ago, (or even two years ago!) I could bang out six workouts a week and not think anything about it. Now? Pppppppbbbbbbbbtttttttt. THe hell with it.

Over my lifetime, I have lost and gained the same 20 pounds more than a dozen or so times.

I know what I have to do. But the thought of trying again makes me sick in my tummy. I can't bring myself to make ONE MORE TRIP down the scale, only to have it bounce back.

What happened? When did I get soooo lazy? Is this what letting oneself get old does to a person?

I apologize for not bringing any cheese and crackers with my whine. :eek:
Click to expand...

Oh my! I could have written this EXACT post.... Some days I just think-I guess I am just destined to be this weight or this must be what it's like for me to get old. :mad:
But I don't give up. Ever. I too have the carb addiction....and I have broken the cycle in the past and felt phenomenal. I know I personally shouldn't have wheat but darn it, now and then I just feel like a slice of pizza or a hamburger on a real bun.
So what I have recently decided to do is start rewarding myself for working out (non food of course). And it doesn't have to be costly (time to myself to read, a pass on running the vacuum, sleeping in) but I do like to try new workouts and equipment. The other thing I am working on is only changing ONE habit at a time. Weather it's breaking a bad one ( I like a cocktail while I fix supper-no good for me!) or starting a new one (make an actual plan to exercise and stick with it-working on this right now). It takes a good three weeks to make a habit stick. Then I will move on to my food issues. I need to drop the snacking after dinner. Bad bad bad for me! Next will be cutting way back on wheat again. The point is that it is too overwhelming to try to "fix it" all at once! I have also actively tried to stop the self bashing and I think to myself "I am doing my best and that is a great job"
When we get to a point in our health if we have let it slide it can feel like an overwhelming mountain to cross. Break it down into smaller parts and be proud of yourself for conquering each one!
 
Eminenz2:

I disagree. You are not lazy, just at a crossroads.

You are no longer who you used to be, no longer desiring the same things you used to desire, no longer have the same goals and objectives. So, how on earth could you still be banging out 6 workout days per week? You no longer want it.

It's not that aging dooms us to fatness. It is that aging makes us see that perhaps other things are more important than maintaining an aesthetically immaculate body. Who are we maintaining that ideal physique for, anyway?

At a certain point in life, perspectives just change. It's inevitable. Kids, middle age (although I hate that term), mortality, looking after aging parents, work and financial responsibilities. We don't look out on life from the same place we did when we were in our 20s and 30s. We don't have the same time available, we don't have the same mindset, we don't have the same physical functioning nor the same metabolism.

Even Cathe's body is different. Yes, she teaches daily and works out constantly. But her body is now the body of a woman in her late 40s who works out a lot, not the body of a woman in her 30s who works out a lot. Change is inevitable.

Given that, you simply need to stop beating yourself up. Get that negative thinking out of your head. You are not lazy. You are simply different from whom you used to be and are looking for your new path.

I personally admit publically that I have no interest in working out as I used to. I have no interest in doing To the Max and Crossfire. I have not done Intensity yet either and I may never. It's not that I don't want to be in shape, but I just cannot motivate myself to do all that punishment to my body. I choose instead to chart my own path. I prefer to run, do some step, do some weights, do a lot of powerwalking when the weather is nice. And here's the thing I cannot work out 6 days per week. I can't because I just don't want to and I refuse to beat myself up about it when I fail to force myself to do it!

You know what? There's too much else to do every day. To much else that matters. And I am not prepared to reserve all my energies and mental focus every day just for my workouts. I need them for my kids, for my teaching, etc. I need to reserve energy for my own peace of mind.

So, you are now a new you. What does the new you want? if you are also no longer the TTM abd Crossfire type, then get rid of them so that you don't look at them every day and say "I should be doing these....." There are no shoulds or musts. There is only incorporating enough movement into your life to make you feel good and be healthy and be as happy as that exercise makes you.

I have to say, and I realize that this may be a sacrilege on these boards, but fitness as a goal in itself seems pretty unfulfilling to me. Fitness cannot be kept once gained. It says very little about you as a person. It's not really an achievement, unless you are an olympic athlete. And, at least on these boards among A type personalities such as we have here, and I admit to being one of them, it can lead to so much self-inflicted punishment, self-admonition, deprivation, and addiction. Exercise and fitness are not supposed to BE our lives. They are simply supposed to enrich our lives.

Personally, I am not giving up my daily medium latte with whole milk, nor my daily chocolate. I need pleasure in my life. I am a human being and I have taste buds and sensory needs. Eminenz2, so do you.

Clare
 
Thanks to everyone for their replies.

I don't think I'm a sedentary person. My typical day is teaching at an elementary school. After school I get home and walk the dog-that can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour, depending on where we go.

After that it's off to the barn to ride the horse. I'm us usually at the barn for two - two and a half hours (going out to the field to get the horse, cleaning him off, tacking up, riding, then doing it all in reverse). I get home between 7:00 and 7:30., Sometimes 8:00. I used to exercise at 9:00 - 10:00, no problem.

Other people have suggested getting up early to exercise and I answer, to what benefit? Go to bed earlier just to get up earlier? It's six of one half dozen of the other.

Anyway, I guess it's just time to take my Big Girl pill and suck it up.
 
well, it certainly doesn't sound like you are lazy - you are taking good care of your dog and your horse, and I hope you just make sure you take care of yourself - be happy :)
 
eminenz2 said:
Thanks to everyone for their replies.

I don't think I'm a sedentary person. My typical day is teaching at an elementary school. After school I get home and walk the dog-that can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour, depending on where we go.

After that it's off to the barn to ride the horse. I'm us usually at the barn for two - two and a half hours (going out to the field to get the horse, cleaning him off, tacking up, riding, then doing it all in reverse). I get home between 7:00 and 7:30., Sometimes 8:00. I used to exercise at 9:00 - 10:00, no problem.

Other people have suggested getting up early to exercise and I answer, to what benefit? Go to bed earlier just to get up earlier? It's six of one half dozen of the other.

Anyway, I guess it's just time to take my Big Girl pill and suck it up.
Click to expand...



Seems like a highly active day to me! This is not the sedentary lifestyle of the high pressured office worker. And, you get to do activities you enjoy. This is actually the type of movement researchers are advising us to do. Activity and movement do not have to be of the balls-to-the-all fitness variety. I think these activities are the path to contentment in life.

Clare
 
eminenz2 said:
Thanks to everyone for their replies.

I don't think I'm a sedentary person. My typical day is teaching at an elementary school. After school I get home and walk the dog-that can take anywhere from a half hour to an hour, depending on where we go.

After that it's off to the barn to ride the horse. I'm us usually at the barn for two - two and a half hours (going out to the field to get the horse, cleaning him off, tacking up, riding, then doing it all in reverse). I get home between 7:00 and 7:30., Sometimes 8:00. I used to exercise at 9:00 - 10:00, no problem.

Other people have suggested getting up early to exercise and I answer, to what benefit? Go to bed earlier just to get up earlier? It's six of one half dozen of the other.

Anyway, I guess it's just time to take my Big Girl pill and suck it up.
Click to expand...

Good for you for being so active. I'm fortunate enough to work from home, so I get most of my workouts in during my lunch. Truth be told, if I had to choose, I'd pick riding my horse also! You're burning calories, so look at it as a win-win situation.
 
Since I cannot carry Clare around in my pocket, I will have to content myself with printing out her post and carrying *that* around in my pocket.
 
eminenz2 said:
Since I cannot carry Clare around in my pocket, I will have to content myself with printing out her post and carrying *that* around in my pocket.
Click to expand...

I agree, her words hit home and helped me as well! Clare you might want to write a poem lik that! ..its worth a lot!
 
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I would like to say you are in no way lazy, insane, or sedentary! Look what you do in a typical day! I'm exhausted just reading about it. Can I also add that I find your life to be very inspiring. I'm an outdoorsy-type girl myself. I find nothing more satisfying than being outside in nature, on the beach, walking along trails, skating on a freshly prepared ice rink, enjoying all the wonderful sights, smells and sounds this world has to offer. Doing what I essentially love to do keeps me fulfilled, happy and motivated. Yes, I love my Cathe DVD's too. But trust me, there are some workouts that I will not do because frankly, I dread them and have 0 interest in putting my body through mental and physical torture :D.

Ok, so you're not exercising to Cathe/fitness DVD's. SO WHAT???!!! You are obviously keeping yourself active by doing what you love and enjoy. Is that not the most important thing in life? IMO, people who maintain healthy and active lifestyles, do so by setting realistic goals and expectations for both exercise and eating habits. I don't presume to know all the secrets life has to offer, but I think that one might rank up there as pretty damn accurate.

As far as your sweet tooth, oh yes I know about that all too well. I'm Italian and dessert is considered a food group. My grandmother is 80 and indulges in her weekly "treats" of cookies, ice cream, whipped cream, ice cream. Did I mention ice cream? Personally, I cannot deprive myself of food I love, because love is food. I have learned that moderation works best for me, but that is ME. No one can tell you how/what you should eat. You have to find a healthy, happy, balance that works for YOU and stick with it. Because I love dessert, I will try to find a healthy way to satisfy my cravings that are not high calorie/fat laden: I put a square of dark chocolate in my oatmeal, I make quinoa cookies, I like waffles with yogurt and banana's. That sort of stuff will hold me over until a b-day party comes up, and then that piece of cake is all mine!

So don't be so hard on yourself. If I recall, you are a Breast Cancer survivor and have overcome the toughest obstacle life could ever throw at you. Everything else is a piece of cake ;).

Take care,

Natasha

Clare
You are bloody brilliant. That's it, that's all.
BTW, can we start an Ask Clare thread.
 
Thanks all, thanks Natasha. So sweet! Again, it made my day to read your comments. I'm happy to help and to bring relief. We need perspective. Maybe I need my own blog?

I wish it were this easy to sort out my own life! Why is it easier to see what others need and so difficult to implement the same in one's own life?!

Have great day everyone!

Clare
 
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