Kicking *kitten* In Our Twenties - January Challenge!!

Morning everyone (just barely, since it's nearly noon already)...!!

Ok well I slept a good 8 hours or so last night which was much needed. The weekends are always rough for me because of working late and then several early mornings (usually only 4-5 hours sleep) so it was nice to catch up a little. My back is feeling about 60% better today, but definitely not good enough to start my Half training. It's extremely difficult for me to just sit around and "rest" without feeling like I am making excuses and letting myself down. I know that my body is *not* happy with me right now, obviously, but I hate feeling like I am not giving 110% right now.

In lieu of working out, I am going to take care of some of my other Jan healthy goals today... For starters, I've decided that to curb my artificial sweetener use I will no longer be taking any in my coffees/lattee EXCEPT for my first cup of coffee in the morning. I don't think I could stand to totally cut it out yet, because I would for sure cheat, so I'll give myself a weening period for the month. I have also stopped sweetening my oatmeal entirely. If I want it sweet, I'll add fruit or a natural sweetening agent. No more chemicals in breakfast. I'm also going to make it my goal this week to find a General Practitioner. Despite our awesome, incredible health care system up here that y'all should ALL be jealous of, I actually don't have a family doctor and haven't for the last 4 years... I left my old doctor because he made me VERY uncomfortable and I didn't trust his medical opinion, due to some serious medical issues I had several years ago, I am extremely hesitant to see a doctor to this day as a result, but I know that it's in my best interest to be regularly checked and that I should have a GP to see if I need to, so that's on my list of To-Dos for January's health and wellness goals. I'm also going to find a tasty recipe to make for dinner that is healthy and low-GI and hopefully the whole family will enjoy.

mkingraham - Welcome!! :flowerforyou: This group is amazing and I hope that you find the support and motivation that you are looking for through this thread :happy: Have to agree with Gonks and Cait. 15lbs is really shooting for the stars, and not a sustainable weight-loss goal over 1 month if you want to be losing fat and not sacrificing muscle loss. I found that I ended up having to double my efforts after losing a lot of weight because I hadn't been practicing "quality weight-loss" -- I ended up just looking like a smaller fat person, to be honest, and was not happy with my body shape at all. I am still struggling with it to date and working on increasing lean muscle and re-shaping my body to make it less flabby and more fit looking.

Losing fat takes time, plain and simple, and it takes eating a good quantity of really healthy foods, a balanced diet including good fats, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates (rich in fiber). It also takes a lot of hard physical work, including strength training to build your lean muscle and help burn fat, and cardio work to improve your heart health and burn calories. Aiming to lose 1-2lbs of quality weight and keep the weight you want - lean muscle, mostly - is a great goal and while it might take somewhat longer to lose the weight, it will pay off in the end when you have a strong, fit and healthy body that you are truly happy with. Hindsight is 20/20 and I really wish I had known this from the start of my journey, so I hope that you look into it for yourself and make sure that you are fueling your body well and not depriving it of good, healthy foods in order to lose the weight fast. You will probably find that while it takes a bit longer to see results on the scale, NSVs will be plentiful using this approach and you will be very happy with what you see in the mirror. Good luck and welcome to the group! :bigsmile:

Cait - Thanks girl :happy: I really appreciate your kind words. I am going to be resting up and will hopefully be back full-tilt tomorrow. I guess we'll see! Definitely feel you on the old "dieting" mentality... It's so hard sometimes not to feel guilt even when you are managing a balanced diet, just from eating over some days, or eating heavier meals. It's weird but just have to work through it. I struggle a lot with this because I have always drilled it into myself that dieting = deprivation and that there are no excuses for eating poorly. It's just a mental block that we have to overcome. Balance means allowing ourselves some "sometimes food" in moderation and when we make room for it in our cals. But it's not always easy to justify when you are so committed and determined to meet your goals. Have to just reprogram and see the whole affair as a journey and not a finish line. The balance that keeps us from pulling out our hair in frustration and keeps us happy and healthy in the longterm, is worth far more than the final # on the scale -- I can tell you from experience, since reaching my GW hasn't felt like that big of a victory compared to everything else I have accomplished in the last year. Can't wait to see more of your running goals accomplished, Cait. You are such a wonderful motivator and inspiration and I am PSYCHED to hopefully run the Warrior Dash with you and the other ladies here :happy: We are going to have SUCH a blast and it's going to be such a wonderful way to measure the results of all our hard work this past year. Doing something active with some of my favourite MFP ladies and celebrating in your victories first hand is going to be such a wonderful experience, and I am sure it will fill me with so much pride to see how far you have all come :happy: I am really looking forward to it already!

Roo - What Cait said! Sorry I missed this question/post earlier... I only list 2-3 days a week, depending on my schedule. I find that with my running I usually am too burnt out to lift more than that, and my muscles are just far too tired to dedicate any more time to it. I would suggest taking a day for your muscles to recover after every heavy lifting session. One day on, one day off. Even if you are rotating your muscle groups, each muscle group only really needs to be worked out once ever 5 days or so in order to see muscle growth. Keep in mind that aerobics, stepping, running, elliptical and other such exercises, although they are technically cardio workouts, also work your muscles and will help to strengthen them and build lean mass. So if you are doing those along with your weights every day, it's not a wonder you are feeling sore and somewhat burnt out. You definitely need to give yourself a rest! This is why they suggest not doing the same workout every day - since you muscle groups need a recovery period in order to heal and grow, you should try to switch it up every other day or so. This will help you avoid burn out and will make sure that your body is being toned in a more balanced fashion. So instead of the elliptical every day, so it 3 or 4 times a week and then maybe take up an exercise class or video 2 times a week, or try interval and body-weight circuit training 2 times a week instead of lifting... Just my thoughts! I hope more than anything you find a regimen that works for you, keeps you happy and motivated, and gives you tangible results so that you stick with it! From the sounds of it you are really enjoying your new workouts and I love that you are feeling skinny today - There is really NOTHING more rewarding than feeling like you're making progress and looking good! :bigsmile: Those are always my fave days.

OK Finally signing off. Have to find a recipe and get myself moving. Perhaps I'll do some house-work to get myself up and going, even if its not a real "workout"... Hope to be back at it tomorrow. Have a great Monday everyone!
Meag

What is your go to healthy snack??

Fruit, cottage cheese + cinnamon (and sometimes walnuts) - it's a huge, filling snack and tastes great!

Either that, or I have an apple, or cut up veggies with hummus and homemade pico de gallo. But usually cottage cheese and fruit wins out because it's so sweet and cinnamony and delicious! :happy: