New and lacking will power

JenMarTen1585 · July 2015

I am a 36 year old attorney and married mom to a 6 year old. I am a fairly new zumba instructor and teach 1-2 nights a week for an hour class. I have always been in good health with not perfect weight, but fairly consistent weight. I exercise about 4-5 days a week and zumba is a fabulous calorie burner, which I do 3 days a week, so that usually basically maintains my weight. However, I gained 10 lbs over the last 3 years and I really want to lose them. It's important as a fitness instructor to look like I'm in shape so that my students will want to continue on with the exercise regimen and believe in it. They don't know what I eat to negate out the good I'm doing my body by exercising.
The problem is not my exercise - it's my eating. I am used to eating whatever I want ... and I eat horribly - 7-11 runs everyday for candy, doughnuts at least once a week, dessert every night, lucky charms for breakfast ... I mean BAD! So improving my eating habits ... there is a lot of room for improvement! However, I have very little self control or will power. So I'm trying this tracking thing and trying to cut out the ridiculous foods out of my diet most of the time. I'm on week one and trying!! I would appreciate support and suggestions in gaining will power and discipline! I think the tracking will help.
I am 5'4" and 146 lbs currently. My goal is 129lbs. When I got married 11 years ago I weighed 127lbs in the morning so that would be my absolute ideal. I wasn't model skinny then, but I was lean and toned.

sharlsg · July 2015

Wow you are super busy! I would oat yourself on the back for doing as much as you do fitness wise! That's an incredible fitness routine, don't ever stop that

mbaker566 · July 2015

i think will power comes with a decision that you don't think the behavior is acceptable any more

it takes time. I find logging helps me confront my eating habits and makes me more aware of what I am eating. so I can have a twix, or I can have fruit salad. one makes me full longer. I usually go with the salad. but the twix will win sometimes too. and that's ok

focus on the calories in and calories out and eating at a deficit.
read the stickies

and I wouldn't worry about what you look like in regards to your teaching. I teach aerial yoga. sometimes to "healthy" looking individuals, but my classes still kick their butts. we firmly believe at our studio that yoga is for every body. I bet the zumba people feel the same.

demoiselle2014 · July 2015

JenMarTen1585 wrote: »

I am a 36 year old attorney and married mom to a 6 year old. I am a fairly new zumba instructor and teach 1-2 nights a week for an hour class. I have always been in good health with not perfect weight, but fairly consistent weight. I exercise about 4-5 days a week and zumba is a fabulous calorie burner, which I do 3 days a week, so that usually basically maintains my weight. However, I gained 10 lbs over the last 3 years and I really want to lose them. It's important as a fitness instructor to look like I'm in shape so that my students will want to continue on with the exercise regimen and believe in it. They don't know what I eat to negate out the good I'm doing my body by exercising.
The problem is not my exercise - it's my eating. I am used to eating whatever I want ... and I eat horribly - 7-11 runs everyday for candy, doughnuts at least once a week, dessert every night, lucky charms for breakfast ... I mean BAD! So improving my eating habits ... there is a lot of room for improvement! However, I have very little self control or will power. So I'm trying this tracking thing and trying to cut out the ridiculous foods out of my diet most of the time. I'm on week one and trying!! I would appreciate support and suggestions in gaining will power and discipline! I think the tracking will help.
I am 5'4" and 146 lbs currently. My goal is 129lbs. When I got married 11 years ago I weighed 127lbs in the morning so that would be my absolute ideal. I wasn't model skinny then, but I was lean and toned.

Perhaps it would help to identify some of your problem areas (For example, 1. Sugary breakfast cereals 2. Candy runs 3. Evening desserts) and begin replacing them with healthier options one at a time. You could replace the sugary cereals with something healthier, and after you've gotten used to that, begin taking some fruit or veggies to work to munch on when you feel the desire for something sweet. You could make dessert after dinner a once-a-week tradition instead of nightly, and then make it something more special.

Since you've only got 10 lbs or so to lose, I don't think there is any reason to make a drastic change all at once. Pick small habits to replace one by one, so you're not fighting too many willpower battles at the same time. Willpower can be exhausted, after all . . . a really good book to read about developing willpower and how it works is The Willpower Instinct. I learned a lot from it.

sharlsg · July 2015

After spending 4 years trying everything under the sun from the 17 day diet, calorie counting, eating clean, quitting sugar I've finally found a solution in nutritional cleansing where I've lost more than my goal weight and now I've maintained for the last 6 months. Such a good feeling! I use this fabulous app for portion control to compliment the system. Happy to answer any questions about how it works

JenMarTen1585 · July 2015

moyer566 wrote: »

i think will power comes with a decision that you don't think the behavior is acceptable any more

it takes time. I find logging helps me confront my eating habits and makes me more aware of what I am eating. so I can have a twix, or I can have fruit salad. one makes me full longer. I usually go with the salad. but the twix will win sometimes too. and that's ok

focus on the calories in and calories out and eating at a deficit.
read the stickies

and I wouldn't worry about what you look like in regards to your teaching. I teach aerial yoga. sometimes to "healthy" looking individuals, but my classes still kick their butts. we firmly believe at our studio that yoga is for every body. I bet the zumba people feel the same.

Thank you! It's so true that logging the food helps you confront it! I haven't been logging all day ...I usually put it all in in the morning for the day before so there is huge room for improvement there. I feel like if I log before I eat it might make me even more accountable.

You are right that the participants are all different shapes and sizes and ages in zumba so I know most of them don't care, I just want to show them that doing zumba works (it does burn 600 cal an hour for me as I have tracked it many times with my heart rate monitor). The other two zumba instructors at my gym look like fitness models and are younger than me .... so it hurts the self esteem a little even while I know I should not compare myself to other and just be happy with myself!

It's funny .. we know all the right things to say to our selves .. it's just making our selves truly believe it.

JenMarTen1585 · July 2015

demoiselle2014 wrote: »

JenMarTen1585 wrote: »

I am a 36 year old attorney and married mom to a 6 year old. I am a fairly new zumba instructor and teach 1-2 nights a week for an hour class. I have always been in good health with not perfect weight, but fairly consistent weight. I exercise about 4-5 days a week and zumba is a fabulous calorie burner, which I do 3 days a week, so that usually basically maintains my weight. However, I gained 10 lbs over the last 3 years and I really want to lose them. It's important as a fitness instructor to look like I'm in shape so that my students will want to continue on with the exercise regimen and believe in it. They don't know what I eat to negate out the good I'm doing my body by exercising.
The problem is not my exercise - it's my eating. I am used to eating whatever I want ... and I eat horribly - 7-11 runs everyday for candy, doughnuts at least once a week, dessert every night, lucky charms for breakfast ... I mean BAD! So improving my eating habits ... there is a lot of room for improvement! However, I have very little self control or will power. So I'm trying this tracking thing and trying to cut out the ridiculous foods out of my diet most of the time. I'm on week one and trying!! I would appreciate support and suggestions in gaining will power and discipline! I think the tracking will help.
I am 5'4" and 146 lbs currently. My goal is 129lbs. When I got married 11 years ago I weighed 127lbs in the morning so that would be my absolute ideal. I wasn't model skinny then, but I was lean and toned.

Perhaps it would help to identify some of your problem areas (For example, 1. Sugary breakfast cereals 2. Candy runs 3. Evening desserts) and begin replacing them with healthier options one at a time. You could replace the sugary cereals with something healthier, and after you've gotten used to that, begin taking some fruit or veggies to work to munch on when you feel the desire for something sweet. You could make dessert after dinner a once-a-week tradition instead of nightly, and then make it something more special.

Since you've only got 10 lbs or so to lose, I don't think there is any reason to make a drastic change all at once. Pick small habits to replace one by one, so you're not fighting too many willpower battles at the same time. Willpower can be exhausted, after all . . . a really good book to read about developing willpower and how it works is The Willpower Instinct. I learned a lot from it.

Thank you so much! I will definitely look out for that book! I can actually use it in all areas of my life and work.

mbaker566 · July 2015

JenMarTen1585 wrote: »

moyer566 wrote: »

i think will power comes with a decision that you don't think the behavior is acceptable any more

it takes time. I find logging helps me confront my eating habits and makes me more aware of what I am eating. so I can have a twix, or I can have fruit salad. one makes me full longer. I usually go with the salad. but the twix will win sometimes too. and that's ok

focus on the calories in and calories out and eating at a deficit.
read the stickies

and I wouldn't worry about what you look like in regards to your teaching. I teach aerial yoga. sometimes to "healthy" looking individuals, but my classes still kick their butts. we firmly believe at our studio that yoga is for every body. I bet the zumba people feel the same.

You are right that the participants are all different shapes and sizes and ages in zumba so I know most of them don't care, I just want to show them that doing zumba works (it does burn 600 cal an hour for me as I have tracked it many times with my heart rate monitor). The other two zumba instructors at my gym look like fitness models and are younger than me .... so it hurts the self esteem a little even while I know I should not compare myself to other and just be happy with myself!

I so get it.

but they are younger. i could eat a whole little ceasars pizza and not make the scale flinch when i was younger. our "fitness model" is older than me. but i simply don't have the time to put into working out and diet(vegan) that she does. I bet as an attorney you don't have the time to devote to it either.

eating at that calorie deficit should help you get to your goals. weight and/or body weight training should help getting the definition after the "padding" is gone

SherryTeach · July 2015

No mention has been made of your 6-year-old child who is watching your eating habits at an age where food habits become deeply ingrained. If you are thinking about your motivation, it's not the ten pounds that is your main factor.

jbouton40 · July 2015

Try looking up joel fuhrman on the Internet or youtube. It changed the way I eat forever.

New and lacking will power

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