Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Because I Love A Challenge.

When someone named Pish Posh insinuates that you need to get your head out of a bucket of KFC, you listen.

OK, that's actually not at all what happened.  Here's what really happened.  Pish is one of my favorite bloggers and a Twitter friend and though I've never actually met her, I'm sure is 100% awesome in real life too.  I totally want to hang out with her but she lives on the other side of the country.  Right now, if she's reading this, she probably is thankful for that since I'm sounding a bit stalkerish.  But I promise if you read her stuff you will think she is so great too.

Anyway, she is embarking on an 8-week challenge focused on getting herself back in shape. Coincidentally, I was recently thinking that I need to do something to get MY focus back where it needs to be:  off the burritos and pizza and back on making my ass smaller.  She's hosting a link up to her challenge where we can all join in on her fun, and so I am.

To make a very long story short, I'm overweight.  My Wii Fit says I'm obese and then it makes that "womp womp" noise and my Mii hangs her head in shame.  My actual Me does the same.  I am shaped like my mother.  And my grandmother.  I am round.  I am a quarter-inch shy of five feet tall and I am anywhere from 42-60 pounds overweight depending on my body frame.  I haven't seen the frame of my body in so long that I don't know if it's small, medium or large.

I could blame this on baby weight. I'm now at the weight I was the day I gave birth, before the child left the womb. Or I could blame it on the mountains of stress I've been under for the last 35 years.  I don't remember my first year, I assume it was pretty stress free.  I could be wrong.  But I'd probably be better off blaming it on the fact that I love to eat and I usually eat too much.  I eat the wrong foods. I don't exercise.

The joints of my lower extremities hurt.  I am getting winded doing simple activities.  I need a whole new wardrobe, again, because I can't fit in anything I own.  This is not who I want to be.  I used to be in decent shape.  I want to be in decent shape again.  I don't want to get sick because I have no self-control.  I want to enjoy life and time with my son.  I don't want to be obese anymore.

The challenge is to cut out a bad habit and add a good one.  Simple enough.  Here goes:
I'm going to give up my bad habit of having alcohol during the week.  It's unnecessary, period.  I'm also going to give up take-out breakfasts and lunches during the week.  I didn't do this every day, but I did it often enough.  Again, it's unnecessary.

My new good habit will be 20 minutes of exercise (at least) every single day.  On work days, I'll walk at lunch.  On the weekends, surely I can find a way to squeeze in 20 minutes.  If I can't get outside to walk, I will walk in the basement of my office or march or jog in place. Yes, I know this is not a "real" workout, but it's something and it's better than the nothing I'm currently doing.

There is no way I can lose all the weight I need to in 8 weeks.  I guess 8-16 pounds is realistic, but I'm hoping to just build the better habit and not need to buy new clothes.  I need to stop the progression of my waistband before I can get it moving in the other direction.

When this 8 weeks is up, I hope to have enough momentum to start a new challenge.

Thank Pish for such a great idea and for letting me be a part of it!

 
Why don't you click on the button above and check out who else is up for the challenge?

21 comments:

  1. This sounds great! Good luck!

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  2. You know what, good for you for being specific. Saying those numbers and owning them seems like a position of strength. I love it. You go girl!!! And for the record, I experienced you as hilarious and adorable when I met you and if you never lost a pound I would still feel exactly the same way.

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    1. You are so sweet, friend. I appreciate the kind words.

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  3. It's so awesome you are doing this! I think the most important thing is that you will FEEL better. Whenever I go spells without exercise I feel worse. I don't need to lose weight but I lose my well-being when I'm not exercising. I decided for this month not to drink M-Th. This will be hard since we are really into wine around here but I can do it! Good luck and can't wait to hear how it goes.

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    1. I hate that I don't exercise. Before I had my son I worked out 4-5 times per week and I felt great. But now I just don't have that kind of time. And my eating is horrible so I'm stuck in this terrible cycle. Hoping 8 weeks will be enough to break it. Thanks for the encouragement!

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  4. Yay! We can do this! I think you've set some realistic and obtainable goals and that is exactly what will cause you to succeed. I've been needing some inspiration, so I am thrilled about this challenge, and happy to be in it with you!

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    1. Yes! I've set similar goals before but I need the accountability. I also tend to go overboard (I'll never eat again! I'll run until I'm thin without stopping!) so I was trying to not set myself up for failure. I won't see fast results, but the habits, that's what I'm working on!

      Looking forward to the friends aspect of this challenge!

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  5. Not stalkerish at all. You've been an amazing friend to me and I'm so grateful to you for many things. Thank you for joining up. I will do my best to help you keep your head out of the KFC bucket. I want you to feel good about yourself and feel strong!

    Let's kick this up to 30 minutes, what do you say? I always get to that 20 minute point and think meh, that's good enough. No. Let's push to 30 at least. 8 weeks. We can do this. We can. Let's do it :)

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    1. Here's the rationale on the 20 minutes thing: Wednesday - Friday I only get a 30 minute lunch so 30 minutes is impossible on my lunch break. I have to try to fit it in elsewhere which is hard given my schedule. So I figured if I set it at 20 and go over the other 4 days, that's great. No matter what, I can hit 20 minutes every day and be successful. I'm playing mind games with myself.

      Also, I have to walk my son to school every morning and walk to pick him up, which adds another 3/4 mile (or 20 minutes) in 4 short sessions. I know that's not a workout, but it's movement.

      But, yes, 30 is better and I will do my best for that goal Saturday-Tuesday. Fair?

      Thanks for the push!

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  6. We can do it! Your changes seem small enough to be possible bit big enough to make a difference. I agree with Pish though, try for 30 minutes. You will feel good about it!

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    1. I really did try to come up with realistic goals that wouldn't overwhelm me and cause me to quit. I'm hoping if I build up momentum I can add more good habits and lose some other troubling ones.

      I agree with Pish too on the 30 minutes. Just tough to schedule it right now. I will definitely try - but at least at 20 minutes I can be successful and not want to give up.

      Thanks for commenting!

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  7. The Wii fit is an asshole. I've recently lost 20lbs due to not wanting to eat much (what comes in must go out..bahahaha) anyway before I lost the weight it called me overweight and groaned everytime I got in it. It was quite frankly a rude jerk.

    Good luck with your goal! I'm cheering you on. :)

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    1. I remember when it used to call me overweight... I love when it says "You didn't quite reach your goal. Maybe you should try for a smaller one." Right Wii Fit. I didn't *quite* reach my goal of losing 4 pounds by gaining 5. Thanks for noticing.

      Sad part is it's right though. The bastard.

      Thanks for the good wishes and I could use all the cheerleaders I can get!!

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  8. Great goal. It was the first PISH POSH challenge that got me started on my workout routine. I didn't meet my goal during that time, but I have since then and have kept going. It was the development of the healthy habit that I needed the most.

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    1. That's the hardest part for me, developing new habits. I tend to wan to jump in too fast and go overboard, then I give up because it's too hard. So I'm trying the slow and steady thing this time around.

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  9. Hi, I'm glad you are joining us. I think it's fantastic that you realize what needs to change. I can tell you from personal experience that cutting out the drinking will help you lose. When I quit, I lost about 8 pounds in the first month. The doctor says it's because your liver can process your food more efficiently when it's not dealing with the alcohol. 2 months is enough time for you to make it all a habit and you will be feeling so good you will continue on your own. Good luck. We can all do this together!

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement! Have a group of people working on goals too will hopefully make it easier to stick to it!

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  10. A "real" workout is whatever you make it... jogging in place, walking 20 minutes, chasing and idiot to slap him upside the head, whatever. The point is to be moving. You're going to do great, Michelle.

    I'm glad we'll be doing the challenge together. :)

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    1. Thanks! There are so many idiots around me so often, maybe I should work that into my exercise program.
      :)

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  11. I am right there with you on my love of all things Pish Posh. :) And I think your goals are reasonable and very do-able! You've got this, girl!!

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