Back on track

If there is a ball I've dropped in the past six weeks, it's been the diet/exercise one. In the quest for sanity of getting everything accomplished, I decided to push aside writing down what I gobble each day. I've still stayed semi-active, but most of my exercise has been short walks, nothing very challenging.

It's still better than zero, but I have noticed a difference in myself. Sure, I've gained a few pounds, but I try not to let the scale be the main determinant of my health success. But I have gained inches the past two months of measuring, and some clothes are not fitting the way they should...and those I do put more stock in.

So this weekend, I began the quest to get back on track. I've written down everything I've eaten since Saturday. I ate a whopping 50 Weight Watcher points that day! I probably won't hit my points target for the week, but at least I know I'm not going to a party every day of this week so I hope to control that more during the week. The win here is that I will begin being mindful of what I am eating again and being more selective to eat the smarter choices.

I've also earned 7 activity points so far, including a tough 3 mile walk/run today. It's amazing how quickly we lose the fitness we work so hard to build.

I keep thinking about something Jillian Michaels said in this month's issue of Health magazine. They asked her in terms of fitness efforts where we go wrong. While I do agree with her statement about selling ourselves short on what we are capable of, I was a little disappointed to see her come off negatively towards walking. Some days, all we can manage to get in are short walks or trips up and down the stairs. While we shouldn't settle for this on a regular basis, I'd hate to see someone read that and get discouraged that the little they may be able to get in isn't worth it. I think if it wasn't for my little walks, I might have gained even more over this time period than the 3 or so pounds I did.

But she is right, overall. If I can carve 20 or 30 minutes out to walk up and down the block, why not pop in the kickboxing DVD and actually burn off more calories? If I can stick with that mindset these last six weeks of the year, I may end the year at a loss after all.

So, 46 days left until the end of the year. I've taken 64 days off activity this year. I just might try to workout every day left in this year. I'm going to need as much of it as I can get.