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Needs work

October 2, 2009

I had an ah-ha moment the other day. I have put a lot of work into my career, but very little into my body image. So why should it come as a surprise that one is doing better than the other? If success in work is no pain no gain, why can I somehow expect that good health and a good figure should just happen without my effort?

It’s amazing that I’ve not realized this before. Everything is a trade off, and if I want to feel and look good, then I shouldn’t just eat ice cream or pizza or whatever just because it astes good. Or skip the gym just because I’m feeling lazy.

It’s not like you’d see me skipping work just because it’s fun. Or sleeping in instead of going to work because I’m feeling lazy. I’ll drag my ass in come rain or shine.

So why should maintaining my health be any different?

The last two weeks I’ve picked up a challenge with some girls at work to lose 5% weight by October 31. Of course the intention from all parties is to continue beyond that. But short term goals in attainable steps first. So far I’m about halfway there. The other girls are doing the South Beach Diet. Me, I’m going the traditional route and counting calories (1500 cals/day) and exercising. Since starting this challenge I’ve done 3 sessions of 60 minutes on the elliptical at the gym, a half day hike (to be repeated tomorrow), and several sessions of exercise on my Wii. Both the Wii Fit and the EA Sports Active routines. Next week I’m starting a ballet bootcamp class with my best friend at the gym.

I prefer my method because it’s more realistic than South Beach. If I eat crappy food on this diet, I just have to rebudget the rest of my day to balance it out. Meanwhile, those girls have to avoid all carby foods. And then life happens and then they are “cheating”. Today I had a doughnut and a slice of pizza, but stayed within the 1500 cal range because I planned the rest of the day’s food around it.

Will update you on my progress.

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