Seven days down in the Hot 100 Challenge; 93 yet to go. How did I do?
I knew going into the challenge that I would be traveling the first weekend and my intention was not even to try to meet my goals while away. I know that was not a good plan. I have no excuses. But that was my mindset. And as you can imagine, having that mindset of not meeting my goals allowed me to… not meet my goals. I won’t bore you with the gory details. Suffice to say that Saturday I attended a day-long event with appetizers and a long drawn out meal and I spread out my bad eating over several hours. And I didn’t do well the next day either, a long day of traveling to get home, and an evening of being overtired. I made very conscious bad choices. I think it was a bit of my pre-cheat thinking, just wanting to get through the weekend and start fresh on Monday.
The rest of the week I did better, but there was certainly a bit of over-snacking, which means I was not meeting my number one goal. Sigh. I thought about this and really think there is something that makes me rebel about the whole thing. I worried that I might struggle like this with the challenge. But I am not going to give up on the idea just yet. Instead, I am going to change my goals a bit to something I think I may find less restrictive, so that I won’t feel such a need to push back against my own darn goals! Does that make sense? And does anyone else get this little rebellion thing going on?
My revised goals are:
- No bread or white flour/grains.
- No junk food.
- A continued effort to to drink more water or water-equivalent beverages.
And as I said before, I am going to give myself a pass for the rare occasions that we go out to dinner with friends and for the big three holidays. And while I have not put it as one of my official goals, I am also trying to step up my exercise.
Moving forward… this week I intend to meet my goals every day. Seven out of seven. I foresee no obstacles, other than myself. That’s the plan and I’m sticking to it!
How was your week?
Waisting Time 
Wow Karen – I definitely get the rebellion thing. It seems all I have to do is sign up for a challenge and my resolve and decent practices go t hell in a handbasket. Your honesty and self awareness are great and will help you immeasurably. Also, how smart to revise goals. You r revisions are great because they are reasonable, not too constrictive, but clear moves in the right direction. Once again you inspire me and I may have to “borrow” from your strategies.
I’ll be posting on my update for the week tomorrow.
I am glad that someone gets it! And I am not sure when I became such a rule resisting rebel:)
My week so far is GOOD! My post shall go up tomorrow! Staying on track…Counting down…to a whole new year!
You are just in a great groove right now all around and I need to see if that can rub off on me:)
There is nothing wrong with a little goal adjustment, especially if it keeps the rebellion down a bit. You knew this would be a tough week of starting too, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. The upcoming week is going to be great for you!
I had my fall down the stairs which thwarted my exercise habits, but otherwise, I took my nasty vitamins every day, and I only took a total of 4 ibuprofen, even with having major pain. My goals may seem easy for some, but I really have a hard time with the vitamins and the ibuprofen. I love me some easy pain relief and I HATE the vitamins.
Get back to your goals and you will be better for it.
I apologize for not reading your blog… but when I saw your post title about BL I did not want to know yet! Someday I will catch up with my watching:) I hate taking vitamins and rarely do it. I hate swallowing pills. But I have found chewable adult vitamins so that is not so bad.
I am proud of you! Great insight 🙂 We’re here for each other, and to hold each other’s hand! Going out of town, and going out to dinner is a big problem for me, i tend to lose all self control!
Here’s a little change for the month of October– if you want help with upping your exercise:
http://fatgirlvsworld.blogspot.com/2010/09/october-going-distance-challenge.html
Good job on week 1.
My problems often start when I give myself an occasional pass. It just goes downhill from there. I envy people who can stop after one indulgence.
This is something I really like about BlogLand. It’s o.k. to be honest. You’ve been just that from the beginning about this challenge saying you were going to test the waters, but were hesitant about jumping in with both feet. I like what you’ve done. Revised goals into things that will make the challenge work for you, but eased the rebellion that goes along with self-imposed restrictions. Challenges don’t work for everyone. Selfishly, I just wanted you to be a part of it and I’m glad you are.
I am smiling because what put me over the edge to join was having so many blogging buddies join up:) Gotta love the company!
Karen, I get what you are saying… mine is not so much rebellion but I don’t join some of these because I really like doing my own thing & I already have the willpower to push myself so it is more a stress thing for me.. putting stress to live up to expectations & just having to post things by a certain date & such. I know that faced with a challenge like The Hot 100, if I joined, I would want to take that challenge on & show everyone I can do it… but since I know I would do it, I rather not have the stress of “having to prove it to everyone” if that makes sens & I am sure I have confused many! 😉
As for your getting off track with food like that all day event, I am curious if you have figured out the “why”. For me, I just go in to these types of days knowing that I am going to stick to my own plan & will not let anyone try to force me to change that or eat things “just because”. I think the WHY is the important question for you. I know, a toughy but that is what came to my mind when I read your post.
It’s amazing how many people are giving up bread right now. I’m glad I don’t own shares in any bakeries. I’m feeling good though since I cut down on grains too.
Months ago I gave up Triscuits. (Clearly I have a problem with grains, even healthy ones.) And I was amazed at how many people I found that had trouble with those darn crackers. It was crazy!
I’m back on the wagon this week after family travel and letting myself ease up on the 1200 calorie restriction for a couple of weeks. Although I didn’t regain, I certainly didn’t lose weight and fortunately didn’t re-acquire a taste for the off limit foods that I sampled at the family feast (deserts, breads).
I did re-enlist in the Fall Challenge to stay consistently obligated to check-in with someone other than myself.
I’m the same way. Eating healthy does’nt bother me but i do tend to fail when i have to do so for a challenge or for one of the many diet plans I try.
Im on my phone so excuse any errors.lol
Well, I hope this week goes better for you!
As with my badge award envy, I have challenge envy — I’ve visited Steve’s site a few times to see if I could talk myself into joining. I’ve been caught up in the glee expressed by the participants. But, like Jody (above), I didn’t join because I like to do my own thing. My husband used to try to set up challenges for me. It usually went something like this: (him to me)
“On the days you work out, I won’t drink beer.”
“Huh? What does your drinking beer have to do with my working out.”
“We’ll inspire each other to do better.”
“My work outs have nothing to do with your beer. You’ve set me up before. You always give in because you want beer.”
“No, not this time. Why won’t you help me?”
“Okay, one more time.”
And this would continue till I finally gave in and accepted his challenge. And the first day I worked out, he would have a beer. Grrrrr.
But I am envious of all of the fun you are all having together comparing notes about your progress. Good luck all!
OMG I really was laughing and laughing at this. You made my day:)
We all go off track from time to time but hopefully it happens less often as we go further into our journey. If we keep going off track regularly, I think we need to ask ourselves why and look further within for the answer. If we keep reminding ourselves of where we want to be and what it takes to get there, it will hopefully keep us more focused.
Re. your comment on my blog – I live in VA now but I’m originally from PA (Johnstown) and still have alot of family there. Where does your son go to college at in PA?
My week was pretty good, we had a lot of social engagements that prevented a 100% adherence to my program, but once Sunday came, I was strict with myself and ended up netting a 2.3# loss for the week. Woohoo!
And, YES, that makes TOTAL sense to adjust goals to fit you better!! I’ll echo what Jody said . . . figuring out the why of what we’re trying to accomplish is essential to success. I know that lots of times when I join a program or challenge, it all sounds good on the surface and I wanna be a part of the cool gang, but then I realize that, hmmm, I don’t really care that much, or all the work required doesn’t really match up with my dreams & goals. Failure is right around the corner.
I’m a firm believer in adjusting goals, but I come from a long line of hopping on and off the latest and greatest train. So, I soooo hear you! Perfection is my enemy, I shoot for the 80/20 rule!
Yes, social engagements. Sigh. Sounds like your primal thing is going well:)
So far so good- still doing the P90X even though my body is screaming at me to stop lol.I definitely have to be careful about snacking- I snacked on cheese last night cuz my body was bugging me for food.
It’s okay to reset your goals and make adjustments, after all this is all about you and what works for your life. It is trial and error, working through things and finding our balance.
Now about that rebellion thing, why are you rebelling against yourself and getting in your way of having success?
In the end, eating out of control is a huge disservice to our mind and body. I have been there and done that so many times myself and in the moment I tell myself that I deserve that “treat” what ever it may be only later to feel bad about my behavior. It is that whole deprivation, on a diet, off a diet mentality that is so defeating.
I have done that so many times in the past and it set me up to gain a little extra each week as I prepared for the big diet that I was going to start next Monday. Which would get pushed back to the following Monday, week after week. Then it turns into months and those months add up to years.
Instead of setting up a date to begin the new diet, which then makes you want to pre-cheat before you enter a phase of deprivation,I wonder what would happen if you decide to live a healthy lifestyle allowing yourself to make choices each day regarding what you eat with out a lot of restrictions.
I know it is just semantics but when I decided to live a healthy lifestyle instead of going on a “diet it changed my mind set. Since I am no longer on a deprivation diet it comes down to making choices each day regarding my eating. Some days those choices are healthier than other days but I am not on a diet that I can go “off”.
On the days that I choose to have some not so healthy food choices I don’t feel guilty about it, I don’t have a sense of oh, I blew my diet. I move on to the next day, it all balances out.
The pleasure of the food lasts but a few moments, the feelings of being disappointed for having over eaten last for a long time. Removing the on a diet, off a diet thinking can be so freeing and allow you to find your balance and achieve your health goals.
It isn’t easy, it takes time to adjust to a new way of thinking but it is worth the effort. You deserve to be who you want to be and you have what it takes to get there!
Funny you should say this because I was reading a book that was along these lines and much of what the book described with the problems of diet mentality hit home hard for me. When I finish that book I am going to post about it and I expect that it might get some very strong differing opinions. You really have nailed me with your comment. And I am all about semantics. You once said something on your blog that also hit home for me, not sure of the exact phrasing but it was basically that you never regretted NOT eating something.
Karen I look forward to your book review. I am always up for learning something new about this food mind connection.
You have a good memory. I did say that I never regret NOT eating something!
Differing opinions are okay, we are all going to find a different path that works for us. All that matters is that we find the healthiest path to get us where we want to be and that we can manage to stay there in a healthy way.
Yay for your progress! I’m kinda like you in that sometimes once I commit to something, especially out loud, I just go and do the opposite.
It took me a lot of starts and stops and readjustments of my goals before I got it right. And even then, I still tweaked and adjusted. You will do this Karen!
I’m the same way – give me a rule that I don’t truly embrace and I’ll flout it every time. Like this past week during my vacation. I’m not the sugar junkie that I used to be. But once I got started on the desserts at Canyon Ranch, three days in I was eating cookies and more at every lunch and dinner. It became part of my vacation habit, the sheer quantity negating the fact that most of their treat were healthier than the norm. Next year, I won’t tell myself that I won’t eat sweets at the spa and not having zomething to rebel against will make a difference. 🙂
Yes, I totally understand the rebellion. I have signed up for other challenges and just didn’t even want to try after that. This one is different, but I suspect that is because my mindset had already changed when I was going into the challenge and I’m not relying solely on the challenge to motivate me. I find if the motivation isn’t coming from within, I’m just not going to do it. So maybe if you find your motivation and concentrate on it, that will help. Why do you want to eat better, lose weight, exercise? What will happen if you don’t? What will happen if you do? What are the good and bad of both? Do you want it? I can’t hear you! DO YOU WANT IT?! Sorry, the drill sergeant just came out to play. 😉 You can do this if you want to, girl–it’s up to you.
You are so right and I actually was thinking that same thing today – that the motivation has to come from me, not the challenge. Thanks to the drill sergeant; sometimes tough love is best:)
Everytime I feel like pushing back on my goals-the guilt overwhelms me-as if I have already cheated! Then when I don’t cheat I feel total relief. I am getting addicted to that relief. There is no shame in modifying goals, I have already considered it for my Hot 100, since my math was whacked. Remember, it is week one, don’t slam yourself just yet…
Polar’s Mom
http://www.polarspage.blogspot.com
Me, too, a rebel.
At least you’re doing the challenge. I’m just messing up, plain and simple.
I hear you on the rebellion. I do better with the one day at a time method, with the notion that they’ll all link together into something wonderful. (It’s all a mind game, I know, but it’s about what works, right?)
Wishing you a better week ahead!
Well, one week down. I guess I’m a late bloomer here like in life. Week two will be where I shine!
Rebellion… I have it deep (from a controlling and pretty critical father) I can’t even talk myself into doing something!
This challenge doesn’t trigger me at all though. It’s more about keeping me focused and making connections with others on the same journey.
I’m kind of new to all this, though, and largely thanks to you, I have a blissfully optimistic view of the support I’ll find around here.
Here’s to a great week two for all of us!
I like that way of looking at it – late bloomer:) Fits me too! Yes, the support is amazing.
Uh-hmmm. I am well aware of the phenomena of “pre cheat syndrome.” I could be a part of a research sample. My September end weigh-in will show that. sigh.
But, I LOVE your new goals. They are NOT easy by a long shot. You ace those, girl, and you’re gonna be burnin hot!
Deb
Thanks Deb. And I am looking forward to reading your post about the Turbulence Award:)
Hi Karen,
I kind of follow the ‘nothing tastes as good as being in shape’ mantra most of the time and really don’t feel like I am restricting myself in anyway shape or form.
When I go out I always prepare mentally for the choices I am going to make, before I get to the event.
Sometimes(if I feel it is neccessary)I even visualise myself being offered the food and ‘see’ myself saying ‘no thanks’. It’s amazing how well this works – I kind of ‘program’ my choices and decisions before I have to make them.
Hope that makes sense 🙂
All the best for week 2 of the challenge!
I know I say it all the time but the no white flour changed my life.
sure my weight but MORE my moodiness.
I know 🙂
me moody? who can imagine…
it was a carnival ride around here.
Great job for week one! I am needing to revise my goals too… he really should have put a limit on them 🙂 I have WAY too many!
Christina
http://last-weight-loss-journey.blogspot.com/
So many comments today. Goal adjustment is a great idea. I wish I knew the sure to the rebellion issue. You can do it. Make some so yummy iced caffine free tea to help with the water. Or buy yourself a cute water bottle.
Karen, I really admire your honesty. I think the revised goals sound great and wish you the best on your journey.
I should have had no sugar/flour etc. aka “white stuff” to my goals. Maybe I’ll add it later if I get a handle on my current goals.
As you read on my post, I didn’t meet all my goals either. I was short by one. I want to do better next week. I just can’t seem to get out of this funk. I know I have to though b/c I know where I end up when I let it get out of control.
Good luck with meeting week two’s goals.
Karen, isn’t that DELICIOUS about life that we can learn from our mishaps and adjust our course? This week made you think and you are resetting your sails and sailing on!
That’s a SUCCESSFUL week, having learnt something.
To me, it’s all about not feeling deprived. The moment I start to feel deprived, I rebel against the best of my self-imposed intentions. I am learning that keeping those intentions is a matter of SELF-RESPECT for me, and boy, do I WANT that! That’s what makes it easier for me!