Hey dudes, GUESS WHAT
I totally didn’t count calories this week! WHOAH. It was pretty odd, considering I’ve counted points/calories/some kind of numerical figure connected with the patron star of food for the past … six years? But, it was really freeing to just kind of sit down for a meal and say, “OK, what do I want?” I’m not going to lie, though; on a couple of days when I had extra chomps, I freaked and tallied by day’s intake to say where I stood. However, at the end of the week, I had no idea how much I had eaten on most days/how many “bonus” calories I had left/etc. I do still a tally bit during the day, though—that is, at meal time, I might do some quick math to make sure my lunch falls within a certain range, just so I know whether to cut back a bit later after a particularly large meal. I think this is OK, though, as there’s a difference between nitpicky/obsessive calorie counting and ensuring you’re not overeating. I have, however, set up some rules for myself, since I didn’t want intuitive eating to turn into “eat whatever I want” eating:
1) I can eat as much as I want, but I can only eat when I’m hungry.
2) I can eat whatever I want, but desserts/sweets should be saved for after dinner. (This is mostly because if I eat a sweet thang mid-day, I tend to crave sugar for the rest of the day. Or, I crave sugar AND eat copious amounts of it for the rest of the day.)
3) Large desserts (e.g., a pint and a delicious Warm Delight product)/restaurant meals that I make/purchase for myself should be limited to once a week. (This isn’t me trying to be restrictive, but rather just trying to keep myself in a position to be flexible in case I’m invited out to dinner/given a delicious baked good spontaneously/etc.)
Regardless, I was a little cautious this week with my eating … maybe a bit too cautious. Although, I always ate if I was hungry, and continued eating after finishing a meal if I wasn’t satisfied.
Last Week’s Weight: 127.2 (Yep, I was up a little bit last week after my binge, but I was OK with this, seeing as how I was still in the bottom portion of my range.)
Today’s Weight: 124
Loss/Gain: Three pounds
This Week’s Exercise Schedule:
06/11: 7-mile run/walk + 20-minute weightlifting session
06/12: Yoga
06/13: 5-mile run + 40-minute weightlifting session
06/14: 7-mile run/walk
06/15: 1-hour weightlifting session + 2-mile walk
06/16: Yoga
06/17: 45-minute aerobics tape
… derp. Dang, and I took an extra rest day this week, too! Also, I am not oblivious to the irony that when I’m not trying to lose weight, I lose copious amounts of el-bees. Jeeze. I’m not really sure what to do at this point, though; I know some people say that you can never be too rich or too thin, but when I start to drop below my range like this, it’s like there’s a little voice that goes, “Well, how thin can I get?” And, I don’t want to play that game, especially since I don’t like how I look when I start to get into my lower 120s. Also, I’d like to get back into my goal range, as otherwise I get too accustomed to being a lower weight and it’s disappointing when I get back up to a normal weight. It’s like my mind adjusts to seeing a thinner self, and any extra pounds (even when they still put me within my goal range) are, well … extra. Does that make sense?
Anyway, normally I’d go on a weight gain diet at this point (MMMMMMMM), but I don’t want to go back to calorie counting after just a week of intuitive eating. So, considering that there are several food-related events coming up (my birthday, a surprise party for a person who shall go undescribed and a week in which an aunt and her family are visiting from Texas), I think I’m just going to let things lie for the time being and worry about putting weight back on only if I find myself still below range after the aforementioned happenins’ … and quite frankly, I highly doubt I’ll have anything to worry about after the next few weeks.
Quix said,
June 23, 2010 at 3:54 PM
Sounds like you’re doing great! I’ve been occasionally taking an extra day off when I have 6-day workout weeks planned and realizing it’s not the end of the world.
Same with not counting calories in the past (but now that I’m not weighing it feels very vital to keep count), however, I still haven’t taught myself that slothly days I should be less hungry and active days I should be more. It almost feels like the opposite sometimes.
I’m hoping that this month of no weighing is going to result in some easy weight loss. I’m only 1 week in and I already WANT_TO_KNOW. No bueno.