Monday, May 14, 2007

Recreation myth

An update on FF2's progress. The exercise: exercising religiously five or six days out of seven. Mainly the gym - at least an hour, doing a combination of cardio, stretches and resistance - but also a bit of running/walking outdoors. The diet: abandoned the IPD, and the booze abstinence, but have not been overdoing it, with the exception of the odd chocolate binge. I rarely eat fatty food (I wouldn't quite say I hate chips, but I eat them perhaps about twice a year). Most of what I eat would be considered healthy. I eat refined carbs three times a week at the most. Yet, despite all the exercise - a minimum of six hours a week - and the healthy eating, I'm not shifting that tummy bulge. It's very, very frustrating.
I always believed that you could eat what you liked, within reason, as long as you did lots of exercise. Not true. For me, at any rate. Is it my age? Is my metabolism? I wondered whether the Prozac has affected my ability to shift weight. Fed up with not feeling much, emotionally - even if I feel like crying, I can't - I was going to see the doctor about gradually coming off the anti-Ds. Perhaps that'll help with the weight loss too. We shall see...
Any thoughts, anyone?

6 comments:

LottieP said...

I saw a really interesting programme on weight loss the other day on the way back from Singapore. I've been telling everyone about it ever since because there was some truly interesting revelations (summed up horribly briefly below):
1. eating less, exercising more really is the best way to lose weight;
2. soup makes you feel full for longer than the same food in the same proportions washed down with the same amount of water;
3. a meal rich in protein and low in carbs and fat will also make you feel fuller for longer;
3. keeping a food diary makes you eat less;
4. eating low fat yoghurt with every meal means less fat is aborbed into your body.

My diet oracle (J) also says that doing weights is the best way to lose weight. But I also find that mixing it up helps - don't do the same thing every time: do some rowing, do some high intensity, do some low intensity...

Claire said...

Regularly snarfing down half a packet - i.e. three large squares - of Somerfield's "Best Ever" tiffin probably doesn't help. The evenings are my problem time, and now that I'm drinking a lot less, my inclination is to replace alcohol with some other "treat". I've become incapable of having a night without such treats. The rest of the day I can eat healthily quite happily. It's a habit I clearly need to snap out of.

Claire said...

Hmmm, reading my original post again, what I've just written gives a lie to "the odd chocolate binge". But please, no one, tell me to eat fruit instead - yuck, boring! It's better that I learn to have a healthy meal in the evening and then nothing before bed. Which will involve having *nothing* sweet or yummy in the house at all. That includes cereal such as Special K, of which I've been known to scarf down two or three bowls when really desperate.

Doriana Gray said...

I can only say keep at it Claire. Now that your body is used to so much exercise, it would be a disaster if you stopped suddenly! I did and piled on the weight... but I am trying to get back on track now :-)

Claire said...

Narcissa, you're right. I've stopped going to the gym since writing this, because I got ill for a few days, and the weight is piling back on. Will post on current (rather sad) state soon.

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