Ravings of a Textual Deviant

Andy asked “I know you started excercising. Have you changed your diet as well? How often are you hitting the gym? I started excercising a couple of months ago. Though losing weight was only third on my list of reasons for doing so, I’ve been a bit depressed at what seems like a lack of progress.”

I had been slowly changing my diet for some time. The high-protein diets certainly seem to work for a lot of people, but who wants to eat like that forever? I thought about it and decided that for me, the important thing was not to eat more protein, but to eat more complex carbs and fewer simple ones–basically, more fruits and veggies; less sugar, rice, bread, and pasta. Also, I’m tending towards a wider variety of proteins (more fish, tofu, nuts, beans) and less red meat. My philosophy has always been that it’s hard to go wrong eating a wide variety of foods, so that’s not a huge change for me. Of course, that’s just what works for me; your mileage (poundage?) may vary. Also, these days, my beverage of choice is water. Lots of water–about two liters a day. The trick is to carry around a water bottle and sip frequently.

When it comes to changing my eating habits, I tend to cut waaaay back on certain things (like soda) rather than give them up entirely. As weird as it sounds, I don’t mind having soda only once a month, so long as I know that I can have it that one time. I can’t abide diet soda; I’d rather have the real thing less often. Same goes for other treats like real ice cream (no fat-free frozen yogurt for me, thanks) and chocolate. Which brings up another point; if I’m going for my occasional indulgence, I always make sure that I spend a little extra and get the very best stuff. After a while, I find that the so-so stuff just isn’t worth it. (I’m so spoiled on good chocolate that I don’t even want Hershey’s chocolate anymore. I can taste the paraffin.) Occasionally, I do give in to a craving for something substandard, and more often than not, I find that it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. That cures a craving pretty quickly!

As for the exercise thing, I’ve been going to the gym five or six days a week. Three days a week, I do what I think of as a long workout, which starts with a brisk five-minute warm-up walk on the treadmill, followed by stretching, weight machines, then 15-20 minutes of some kind of cardio (elliptical machines, more treadmill, stationary bike, etc.), five minutes of cool-down (usually on the treadmill again), and more stretching. The rest of the time, I do a short workout, which is just five minutes of warm-up, 20-25 minutes of cardio, and five minutes of cool-down. Sauna, steam room, or hot tub afterwards are great motivators. Also, I try to vary my cardio work so that it doesn’t get boring. If I absolutely, positively, cannot get to the gym, then I’ll use one of my Pilates tapes at home, or take a bike ride around the neighborhood. (When it gets a little cooler, and my endurance is a little better, I hope to start using the bike for short trips, too.)

And I completely understand the lack-of-progress depression–I was deep in it, right up to the point that I stepped on the scale. I started feeling the changes (better endurance, mostly) before I visually noticed anything. In fact, as it’s only seven pounds, I still haven’t noticed a much of a change, which is why I found the number on the scale so heartening. On the other hand, I’ve been slowly increasing the amount of weight and the repetitions on the machines, as well as the amount of time I spend on cardio work, so obviously, some progress is being made. Also, you have to keep in mind that even if the numbers don’t change, it’s entirely possible to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously. (You can actually gain weight at the beginning of that process, and believe me, I know that frustration well.) My friend Rachel, who has some experience in this sort of thing, tells me that she thinks it takes a minimum of 75 days to get visible results. (I’m not sure how she arrived at that number, but it sounds reasonable.) Finally, I keep telling myself that it’s not really healthy to lose more than 1-2 pounds a week, anyway. Losing weight too quickly would only mess up my metabolism and make it that much harder to lose weight…and it’s hard enough already, thanks.

So, not that I’m qualified to give advice or anything, but all I can say is stick to it and don’t weigh yourself too often. Once a week is probably more than enough. Oh, yeah, and if something hurts, stop. An injury is only going to slow you down in the long run, and this is all about the long run. If anyone who reads takes my so-called advice, on your own head be it. Other standard disclaimers apply.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2003 at 12:01 am and is filed under Weight and See. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.