Halloween update

My experiment with not tracking my food intake is going pretty well.  It's certainly easier to not log all the food I eat, and I have not gained any weight as a result. Having said that, I have not lost any weight either.  I can't totally blame my eating habits as I significantly cut back on the amount of exercise I was doing.  Between the need to take a bit of a break, the shorter days and crappy weather it was a pretty easy decision.  The last two days I have been back at it and it does feel good to exercise again.  I guess on some level I did miss it.  Crazy, right? Not really!  From WebMed:

Improved self-esteem is a key psychological benefit of regular physical activity. When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain.

Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. For example, the feeling that follows a run or workout is often described as "euphoric." That feeling, known as a "runner's high," can be accompanied by a positive and energizing outlook on life.

So, there is scientific proof you do feel better after exercise.  That must explain it why I missed it!

Next week I will most likely track my food and concentrate on good workouts as the following week both will be hard to do.  But more about that in my next post!

Weight loss and marketing

For the past couple of weeks I've been hovering around the 40 pound loss mark.  43 pounds one week, 39 pounds another week...it's all good, because during that time, I've continued to exercise and to eat right (most of the time!). I've mentioned in the past here on the blog, and to people that have asked me in person how I did it, about my need to track everything that passed my lips.  Whether I was being good or bad, the need to track it was important to me. This was reinforced recently at Content Marketing World during a talk by Ahava Leibtag.  She was discussing "Put your content on a diet" and mentioned the "5 Rules for Behavioral Change", abstracted from Weight Watchers.  Point #1 was "If you bite it, write it". Documentation in marketing is just as important as documentation in weight loss. Point #2 was "You can choose not to count it, but it still counts" True statement, and I chose to count it so I had no one to blame but myself if I did not make my weekly goals. It has also taught me a life lesson on how many calories are in food, but also what portions of that food I should be eating, and what, at the end of the day, would satisfy my hunger. Points 3-5, "Schedule it in your life", "Find a strong support group" and "Make it a lifestyle change"are equally important, but 1 and 2 have been my mantra during this time.

Last weekend I went back to Marietta College for homecoming.  When traveling and eating out, it is always a struggle to log the food I've eaten.  So I decided to take a break from it.  On Monday, I decided to continue not logging my food.  It's been harder than I thought. The good news is I still think as if I need to log it, so when considering seconds or grabbing that Mallomar, I think about what impact those actions will have on my weight.  My official weigh in is always on Monday morning, so I'm not sure how this experiment will end, but it has been a great experience knowing that I can do this and not be so anal about logging everything, every time.  Having said that, on Monday I will probably start tracking my food again!

I still have 15 pounds to go to my final weight, so I need to be focused on that, but I know once done, I can put the food scale and FitBit app away, and keep the weight off based on the lessons I've learned.