Breaking it down...but not too far down, lol!

Well, I said I had "stuff" bursting..... All of these subjects deserve a seperate blog post, but anyone that knows me know that I'm a "long story teller"....too many details, lol! So here I can break down the first 3rd, only writing about one paragraph to each title and lead you down my thought processes a little farther...until I get the time and energy to elaborate more.....

How much food do we really need? Not much! If you weigh more than you want to, or should I say, if you are of an unhealthy bodyweight.....because many of us are of a healthy bodyweight, but say we want to weigh less (for whatever psychological reasons)....then mostly, plain and simple, too many calories in, not enough calories out. Eat less, exercise more or do both.

Come to terms with what it takes to maintain the bodyweight you say you want to be. It may or may not be your body's natural setpoint......

The biology of food obsession. I used to feel bad about my constant thoughts about food, until it hit me...... I believe it is in our genetics, to a certain degree, to have constant thoughts about what we are going to eat and what our next meal is going to be. Why?

Well, if you think about what life was like before these modern times of abundance and convenience, we had to grow, kill and prepare all of our own foods, and the foods of our families. That's pretty time consuming, lol. From the time we wake up, to the time we went to bed our only jobs were to survive, and a large part of surviving meant making sure we had food.

What? You mean we didn't always have grocery stores? lol

Living like an athlete. I am an athlete. I think of myself that way, and so should anyone and everyone that knows the importance of scheduling, and following through, with a physical activity (s) that is progressively challenging in a way that makes the body, mind and spirit healthier and stronger. Humans are animals....you have to move it or lose it.

Never stepping on the scale, ever again, for the rest of my life....so extreme. Do I always have to see things so black and white? I'm just asking...lol..... To weigh, or not to weigh? I guess it all comes down to this.... how does seeing a particular number, or not seeing a particular number make you feel? Personally, when I expect a "bad" number, I'm not surprised and I take it like a grown up and use the number simply as "data". But if I'm expecting a "good" number, and I don't see one, then I give up, eat like crazy, and then expect a bad number....which I get, it's no surprise, lol....then I start again. It's very demotivating to me to work so hard training and dieting and not get rewarded. I've been very short sided in my thinking that way.

Bottom line, do I feel good? (about my body) Do my clothes fit? Am I able to preform, athletically, the way I need to? Am I eating in a healthy way? Not just healthy foods, but healthy eating habits......

Too much food. Again....more about too much food? Well, when I wrote this I was thinking about my fridge and freezer. I simply can't eat the amount of food I can cook and prepare and maintian the bodyweight I say I want to be. I don't like buying food to let it go bad and throw it out, I'd rather not buy and prepare so much. But it's so easy for me, and I love to do it, I had to come to terms with the fact that I have to stop, or at least slow the heck down!

That's one reason why you haven't seen many food posts, because I am not cooking as much as I was....I still have 2 qts. of applesauce in my freezer, along with squash and tomato soup from summer. I have yet to roast a winter squash, and it freakin' December! Please, can I finish summer and catch the bounty of winter before spring? Good Lord!

Cute underwear. I never throw out my old underwear when I buy new ones....why not? Well, I guess they still have a few more "miles" left in them, lol! But the problem is that I always grab the old pairs when I workout....which is everyday, sometimes twice a day, because I don't want to wear my "good" ones to get sweaty in.

Well, guess what? I own a washing machine, that's what doing laundry is all about lol! I can wear my cute ones to workout in, in fact I deserve to wear cute underwear not matter what I'm doing, Why buy, and own, cute underwear and then chose to wear the old crappy ones? I'm throwing out all of my old underwear.

Overtraining out of fear. I don't think it's good to do anything out of fear. Easier said than done. This thought is in relation to trying to out-exercise fat. If you have healthy eating habits, and again, what you eat is as important as how you eat, then, in a perfect world, you would never have to try and "out-snatch" a donut.

The straight and narrow. 4:30pm yoga sucks. It sucks especially since I wake up around 4am, so by the time 4:30pm rolls around I've been up over 12 hours. But, because of Mark's work schedule it's the only time that works for him, so I have to manage my food to accomodate this late 90 minute workout.

I can't starve myself and be strong for class, but I can't overeat and survive 90 minutes of intense endurance training in a room heated to a humid 104 degrees....it's keeping me on the staright and narrow.....big time!

No sympathy / having compassion. Good freakin' Lord, this one is tough! It's tough because I'm such a hard-ass. I am so sick of hearing fat people say this...."I've tried every diet known to man, and it's never worked"....bull shit. You know what? If you have an eating disorder, then call it what it is. Say instead...."I'm a compulsive overeater and I haven't made up my mind to stop, because, for now, I like overeating more than not overeating.", Or this...."I'm addicted to food and eating, and although I may be able to find the discipline and willpower to control this addiction long enough to lose a few pounds here and there, I haven't found a way to deal with my addiction."

Every diet works, but can you live on it? Can you find a satisfying way of eating that supports health for the rest of your life? I think you can....I did. So I'll have compassion for "the struggle", "the fight", "the doubt", but none of us are victims, overweightness is not something that has been "done to us", we do it to ourselves....take responsibility.....and for that reason I have little sympathy.

Prioritizing. I can only speak for my lifes' schedule....I know people are busy, but if you are too busy to find the time to do what you need to do to move toward health, then you should be too busy to find so much food to eat!

Life's too short to not eat oatmeal. I love oatmeal, I could eat it for every meal. I love it with milk, 1/2 & 1/2, cream, yogurt and even vanilla ice cream. I love it with sugar, honey, or maple syrup, and/or raisins and dried fruits. I try and eat it as my "carb only " meal, usually a few hours before yoga class, because I try and eat alot of veggies, and veggies are about the only thing I don't like with my oatmeal.....maybe a sweet potato (aka garnet yam), but that doesn't really count as a veg in my book. But Mark said to me the other day, "You know, you can eat oatmeal more than once a day!".......Oh yea, I can! LOL

Look next for my recipe for chocolate oatmeal.........

I'll be back with more "blog post thoughts" soon....in the mean time feel free to comment! In fact, I encourage your comments.