Moderation is not sexy

It's not. Not at all. There are no big revelations in today's post. No big announcements. No big "LOOK AT THE AWESOME, HUGE, INCREDIBLE THING I JUST DID THIS WEEK." Nope, none of that here.  Because choosing moderation looks normal. It's incredibly hard and has been a bit of a struggle this week. But it doesn't look hard. Because it's not depriving myself (which results in feeling bad). It's also not completely indulging myself, which also results in feeling bad.  It's about choosing moderate, middle of the road choices.

For example: Today was church lunch.  And, at our church, we LOVE to eat. I would feel very comfortable saying that church lunch day is the best attended service of the month. And our people, they do know how to cook.  Luckily, the theme for today was soup and salad, so it was easier than normal to make good, middle of the road choices. So middle of the road for me, today, looked like a very big plate of salad and a small bowl of beef/spinach soup. No bread. No dessert. Was it filling? Yes.  Over-indulgent? Nope. Depriving? Definitely not. I came away feeling proud of myself. But to anyone on the outside, what I ate was perfectly normal. Not exciting. Not sexy.

So here's the run down for the rest of the week:

Good things: 

Again, tracked all week! This really keeps me honest/mindful, so I'm happy to be doing it.

Ordered and received my Garmin Forerunner 15.  So far, I'm pretty happy with it. A few negatives (no bluetooth sync'ing, it's a little big, and I'm not sure how accurate the pedometer/activity part is) but I'm loving that it reminds me to get up and move every hour and that I have a "goal" for steps to reach.  I'm such a data nerd that I like seeing that information about my days.

Listened to the Moderation365 webcast on Monday.  It was good (see my thoughts on it here), and I'm looking forward to listening to tomorrow night's webcast as well.

Got my hair cut! Six inches off and it feels fantastic!

Need to Improve list:

Still didn't get much activity in.  Dang cold weather! I need to commit to using my treadmill more and finding fewer excuses.

Weight change:- 2.4 lb  I'll certainly take that!

This week's goals:

One run, inside or out.

Track everything.

Listen to #Moderation365 webcast on Monday, or Tuesday if need be.

Have a fantastic week!

Moderation365

I mentioned earlier this week/last week that I signed up for a webinar series with Jill Coleman of JillFit called Moderation365.  The first webinar was last night and I wanted to recap what I learned, both for me to revisit as needed but for you as well, if you're interested!

A lot of last night was "introductory", a kind of who, what, where, when, why, how kind of thing. Here are my big take-away messages.

1. You don't have to be perfect; you just have to be consistently engaged in the process.  Perfect eating isn't an option, there is no such thing, and even if there were, it wouldn't be sustainable. So it comes down to how patient you can be and how you view the process. If you understand there will be bumps and failures and bad days, but you are resilient and bounce back to moderation (not to deprivation/tightening up), then you will succeed.  This one is huge for me and I feel like this is a quote I need to hang on my fridge, on my bathroom mirror, on my office wall. It's so appropriate to SO many things in life, not just eating.

2. The MMAD Nutrition Model.  Jill promised more about this in the next two weeks, but MMAD stands for Moderation, Mindfulness, Abundance mindset, and Daily Nutritional Commitments. She talked mostly about moderation during this particular webinar - what is it, how do you achieve it, and how it is very different for each person.  Essentially, moderation is "navigating the middle" with your eating.  At every meal, or every food decision, you should ask "What is the middle choice?"  The middle choice is usually the best because it falls in the middle of the deprivation-indulgence scale (DIS) - that place where you are satisfied, not deprived or over indulged.  Sometimes, this means pre-empting feelings of deprivation by choosing to eat something that is a "treat" but is moderate (i.e. a small piece of dark chocolate, a glass of wine, a piece of cheese, etc) and is not a trigger food.

3. But what should I do when I go overboard?  Don't panic! Sometimes, using consistent exposure is a good thing - for example, if there are foods you crave, have a little every day so that you aren't feeling deprived and then binge on that thing. Practice mindful eating by getting in touch with the physical sensations (am I actually hungry or am I bored/thirsty/nervous/anxious/whatever?). Ask "is this particular food a trigger food for me?" and finally, resist the urge to tighten up the next day/meal - just go back to moderation, so you aren't swaying the deprivation-indulgence scale and setting yourself up for going overboard again.

I'm excited to hear next week's talk, and keep thinking about and learning from this week's talk!

Thoughts for the first week of the new year...

Well, here are the thoughts for week one...

Good things:

I tracked all week!  Everything went into MyFitnessPal so that I was feeling accountable for what I was eating, even when I didn't want to be.  Most of the time (80%) I was making good choices.

I finished my research and decided to commit - I'm buying a Garmin Forerunner 15 (in small/purple, if you want the full details...).  It has an activity tracker that will remind me to move (200 steps every hour) and has all of the features I want for a running watch. Only downside is that it doesn't connect thru Bluetooth or a similar way to my phone, so I have to sync via computer then to the app on my phone. But I should be able to sync with MyFitnessPal, which is cool.  It is supposed to have a sleep tracker too, but seeing as how we aren't really sleeping right now, thanks to the little one, that probably won't be very useful right away. 

Not so good Need to improve things:

I didn't get much exercise. Partly because of my schedule, partly because of the cold, and partly because I was under the weather a bit the end of the week.  I did get some movement in, but no runs. 

Unfortunately, the FR15 is back-ordered. Apparently everyone else wants one, too....

Weight change: - 1 lb. 

Notice that the weight change gets it's own category.  That's because I'm hoping it's a consequence of the changes I'm making to feel better, not the only outcome that I want to measure. Let's keep it real here, shall we?  What I really want is to have more energy and have my clothes fit better. The number on the scale is a bonus. 

This week's goals:

One run, inside or out. More is bonus. 

Track everything.

Order FR15 so that it eventually gets here. 

Listen to #Moderation365 webcast, hopefully on Monday, but if not, on Tuesday.

Get my hair cut and feel pretty.