1000th Post - What have I learned? DVD GIVEAWAY!!!!

I started this blog on August 3, 2007 - almost 3 years ago. At the time, I'd been low carbing and I'd lost about 30 pounds. Today, I'm down about 30 more. That's 10 pounds a year. Not all that great, but I have learned quite a bit about myself in that time, especially regarding my eating patterns. That is the biggest struggle - the food. I know how to eat. I know how to exercise. And when I do it, I do great. But that damn binge monster gets me and sabotages everything. I know I've said before that I feel like I'm making progress, but I really don't. I feel as helpless as I did 2 years ago, when I first recognized the problem.

I think I need more support regarding my binge eating. I tried finding a local group for binge eaters, but all I found was a Weight Watchers group, and I am not interested in paying for Weight Watchers. I need something specifically related to over eating. The nearest OA chapter is 90 minutes away, and to be honest, I'm not sure I agree with the whole 12-step thing. I considered therapy but I have a feeling I'm going to need to save my therapy pennies for something else (which I'll touch on later in this post). I posted on one of my mommy boards about my binge eating, and there are quite a few of us in that sinking boat. So we started a private Facebook group to deal specifically with the binge eating. In just a few short days, it's been such a relief to find similarly-minded women and just talk about it without any other weight-related issues. I'm hoping to make some progress through this group. If anyone is interested in joining, please give me your email address (you can post it or email it to me at 22gnomes@ gmail.com) and I will send you an invitation to the group. Please be sure to give me the address that is associated with your Facebook account.

Random things I've learned in the last 3 years:

I need to wear my HRM like a man - above the nipples instead of below. When I wore it below the girls, the band of my bra would fold around it weird. I don't lose my signal from my chest strap if I wear it higher.

I make way too many excuses and try to justify all my negative behaviors.

I am never going to be a perfect dieter, so I am never going to have super low body fat. I cannot be that strict. Call it lack of desire, call it lack of will power, whatever. I'm not even going to attempt to drop to super low body fat, even as a challenge. I'll never win a fitness competition, and that is okay with me.

I really don't like junk food. It makes me feel ill. And yet, I can't not eat it. I'm just not there yet.

After years of resistance, Weight Watchers has saved my sanity. For years, I've been looking for a simple method for how to eat. It's easy to say, "Eat as naturally as possible, limit the junk" but not so hard to "limit" the bad stuff. Using the Simply Filling Technique, I have that guidance. Of course, I still binge, but my binges are not related in any way to the nutritional lifestyle I follow. And as I've mentioned before, I 100% support low carb programs like Atkins and South Beach (as long as they are properly followed), but Atkins especially is not for me. I eat a larger variety of foods now than I ever did. I don't believe carbs (such as rice, beans, potatoes, other grains) are bad for me. Those I can moderate. It's the sugar and such that I cannot. But finally, the way I want to eat is packaged in a way I can understand and implement with SFT. Eat as naturally as possible, limit the junk.

I don't like high-volume work. With the exception of Turbo Jam, I like to get my workouts done quickly. So I definitely see myself kicking up the intensity and shortening the workouts. Work smarter & harder, not longer.

I LOVE TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCE WITH OTHERS AND OFFER GUIDANCE. Yes, I'm shouting, because I really love to do it. Of course, I have no credentials, but I don't offer unhealthy advice. I know I am biased toward strength training and high intensity cardio, and at times it is difficult to remember that not everyone likes that stuff. Still, it makes me crazy to see so many people dropping calories super low, aiming for Biggest Loser rate weight loss, and doing cardio (or light weights) for an hour or two. Why not be efficient? Go hard & heavy, get it over with. Do you want to spend the rest of your life exercising for 2 hours a day and living on 1200 calories? I sure as hell don't.

So what's in store for the next 3 years? A friend asked me the other day if my food struggles are related to something else I am going through. Without getting into to much detail, I have been trying to find myself as a person and I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with that. It never occurred to me that the two things would be related until she brought it up. So hopefully my food issues will work themselves out as I resolve that other issue.

I still want to add some muscle. If I ever get to a comfortable weight and gain confidence in my eating, I will train & eat for muscle growth. I know that fat gain will likely come with it, but if I can control my binges and gain by eating the right foods, I don't anticipate a problem cutting after the bulk.

I am going to get more involved in nutrition and fitness education. I would love to get certified somehow, and work with kids to help them develop and maintain healthy habits. Of course, this starts at home. My big goal for the summer is to introduce good nutrition to my son. He sees how I eat and exercise now, but he still asks for junk way too often, and I have to be a hard ass about it. I have no problem at all with treats for him - just not multiple times a day. I'd like to move more toward healthy things without the arguments and tears.

I want to earn my Platinum Award in the President's Challenge. I started April 14, 2007, just logging my daily activity. By June 2008, I earned my Bronze Award. I got my Silver in December, 2007 and my Gold in May 2008. I am 54% of the way to my Platinum. It is taking forever to get to Platinum because I don't spend as much time working out as I used to because of the whole, work smarter & harder not longer thing I've learned. Also, it just takes longer. You need need a bazillion points to get the Platinum. You have to purchase the awards (which I don't do) but the log is there with everything I've done since I started. It's cool to see. And when I get that last award, I will be proud of myself. Not that I'm not already...

I will, of course, continue this blog. It has saved me so many times. I like being able to reference things I've posted so others can read them. I like having a record of what I've eaten and what I've done in terms of exercise. I want to remember all of it, the good and the bad. Someday, I want to be able to look back and say, "Wow, look how far I've come!"

NOW FOR THE DVD GIVEAWAY.

This giveway is for Jillian Michaels Banish Fat Boost Metabolism, 50 minutes of cardio drills, circuit style. It's really the only Jillian dvd I love. With the exception of an ab segment, it reminds me a lot of Plyo X from P90X. So if you're interested in owning this workout, leave a comment on this post, telling me what you have learned in your own weight loss/fitness/health journey. I will draw one commenter (from all my blogs, names just all thrown in a hat) at random on June 28, so have your comments in before 8 AM (Eastern) on that day. I'll post reminders with all my blog entries until then.