Health is Hard

Well, friends. Time to get real about this fitness journey I’ve been on for the last few weeks! As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am currently doing a fitness challenge where my goal is to get healthier (lose weight – lose inches – gain muscle – gain confidence, etc).  The challenge came with a custom meal and workout plan, which is pretty cool. The meal plan is macro based (short for macronutrient), so basically I get a certain percentage of calories from carbs, fat, and protein each day. The workout plan is one body part per day (4 days a week) and then one day of full body, with 25 minutes of cardio and ab exercises included each of the 5 days.

The good news is that the calorie limit isn’t actually all that limited (1600 calories), so I have yet to feel ravenous over the last 3 weeks. In fact, with so much more protein in my diet, my breakfasts and lunches are quite a bit larger and more filling than they were previously, which has done wonders for my desire to snack throughout the day. (Win #1 – whoop!)  Another great benefit has been that counting and measuring everything has really opened my eyes to what and how much I was eating before this.

To give you an example: let’s just say I’m a ranch dressing girl. A ranch dressing lover. A ranch dressing connoisseur, if I may. I love me some ranch, alright? And previously, if a salad came with a side of ranch, I’d fling it on there with abandon, thinking to myself “I mean… it came with this much…that’s a serving. Man, I’m so healthy for not ordering extra. Someone should give me an award.” Well, let’s just say, that that probably wasn’t exactly the correct way of thinking. The day I had my first salad on the challenge, I decided to measure how much ranch I was actually eating and enter it into my app to see what the nutrition calculated out to. I decided to be SUPER healthy and only use 3 tablespoons of ranch (the whole container that I usually throw on is upwards of about 5 tablespoons). You guys. It was not good.  MyFitnessPal app told me that 3 tablespoons of ranch was 210(!!!!) calories and 21(!!!!) grams of fat. YIKES. So that means my usual 5 tablespoons was 350 calories and 35 grams of fat… in just DRESSING. I cannot tell a lie….I was shook. Ranch is life.

Ok, ok…to be honest, ranch is still life. But the point of that example was that I now have an idea of how much ranch I should be using, and what it means when I use a lot more. So that has been another great part of this –  just seeing how much I should be eating of things compared to what I was actually eating beforehand. I never understood why I was overweight, because I don’t eat that terribly (ranch obsession aside). Turns out anything is terrible for you if you eat enough of it. (Except maybe broccoli… can you O.D. on broccoli?) So that’s win #2! Although I gotta say, ignorance is still bliss…I was kinda happy just wandering around wondering why I was chubby.

I guess the 3.5 pounds I lost the first week might be considered a slight win… win #2.5 perhaps. But since I haven’t lost any more weight in the 15 days since then, I’m going to reserve judgement on that one. And while I previously proclaimed (and still proclaim) that I wasn’t doing this to lose weight because I hate myself, I still want to lose weight. Not because I hate my body, but to make this bod healthier than it currently is. So it’s been tough seeing the scale not move an inch. Everyone keeps saying that inches lost and how you feel matters a hell of a lot more than the scale, but that’s easier said than believed. You want the scale to confirm what you feel… you want it to reflect the work you’re putting in. Another bummer realization has been that I am just not blessed with a great metabolism. My boyfriend stands up too quickly and burns 3 pounds instantaneously, I kid you not. I am the complete opposite of that – I would have done well in the hunter/gatherer days, I could have survived for months just on what my body holds onto. That being said though, while the slow metabolism is a set back and a bummer, it doesn’t mean I can’t reach my goals. Just means it’s a little bit harder than maybe it would be otherwise.

So, that’s kind of where I’m at right now. There’s been a couple of wins. I’ve definitely learned some stuff. But the scale and I are in a standoff of epic proportions. I think it is hoping I give up, and it can just keep creeping up for the rest of all time. But not gonna happen. I am not letting the scale deter me from doing this. Because in the end, it’s not about the scale. It’s about health, it’s about happiness, and it’s about feeling good in my skin. Doing this challenge and learning what I’m learning will help me do that. So for now, halfway through, I will take those 2.5 wins.

Now, you’ll have to excuse me, there’s a 1/2 cup of Halo ice cream waiting for me with my name on it.