Honestly folks, I never believed I could do something like this, but here I am. In my case, I had to get my weight off before I could tackle something intense like this -- and I do sometimes feel like I wasn't an "exemplary" Optifast patient because of this. But I guess the important thing is I'm doin' it now, in maintenance, where the real work for us lies. We all know without some form of exercise there is a very strong likelihood the weight will come back. So I'm embracing it as best I can, and making progress day by day.
As I've said before, don't be hard on yourself if you're struggling with a solid exercise routine while full fasting. You know I did. Of course, try as best you can to get something going. I did walk every day, some days quite a long distance. But as far as workout classes and strength training, I struggled. If you're like me, do not give up hope. The pieces will fall into place in time. I promise. If you can commit to maintenance just like you committed to the Optifast products, you will treasure your body and want to take good care of it. And exercise will become part of your routine. It can be fun -- I'm making lots of new friends in class and the instructor is wonderful. And I do feel better. My anxiety is completely under control.
My weight is slowly going back down to where I am comfortable. As Millie has told me, it takes 5-7 days for me to shed the water weight that comes from any high-sodium meal I eat -- like the BBQ I had last Saturday. This is ultimately teaching me patience, but at the same time I am really becoming "in tune" with my body. Now, an interesting thing is yesterday morning, I weighed in at 161 lbs., and now I'm up to 163 lbs. I think this has something to do with my workout and my muscles -- I've sent an email to Millie to find out.
I'm working very hard to step away from the "numbers" on the scale and to not jump into panic when I hang out 5-7 lbs. from my "comfort" weight. I know that the increase in the thyroid med, coupled with the summertime, automatically added a few pounds. Who knows -- maybe my exercise classes will help me get back down to 157 lbs., where I feel most comfortable. But I'm going to work very, very hard to not obsess; to have confidence in my wise eating choices; and to remember that I cannot do maintenance perfectly, but I'm doing a heck of a good job so far. Mid-July marks six months in maintenance for me. Yes, I'd say I'm doing pretty darn well!
It's Friday today, and the weekend is almost upon us. I will be doing some gardening with my husband and a good dose of housecleaning -- things have "slipped" a little bit around here lately! Plus we'll be playing tennis all weekend. We have cut out our one restaurant meal a week, as we prepare for the California trip next month. Part of this is to save money, but the other part is to watch our weight. I'll be cooking some iDiet rolls and bread on Sunday, and making healthy salad "concoctions" we eat during the week. These are mixed-grain salads with chopped veggies. I have them alongside a piece of fish or chicken. Pretty simple, but it works for me right now.
TGIF all and have a great weekend!
In my Optifast program, we are encouraged to do an hour of cardio exercise every day but we are prohibited from strength training until we are on a modified version of the fast, 8 weeks in and I am still unsure why that is.
ReplyDeleteI am not an expert, and Millie will probably have the real answer but I have been told that when you are building muscle, the days after an intense workout your muscles retain water.