As the honest yo yo dieter than I am, a year has gone by since I lost my quarantine 50 and here I am, back up that same 50.
In this piece, the Yo yo dieter strikes back!
Remember you can always start over
So the yo yo struck me again and so I must strike back. First let’s chat about the why.
BACKGROUND HOW I LOST MY QUAR 50
I lost the weight the right way last year!! I really did. I did not do any fad diet or crazy restriction. I was running with my run club, eating portioned meals, and truly enjoying my food.
See this article from a year ago today entitled Portioning Not Torturing
Now that I have found myself here I’m getting right back on that same plan!
THE WHYS OF THE YO YO
Now while I lost the weight the right way, I also gained it the right way too. By that I mean, I did it getting distracted with other good things in my life as well as surviving teaching a year in a pandemic!
FOOD IS LOVE
The truth is extreme emotions make me eat whether they’re good or bad.
Yo yo dieters, we must have this in common because this DOESN’T happen to people who hate food. My relationship with food may not always be great, but I love food, and we’re working on it.
Michies convo with Brain
In good times
Brain: you happy?
Michie: Sure, very!!!
Brain: Let’s celebrate and eat to the happiness!
Michie: Score! Yes!
And in bad
Brain: you sad?
Michie: sure, very
Brain: let’s eat away from pain then yea?
Michie: … [Already eating]
THE HOWS OF THE YO YO.
How did this happen again? Well…
Have I mentioned my partner is an amazing cook?
All kidding aside, I have found myself slacking on my health and nutrition in many ways. First of all, I haven’t portioned anything since I can remember and by that I mean, I am eating maybe 4 servings or more. I love my food. I also haven’t been doing nearly as much as I do as far as moving my body.
Due to the lack of moving, lack of what became my typical running, and lots of (really delicious) over-eating, I found myself feeling gross all of a sudden. Workouts were non-existant for the most part for the last few months so if I tried to do any of my normal things, they felt impossible and that sucks to feel such regression.
So here I am yet again
And as usual I remind myself to get
BACK TO THE BASICS
Check in
June 16 2020
Weight in 188lbs
June 16 2021
Weigh in 238lbs
WEIGHT TREND SHMATE TREND
Though my weight has been on notice for a while, I couldn’t stop the gain-train trend that was a chugging for a few months. Chugga chugga chug, I filed up the caboose with more and more. Noted before or not, I was unable to stop it.
In reality, I completely ignored it and by that I mean maybe I complained about it, but I didn’t change anything. I kept eating huge portions, not sleeping enough, not drinking water– maybe a few all coffee days. Generally just giving my body the finger.
Now, I do have my reasons. I’ve been stressed at work trying to catch up, feeling the end of year burnout, busy to the max, and adjusting to a long distance relationship.
All of these things made me overall unaware of any care of what I was eating. Eventually when I eat crappy, I just kind of stop moving too because that gets hard. Everything just gets hard to do so I don’t. It is a cycle. One bad habit leads to the other.
START OVER
The beauty of nutrition and fitness is you can always start over and get back to the basics of making your body feel good. That’s where I’m at. I’m just trying to get back to the baby steps of what makes me feel proud of my body everyday.
A check in with try ons– you can see if any these work for you!
Back to doing the things that have worked in the past
JUST MOVE!
First of all, just get moving again in literally any way. I started stretching and casually moving again first. Little tiny baby steps. Chunk the things and create the habits. If you walk just a little bit or run or do whatever you love, it reminds you of why you do it and how good it feels.
I’m a lucky woman and a few weeks ago rugby practices started up again. Fortunately this made me remember how much I love this game and moving my body… it also reminded me how much I hadn’t been moving my body and how I wanted to feel FAST again.
This all means it’s just time to train again.
RUNNING LIFE
Also Hi to the Albany Knicks Run Club, sorry I will catch up on my miles or at least get some runs in with you. PROMISE!!
Let’s make it a date. Oh yea, next but not least:
Make it a friend date!
Yesterday I made a friend date with my gym-rat pal Shoonie to get to the gym and workout together. We did supersets together and got it done. Now working out with someone above my level sucks in the moment but after, I’m more sore than I’ve been working out alone. I’ve also been running with an awesome runner friend Jenna. Making a date makes me go and working with someone faster than me pushes me to go faster than I would ever go alone.
Water the plants and water the Michie
I also forced myself to drink some water at the gym since I was there, the place where you drink the water. This makes me water the plants with the water leftovers. All the good habits depend on the others. They remind each other of the others! Now the plants get the water AND Michie gets the water!
Pack it up or wear it out
Pack a bag for the gym or wear it out. In the last few weeks of school, I’ve started wearing my workout clothes if they’ll pass as teacherly, or bringing them to change. If I go home, I’m basically dead. I’m not leaving again so I just gotta go right from work. This is working.
Portioning not Torturing
Just like last year baby. What worked? Portioning not Torturing!!
The keys:
I love food. Let myself have the food I love. Just portion it to one or two servings of what I’m eating.
Yesterday’s dinner for example
I absolutely refuse to eat things I don’t want to! Or things I don’t like!
So I had a craving after my workout for buffalo chicken Mac and cheese. Working with what I had, I made a box of Mac and cheese plus two packets of Chipotle Tuna packets. Instead of taking the whole pot to the living room, the usual, I portioned it into the 3 servings recommended by the box.
To do that, I put some aside for the next two meals. I made my bowl for now.
THE ANNOYING THINGS
In the end with yo yoing, you have to remember it’s just weight. You’re not a different person because you gained a little weight just as you shouldn’t think you’re completely different when you lose the weight. Maintenance, for one, is always the hardest part so appreciate when you hit the goals, but love yourself when you falter too. Then just get back slowly. Here I am. Getting back slowly for my health and not the mere physical. I’m still a big boss babe currently thank ya very much.
Yo yo dieting in general or looking different isn’t the big thing that bothers me. I truly love my body for what it is and what I can do. I appreciate that even larger, I can walk and run and for all those things I’m so lucky.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t annoying when my body starts to feel crumby. That doesn’t mean it isn’t annoying when I can’t lift as heavy, run as far, or even do stairs easily.
In this life I want to be as healthy as possible AND be able to do the things I love.
For those things, I must work hard sometimes because I love food and couch time as much as anyone. When it isn’t running season or I’m not working on a specific goal, then I go off, go crazy. I go Netflix and actual 7 seasons of chill kind of wild.
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BODY
Again I LOVE this body. I REPEAT I LOVE THIS BODY! Repeat that you love your body right now!
I’m going to have an awesome summer letting my body be free to do what it can and without pressure to do what it can’t right now.
That’s all we can do. We can love our bodies for what they are right now, have gratitude for every moment you get the pleasure of playing rugby, or running like hell, walking, etc. Movement is a privilege and it is more limited every day.
Things may change at any second and so we just have to love our body right now.
Michie Smashing Thoughts 
You have a good attitude so you are half way there!
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