Why is it so Hard to Lose and Easy to Gain

Today I was on Facebook and one of my friend's posts said "why is it so hard to lose and easy to gain"...then Travis sent me an article and one of the excerpts from it explained it pretty well. Here it is.

You can do okay with one cheat meal a week, but if you decide that you’re going to do more than that; be ready to up the frequency of your cardio. But even if you are prepared to do this, it is still not ideal; unless you are genetically gifted you will almost never be able to exercise enough to mask a bad diet. Even some professional athletes have problems with weight control because of poor eating practices despite the high volume of training they undergo. The reason for this is because a great cardio session can help you burn anywhere between 300 calories or 500 calories if you are really dedicated and plan on hitting the treadmill for a long time. However, in one meal at a restaurant or at a fast food place, it is not hard to consume 800+ calories in one sitting. So if you begin to increase the frequency of your cheat meals in the hoped that cardio will make up for it; you will quickly get caught up in a race you may very well lose.

This is what I have been struggling with this week. I have one little cheat and then I am screwed. I can be good 95% of the day and then 5% of the time I make poor decisions. Isn't 95% still an A? I feel like I am giving it such a good effort and doing so good. I am proud of my 95% but it makes me so mad that 5% can give you an F and make you fail. I don't feel like a failure though. I have got to be on point. No meeting in the middle. There will be time for that when I am on maintenance, but for now if I am going to reach my goal I have got to be in weight loss mode. In order for me to succeed I have got to do better. The good news is that usually at this point is when I give up and I dont feel like giving up, I am just having a little pit stop along my road to success. Fact of the matter is that I have been spending too much time at the rest stop though. The past few weeks have been bad. I haven't lost much weight and even gained last week. I haven't exercised. I have been under lots and lots of stress and I haven't done a perfect job at logging my food. I have also slipped into eating too many meals out. I have been on the run so much lately that it is just hard but it is no excuse. I just have to keep packing my lunch, on CPR nights I need to pack my dinner too. I know that I can do it. While it has taken me a long time to get under 200...there is one thing that I know for sure. Once I get there...I will never go back!

Dont worry....well maybe a little

OK..so sorry it has taken me so long to post. I have had several friends call or text to make sure I dont need an "intervention". I don't. I am still plugging along and I have not given up. I did have a very hard week last week though and think I gained about a pound.

August is my busiest time of year with CPR. Lots of students need it before returning to work, teachers, daycare providers, etc. So I had four classes last week and three this week. It is exhausting and makes it so I am away from home for practically every meal. Last week I slipped up. I found myself eating out more, munching on unhealthy snack foods, not drinking water, not finding time to exercise. Overall, I was still better and more conscientious of what I was eating than normal but definitely letting it slip. The most important thing that I have discovered however is that you can't let one week define you. I just have to pick it up where I left it. I can't get discouraged because quickly you are down the downward spiral.

So, yes...I had a bad week. No..I have not given up or plan to. It has just been a crazy week. I am starting my boot camp workouts next week. I have a friend that is maybe going to do it with me. I also have a new friend starting weight watchers, so it will be good to have another person to share ideas with. I am pretty depressed that I am not in the 100s yet. So close, it is like I have a mental, phyiscal block with that number. The good news is, that once I get there...I am never going back!

Thanks for all the support. I will let you know how the new workouts treat me. I also did not track my points last week. Yesterday however, I started a new! I'll be posting more soon.