Friday, July 24, 2009

Exercise and Diet in order to Over Eat.

By Pat Gulley

I’ve decided to cruise again. We’re going to do an Eastern Canada and New England repositioning cruise, and of course, I expect the menus and food to be spectacular. Oh, and we'll have a high tea at the Chateau Frontenac. We’ve been on this cruise line several times, and they really know how to stuff…eh, I mean feed you.

Which brings up the problem of overeating, and the fact that I carry a few extra pounds as it is. Sooooooooo! I guess I’d better start exercising. Heavy sigh, with shoulders drooping.
Well, I didn’t join a club, as we think of joining—going in and paying money. There’s this exercise program attached to many health insurances for seniors called Silver Sneakers, so I went into a club and asked about it. Somehow I walked out signed up. Okay, I hate to exercise, so I went once or twice then started missing weeks at a time.

Then I put my deposit down on the cruise and I vowed to work out more. I’m presently up to once a week. I know, I know, I have to go more often if I expect to eat on the cruise guilt free.
Fortunately the classes for this program are not instructed by those healthy-as-a-horse, skinny-as-a-rail, robust-and-enthusiastic-for-all-things-body-damaging lunatics who think 50 pushups followed by 50 squats is for weaklings. No, these are reasonable, 50 minutes is the length of the whole Cardio Circuit class and 45 minutes for Range of Motion and Yoga is strictly of a gentle nature. I’m sure I can do it. Can I get up to three or even four times a week? Do I have the strength of will—never mind body—to do it and maybe even lose a few pounds? Keep tuned!
However, it occurs to me—why am I trying to lose weight in order to over indulge on a cruise?

If I’m applying some kind of twisted logic here, the explanation escapes me. I mean, wouldn’t the logical thing be to wait until the cruise is over and I REALLY need to lose some weight? Bad logic, bad idea, defeatist thinking, Stop That!

And what about those extremely wise and sensible words to live by: Every time I say the nasty word exercise I wash my mouth out with chocolate. Words to live by, but not if I don’t practice what I preach.

No, I’m going make the effort and hope I’m at four times a week by the end of September. Any thoughts?

Encouragement here, people, I need every scrap I can get!

16 comments:

Joyce Tremel said...

I can't help you, Pat. I have a treadmill and a weight machine, and I don't use them nearly as much as I should.

The only exercise I ever liked was taekwondo because it didn't feel like exercise--especially the sparring.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

You can do it!

Maybe a personal trainer? They offer accountability...

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Wilfred Bereswill said...

Well, Pat. All I can say is that if exercise becomes a habit, you will tend to evaluate food in exercise equivalents. the muffin is 50 push-ups and that chocolate whatever is 1 1/2 miles on a treadmill.

Just like my wife tried to pull on my new car. "That car is the same as you working full time for 6 months."

Then you shrug your shoulders and eat it anyway.

Jenna said...

Hate exercise. Hate it. Join WeightWatchers for a month instead. I lost 20 lbs last year. Of course, I put most of it on again, but it sounds like you're planning to gain weight on the cruise anyway, so it might work for you. And it isn't bad, at least in the first throes of excitement. I get bored with it after the first few weeks, and that's when the trouble starts, but you might like it. A friend of mine lost 75 lbs once...

Yeah, exercise is good for you, but no fun.

(LOL, Will. Love the idea of muffin = 50 pushups.)

Gina said...

Pat -
Here's the real truth: your weight has absolutely nothing to do with what you eat or how much you exercise. There are Fat Fairies who come in the night, and if they really, really like you, they will leave you a few pounds. Some of us are just more popular with the Fat Fairies than others.

Joyce Tremel said...

I think Gina nailed this one.

Patg said...

Gina, Gina, Gina,
Gandolff bless you with a magic potion to ward those little pests away. I've been swatting at them for years and instead of loving me and leaving me a few, they are vengeful. Gandolff and I have a feud going so, no potions.
My traveling companion lost 40 lbs at Weight Watchers two years ago and has managed to keep it off. Talk about 'I SHOULD' have incentive, but......
Patg

Jena said...

I'm with Jennie -- Weight Watchers is great, but works best if you go to the meetings. I lost 30 lbs, averaging 12 lbs/wk. As soon as I stopped going to meetings, my loss dwindled to a pound every month. So go, go, go.

What kicked another 10 lbs and reshaped me - a lot! - is my WiiFit. I do an aerobic routine for 3 mins, a couple of the strength training routines (2 mins each) and then do all the yoga ... and I've done 30 minutes a day.

Good luck - you can do it!

Gina said...

Pat -
I tried Weight Watchers. I gained 3 pounds the first week, 2 pounds the second. Are they still doing points? I had to eat 18 points a day or less just to maintain; nothing in their program let me lose. [Ditto: Nutrisystem, HealthAmerica (I gained 7 pounds the first week on that one), and various others.] Like I said, it's the Fat Fairies. When the busses went on strike in the early 90s I was walking to and from work, 5 miles each way. I didn't lose an ounce. I didn't lose anything when I was training to walk a half marathon a few years ago, either, although I was walking 5-8 miles several times a week. The only time I've gotten any result was when I was about 35 I went on a major binge of eating less than 1000 calories a day while working out between 2 and 4 hours per day -- weights, aerobics, aerobic cycling (hill profile), playing raquetball. I did that for a year and a half and lost a total of 2 3/4 pounds, dropping from 186 1/4 to 183 1/2. I could do 40 sit ups on a slant board, but I still looked flabby.

PatR said...

OK, I think it's important to try a different perspective on exercise -- look at it as generating endorphins AND giving you time during the mindless gym repition to plot your stories (unless, of course, you get distracted by the TVs like I do).....
OK, think ENDORPHINS~~ cheaper than chocolate. Think of perspiration as body cleansing ... think of ... how you want to look in your cruise pictures!

Wilfred Bereswill said...

PatR,

I wrote an article for an on-line writer's magazine some time ago titled "Walk Your Way To A Better Novel." It was all about walking and plotting.

I managed to lose about 20 lbs during the writing of my first novel, while beating writers block. When you're bored (exercise routine) your brain looks for activity. Before you exercise, read the last chapter or section you wrote and then GO. As you walk, force yourself to think about that last thing you read and your mind will start working.

I'm bound to get in trouble here, but, ladies remember that walking for exercise is not a social event. Get to work and put it to something useful.

Jena said...

Gina - When I went to Weight Watchers this time, I followed the Core program. (I think it's called "Filling Foods" now?)

Points worked for -42 lbs the first time I was on WW years ago, but as soon as I stopped counting (and fibbing to myself about portion sizes and how many points there were in things...), the weight went back on.

With Core the focus is on fruit, veggies, whole grains, very lean meat, fat-free dairy, and non-processed foods. No-nos include sugar, fatty or creamy foods, nuts, bread, and booze.

You get 30 "free" points per week for non-Core foods. (I'm pretty sure I used them all on shiraz...) You can earn more points through exercise.

Honestly, I ate like a porker most of the time, and after a week, I had no more cravings for bagels or sugar. I'm not following the program to the letter now, but I've stuck with whole grains, lots of fruit and veggies, no sugar, no high-fat stuff.

Gina said...

Jena -
I followed it - no fibbing, no miscounting. It just didn't work for me.

Jena said...

I think the official WW take on it would be that the body goes into starvation mode when we diet. I lost a lot counting points, but once I got to within 20 lbs of a normal weight, I swear my body was devouring brain cells rather than touch the precious fat reserves it had stored on my butt.

Anonymous said...

I'm Pat's travelling companion and I lost 52 lbs with WW about 4 yrs ago and have maintained, even cruising. I walk 30 minutes 4-5 times a week and that's it. We walk a lot when we travel and on cruising only days I walk the promenade deck for 30 minutes. By-the-way when I reached my goal, my metabolism kicked in and even eating more "points" I lost another 10 lbs. Cruising is great because you are presented with a wonderful choice of food and most portions are reasonable. Even their desserts are not super sized and I do eat them.
I'm 72 yrs and vowed I would keep this up until I reach 75, then I go on a Haagen Daz diet.
Barb

Anonymous said...

I knew it!! Its the Fat Fairy's fault!!
Thank goodness, now I know!! :)

Pat, It is easier to lose one's mind than pounds! Eat less, walk more, whether at home or on board ship! And try and catch that Fat Fairy in a glass jar!

jo p