Once again I pivot.  That should be the name of this site....the girl how is constantly pivoting.  

 

Arduous Eighty

I should have learned this lesson by now.  Seriously, how many times does it have to happen for me to learn!   Yet I just did it again and here I am having to come back and talk about my failure

I had a grand plan for my Arduous Eighty.  It was fantastic.  I had it laid out and I was loving it! Week one went swimmingly well!

 But as with any of my adventures, things got 'quiet' on here.  I stopped posting and didn't want to confront the truth.  And that truth being that I was failing absolutely miserably.   100% failure.   Well, maybe not 100% failure;  I at least maintained my weight.  But I didn't lose a pound.  I found the arduous eighty to be quite arduous.  So arduous that I failed.

Arduous Eighty has left the building.

Back to the Basics 

I may have failed on the Arduous Eighty but I never stopped thinking about the fact that I need to lose 100 pounds.  Yes, I have to lose 100 pounds (again) and I know it!  But what to do, nothing has been working.  It's honestly been the most disheartening feeling, I feel helpless.  I feel hopeless.  I feel disgusted with myself.

So I am going back to the basics.  

I just looked it up to find the link for when I first joined weight watchers.  First of all, I am super depressed, it was almost 20 years ago.  I have been fighting this weight for 20 plus years!  What in the world!  Secondly, the post is actually quite telling.  I was actually in a very similar position to where I am now. I was disheartened and looking for an answer.  I wasn't sure if it would be the fix, but I was willing to try.   In that instance, it worked splendidly and I lost a LOT of weight and actually made it to my goal weight and through maintaining to become a lifetime member. 

So yes, that is exactly what I am doing.  I am going back to weight watchers.  It worked for me in the past.  It's time to let it work for me again.  (At least try!)   So I signed up!

There are not many in person meetings near me....most of them are during the day, which is not conducive to those that actually have jobs where they work during the day (which is a high percent of the population).  Ironically, the closest one to me (about 25-30 miles) does have a Saturday morning meeting that I could make sometimes (I do work Saturdays on a rotating schedule).   With that in mind, I jumped right in and tried out a virtual meeting the first day, right after I joined.   I knew going in that it would be a meeting that I couldn't attend on a regular basis, but I wanted to get my feet wet.  This morning I went to a Sunday morning meeting at 6:30.  Not that I want to wake up early on Sundays, but I am typically awake well before 6:30 and can't remember a time that I wasn't home at that time.  So I'm going to give that a go for a bit to see how it works.

I am a bit concerned about the 'free foods' on weight watchers.  Back when I first did weight watchers there was no such thing as free food. (well there was the core plan....but I tried that one week and didn't like it).    Well actually yes, there were zero points foods....a few of them.....green beans, sourkraut, etc.....and I ate the dickens out of those foods.  But to have a full assortment of foods that are 'free' scares me.   Mainly because I am an addict.  One banana being free is awesome....but 8 bananas even though they are free may not be so awesome.  And yes, 8 bananas may sound silly even for me....but I recognize that I am an addict and reasoning doesn't apply to addicts in the midst of their addictive struggle.   But I am going to give the program a go and see what happens. (I may still have the books and such from the program that I followed.....maybe....and thus may be able to go back to that program version should I need to)

I haven't figured out the accountability aspect.  The weigh ins at the meetings were huge for me.  At least I feel as if it was a huge part of my success.  I'm not sure how it works online.....I saw a workshop that may address this, but of course it's a workshop in the middle of an afternoon when life will/may keep me from attending.  

Regardless,  hopefully this something new (but and old friend at the same time) will be the trick for me.   

 

 

Arduous Eighty

 

 In typical MaryFran fashion I had a brainstorm and decided to dive in to something on the spur of the moment.  What in the world did I decide to do?   Why I’m going to do what I am calling my Arduous Eighty!

75 Hard

Last year on a total whim (do you see the trend) I started doing the 75 hard.  Literally it was a whim. I saw something about it and decided to stop being intrigued and just do it.  It was a Sunday morning.  I literally had that thought to just do it and got up off my chair and immediately went to the exercise bike and did the first workout…..no thought, not planning. 10 seconds between the thought to do it and the start of doing it!

I did it!  It was tough.  It was the middle of winter and that 45 minutes outside was tough.  I remember one day it was pouring down rain and just barely above freezing at 33°.  But outside I went to go for a walk.   Brrrr!  Windstorms, snowstorms, you name it I braved it.  And I finished the 75 hard. I felt great in terms of fitness.  But I lost no weight….because I did  not set my eating plan correctly.  I did it…and actually said that I would be open to doing it again!  (Evidenced in this post.)  

The Plan

I have not been against doing a 75 hard again.  However I don’t really want to do something that takes up 2 hours of my day.  Don’t get me wrong, I am worth the time end effort, but as I lay in bed thinking I knew that I had to do something that would stretch me in terms of effort but something that would also be achievable with my current schedule.  I knew it would involve exercise and I knew that it would involve a more strict dietary plan. But I also knew that while I want it to be strict and difficult that I also wanted it to be achievable. So here it is.  The Arduous Eighty plan:

 1.  Exercise once day.  20-30 minutes at a bare minimum.  If it is an hour, that still counts as ONE exercise.  No cheating!    I know from doing the 75 hard that it is possible to exercise daily.  But I also know that I was TIRED.  My body was really aching by the end of the challenge.  So I am giving myself a bit of grace.  I need 80 workouts.  So if I don't work out on a weekend day, that is fine, I just need to do a double exercise (once morning once evening) one day to make up for it!   Either way it's tough. (Oh and when we recommence with the dog walks in the morning, that does not count toward one of my exercises!)

2.  Water - 56-64 ounces of water.  I have been a bit lazy lately with my water, finishing 'half' of my required amount and then switching to soda and some days I just flat out start with soda.  Nope nope nope.  Arduous Eighty plan does not waiver on this.  get the 64 ounces.  (more is ok, less is NOT) There really isn't a fail plan in this one.  There is no back up plan to allow for a slip.  Water has to be drank each day.

3.   Eating plan.  Here is the biggie.  When I did the 75 hard, I did a loosey goosey plan.  I did restrict a bit, but not to the level that I need to in order to lose weight.  So I didn't lose a single solitary pound during those 75 days. (I did lose the week afterward when I had the flu though.  hahahaha).  I need to be more strict.  So this one is going to be the hardest.  My goal is 1400 calories a day (or less).   I know that it a bit low.  I also don't measure my food, so it probably isn't as low as that (that's my trade-off).     But that is the goal.  1400 a day.   9800 a week.  .....  Yes, if I have a day where I am over, well I sure as better eat really light the next day to make up the difference (hello sourkrat, celery and other REALLY low calorie food items).

4.  Read my bible every day.  I have been reading through the bible chronologically but slipped a bit and haven't been doing that as regularly.   This challenge, I'm adding that in.  (75 hard has you reading a non fiction book for 10 minutes a day...so this is pretty much the same thing).

And that's it!  Those four things...80 days!  This will take me the rest of the way through February, through March and to the very end of April.   An Arduous Eighty!