I made it down to the Jersey Shore Friday early evening in time for the BBQ. I chose only to have the pasta salad and delicious sweet corn. I did not eat the BBQ chicken no matter how good it looked. I was going to try to stay vegan for the weekend - always a tough thing to do at the beach unless I went out to the grocery store myself, which I did not do. Generally speaking, I stayed rather close to a vegan diet, save for the sandwich I had after the beach Saturday afternoon. But I did not eat healthfully at all. I guess I was kidding myself that going back to essentially veganism until I met my goal was pointless unless I curbed my weekend drinking as well. I would never normally grab a bag of chips, or cookies, or a pop tart for breakfast unless I was in the midst of a good session, or the morning after one. When you are at the beach, and there is a party going on with music, and people in bathing suits running around, and cocktails all about, those Girl Scout cookies suddenly look delicious and healthy to your skewed perception! Then of course there is the craziness of wildly popular bars like the Parker House which is a black hole of debauchery!
So, here is my game plan:
1. Go to the gym at least 4 times per week (I've been averaging 3 times)
2. 95% of my weekly (and weekend) diet will be vegan, with 100% being nutrient dense.
3. I am limiting myself to 7 alcoholic drinks per week (this allows a glass of wine at dinner in a social setting to avoid any awkwardness, or a couple of beers watching a game with the boys). Down at the beach, I probably had more than twice that amount over the weekend - heck, I had 5 beers alone watching the U.S. Open at the bar over a couple of hours.4. However, if I break this strict rule of 7 per week, I must do an additional 20 minutes of cardio for every drink over my weekly limit.
Why not just eliminate all drinking until I make my goal? Because lack of moderation is the personal dragon I must slay. Although I found it a terrific challenge, but doable, to give it up for 6 months, it is much more of a challenge to find that balance that does not include 100% abstaining.
I know I pulled myself back into a relatively good week health wise, and of course let it slip again on the weekend. If I was at my goal weight of 225 lbs, and chose the monastic life during the week, and blew it out over the weekend in fun and frolic, and was able to keep my weight steady, then I would have no problem with that. However, I am not at my goal weight, and secondly, there are scores of events during the week that can easily turn me back into a good time Charlie every other day, so I need to have these restrictions now!
Today was fine thus far, oatmeal and a giant plate of pineapple, melon, and strawberries.
Now, I am off to the gym. As coach Jim Valvano once famously said, "Don't give up, don't ever give up."
4 comments:
Ahhh, weekends are always rough!! The plan sounds good though- what about learning to surf at the beach? Or running on the sand in the am? I know you're done with your trainer, have you tried spin classes before? They prob have a lunchtime class and its the most intense calorie torching toning class ever- really high energy and goes by quickly! And girlscout cookies?? Omg, no one could turn those down!!! (Yes I'm jealous...:)
Terrin -- I ran on the sand a few weeks ago and it was great, but with the risk of sounding wimpy, I really did strain something in my knee again. I really have to do low impact cadio exercises. I have always wanted to do a spin class. Perhaps I should check it out! My old girlfriend was a spin instructor (back when I was defiantly big), and I never took her class. Maybe I should look into it. I think my fear is not excelling, and keeping pace with it all -- I don't want to be that loser who is struggling in the back of a class. My ego and all. But, I was thinking about it recently. Geez, terrin, between your suggestion of peanut butter in my oatmeal and the glaringly obvious spin class, I'll have to give you an "assist" on my vegan quest.
Hahaha! I guess I just totally relate- I've got a bum knee too!(Tendonitis or some crap-just hurts!) I totally can't run at all, but love spin since its low impact, and you decide how hard to push yourself with the bikes resistance, who knows, it might inspire you to bike on the west side highway like I did last weekend- it was so much fun I forgot I was working out!
Spinning is awesome and burns an insane amount of calories. Be sure to show up to your first class early so the instructor can help you with the right bike settings since you're so tall. It totally makes a difference if your seat, handles, etc. are in the right place. Good luck!
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