I did not gain while on vacation.
Get this:
I LOST A POUND!
It must have been the excessive walking on sand and walking great expanses of beaches and walking half a mile to pee or wash my hands and shivering all night long and climbing hills and digging holes and running up every trail I could… It was a very active vacation!
(Giving myself a thumbs up for general awesomeness in self control over food choices and exercise choices)
***
Back on the wagon though.
important point número uno
We made a return to running this week, of course. I’m finding it hard to find the just right time to run in the summer. Turns out I don’t like running in the early morning. I prefer to sleep. Shocker. I also don’t like running between the hours of 11:AM and 7:PM. I sure you’re seeing the problem here as well. I’ve been solving that issue by just saying screw it, putting on my running shoes and hitting the pavement whenever. Here’s the thing: THERE IS NEVER A GOOD TIME FOR ME TO EXERCISE! I will avoid it – no matter how good I feel when I’m in the run- so I just do it, no matter when. Depending on the humidity, I’ve been surprised a few times about how well it goes.
important point number two
I spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks looking into how to build muscle mass while also losing weight. There are tricky formulas and mathematical equations relating to my BMI, my BMR and all kinds of craziness, but when it comes down to it, I think a couple of things are key:
A. Eat vegetables, complex carbs and protein. Then, eat more vegetables and protein. Eat some complex carbs, then more protein … You get the idea. At first I balked. I am supposed to be making lifestyle changes, not dieting. Then I realized that for YEARS this is what my doctors have been suggesting to me. This is what diabetics eat like, and with my insulin issues plus being a vegetarian, I really need to work on eating fewer and better carbs. So far it’s going well. I’m not being super strict, but I have definitely shifted over to the fat free cottage cheese and brown rice camp.
B. Drink a low fat/low carb protein shake after working out. I’m resistant as hell to integrating any kind of shake and drinking any kind of calories, but everyone says to do it. Everyone says used in moderation at the right time that its a good choice, so I’m going to try it. The idea is that your muscles need the replenishing juices of the protein shake within 30 or so minutes of working out to get the best muscle build possible. We’ll see.
C. Integrate more anaerobic into my workout. Seems easy… But I love running and hate lifting. I read that the cardio is a great warmup, and I do need it to continue to burn fat, but the muscle build comes from 30-60 minutes of reps AFTER the cardio. So I’m building up to that. So far I’m doing ok, but I’ll admit that I find myself in my bedroom way too often at 10:PM doing curls and crunches because I procrastinated it all day!