Welcome to June

June, week 1: complete. ;)

I finally feel like I'm getting back into exercising in earnest, after not doing cardio regularly for the past 8 months - yes, 8 entire months. Oh, I'd try each month - half an hour here, half an hour there... but in August last year I exercised more that one month than I did the next 8 months combined... and August wasn't an anomaly - I was rowing that much EVERY month prior to that. You can well imagine where my lack of self-discipline has gotten me. Nowhere good, let me tell you.

So I'm back at it. I have worked out 6 of the past 7 days, and I've simply GOT to keep up with the exercise.

I've been so bummed about it all. I guess my metabolism is royally messed up right now. In September I juice feasted for 30 days, and a wonderful (though challenging) 30 days it was. Then at the very beginning of October, dh & I went off for a 3 day cruise and I went from juicing to eating, and not even eating entirely vegan on-board. NOT a recommended way to break a fast, EVER. So since October 1st I've been struggling all through winter to regain my self-discipline.

Struggle, struggle, struggle.

NO MORE, I say! I choose to no longer struggle. I will simply do it. Exercise. Drink copious amounts of water daily, and renew my commitment to raw vegan foods. Simple. Effective.

So today I worked out for a solid half hour, went outside and did heavy yard work for the next half hour (I was moving wheelbarrows full of wet sandy fill across the yard), and I blessed myself with:
- 3.3L of water
- 1.5L of green smoothie (2 oz wheatgrass, 4c of fresh greens, 2 bananas, 4c frozen berries, 1/8 tsp kelp flakes, 2T hemp oil, 4 medjool dates)
- 1 apple

Since October, I haven't kept a daily food log (also a huge folly on my part). Apparently I still need to keep one - haven't quite got a grip on daily food intake. A food log makes me accountable to my self. Seeing it staring back at you in writing somehow makes the slip-ups more visible.

I did some reading online about one's resting metabolic rate (RMR)... and how I didn't account for the fact that having lost weight I needed less calories to maintain the lighter weight. So I've calculated that I actually only need 1600-1800 cal/day to maintain my current weight, so in order to lose weight (if one lb of fat = 3500 calories, then that's a LOT of rowing!!! As in, about 70 kms per pound! YIKES!!!), it's a matter of spending more calories than one takes in, right? Sounds easy enough but for anyone with food attachment issues, well, we all know it's not that easy. Still, that's where I'm at. A little disheartened with how I ended up here, but encouraged by the activity of the past week.

Needing a hug (and probably some self-compassion),
~n~