Shift in focus

I know I can't do everything at once. In the past, when I've started (yet another) big push to get healthy and fit, I would try to do it all---eat perfectly, exercise a lot, drink tons of water, no bad foods at all, etc. All at one time. I thought I could go from 0 to 100 overnight.

That would last MAYBE a 1-2 weeks. Usually not even that long.

I'd get frustrated with myself. "WHY CAN'T I JUST DO THIS???? WHY IS THIS SO HARD??"And go back to my old ways.

I'm sort of a perfectionist, which has really hurt me in my quest for health and fitness. I'm working on that.

So at the beginning of the year, I was going to the gym regularly (read early blog entries). I was doing GREAT! Therefore, I thought----okay, I'll JUST focus on exercise right now. I'm NOT going to worry about the food yet. I'll just get the regular exercise going.

One step at a time. Just move forward. Just make progress.

That was going great until I was laid off from my job in February and had to give up my gym membership. I'm also much more inactive now that I'm not working everyday. So any exercise I do now (walking, yoga, hiking, etc.) barely makes up for the loss of activity in my worklife. I'm still at a deficit activity-wise.

Therefore, I'm changing my focus to FOOD.

My trainer told me losing weight was 80 percent FOOD and 20 percent exercise. So if I'm going to focus on one of the two, why wouldn't it be food????

I had an epiphany about this while having lunch with a friend last week.

I remembered a time a few years ago when I was living in New York City. I was CRAZY NUTS about fitness back then. I had a personal trainer---there was a Crunch gym in my building. I was there every morning---5 a.m. I walked everywhere in the city. I was SUPER FIT, very strong and very healthy. Over about a year's time, I had lost about 80 pounds----weight I had gained during my pregnancy----then some more after the pregnancy. I also lost this weight by eating very healthy---but still splurged on unhealthy foods at least 3-4 times a week. Okay, probably more like I splurged on one unhealthy meal a day---I LOVED NYC diners!!! But the rest of the time I ate very healthy.

In 2000, I still had about 30 pounds I wanted to lose to get to my "goal weight".

At this time, I was going in for a major hip surgery---total hip replacement. I would be unable to walk for at LEAST 6 months. No more working out. No more walking everywhere. I was SCARED TO DEATH I would gain back all that weight that I had worked so hard to lose.

However, my NYC roommate/main caregiver/very close friend at the time totally saved me. He was a vegetarian and an EXTREME HEALTH NUT. Since I was bed-ridden for 2 months after the surgery, he was the one who brought me all my food---food which, of course, matched his extreme health nut ways. The only time I went out of the apartment was in a wheelchair with him pushing me---again, we would ONLY go to restaurants that had extreme-health-nut food.

No more splurging at all on unhealthy foods.

During that first 2 months, not only did I NOT gain any weight back---despite my inactivity---I actually LOST another 20 pounds!! Solely due to what I ate---even when I went from burning a TON of calories a day because of all my exercise to burning very little.

It's about the FOOD. Exercise makes you fit and toned and it is definitely wonderful and HELPS a LOT! Exercise is a MAJOR part of being healthy. But weight loss centers mainly around the FOOD.

So that's where I'm shifting my focus for now. It's about the food.

One step at a time.