To soy or not to soy...

What happened to last week? Well, to update on my goals, my weekly goal was the same as the week before and my monthly goal was to eat no fast food. Both were accomplished with out any issues.

I've been doing a lot of research pertaining to consumption of soy based products. The evidence I've found so far is striking. Did you know that soy can block your thyroid from functioning properly, leading to a slow metabolism, and weight gain. It contains enzymes that actually block the absorption of protein and other nutrients, which can lead to mal-nourishment. The phyto-estrogen it contains can also fuel breast cancer. Not to mention that soy based infant formulas can cause early sexual maturation in girls, producing menstrual periods as young as 6 years old! You can find a lot of information on this page, a blog with some general information and links, an article called Soy myths, and a another article that thoroughly breaks down the science of it.

Wow! Pretty compelling stuff...as you can imagine, I will be slowly fading out all of the products in our home containing soy (amazing how many are out there!) and introducing almond and coconut milk, coconut and hemp oil, and possibly even palm shortening. I found a great site that sells every thing coconut. You can find it here. They also have some good information about the consumption of coconut oil and how it actually helps your thyroid regulate you metabolism. Here is a lengthy discussion on the benefits of primarily using coconut oil, and a page full of useful resources. I tell you what, as a vegetarian, removing soy from my diet is no easy feat, by any means. I've also removed eggs from my diet. Though, I think I would be willing to add them back in if they were from my own chickens, which wouldn't happen until we had a house of our own.

So, as anticipated, my goal for this next week (8/24-30) is to complete 5, 30 minute sessions of activity. Right before we were going to go on our weekly Sunday bike ride, it started rain and has been off and on all evening. Starting my week off with exercise really jump starts my routine. Now I have to put a little more effort to make sure I fit in all 5 with only 6 days left.

Ok, off to bed with me.

Rewriting the Rules

deep breath.

I've left this thing hanging in the dark. It seems the past 2 weeks I've reverted to my old ways. I didn't take any walks. I sat on my ass being lazy. It seems to be my middle name these days. But I did take advantage of the time off with my mom to do a lot of thinking about this blog. About myself. About this process. I realized I learned so much about myself.

First of all, after analyzing the food diary and paying more attention to my bodies cues, I've come to many conclusions. I crave chocolate in the late afternoons or evenings. I get the munchies in the afternoons (ie-i like to snack). I like to snack while I'm cooking (this is a major problem).

Second, I concentrated too much on the weight loss than the act of becoming more healthy. This should be my ultimate goal. When I've become completely in tune with my body and have accomplished being wholly healthy, the weight loss will follow. Ignoring this is one of my biggest downfalls.

Third, I've come to realize that the weekends are my biggest downfall. I have a seriously strong compulsion to slack on the weekends. I exercise less, I eat fewer fruit and vegetables, I eat out more (who doesn't, right?) and am over all less motivated.

Lastly, I over stepped my own limits. I took on too much too soon. I got too caught up and added new elements when I wasn't ready for them. By doing this I got overwhelmed, shut down and couldn't reach the goals I set for myself. I set myself up to fail.

With all that said, I'm ready to take a new step forward and do this again. Start from scratch and learn from my mistakes. I'm going to take responsibility for myself and stop ignoring my body, and mind. My weeks will begin on Sunday and end on the following Saturday. I think dividing up my weekends will make it less over whelming. I am now only allowed to weigh myself once a week. Not every day. Not every other day. In Weight Watchers you're the only weigh in that counts is the one done at the weekly meetings. So for me, only Sunday mornings am I allowed to step on that scale. If I by chance forget to do so, I am allowed to do it Monday morning. But no more than once a week. Now, onward to my goals.

Weekly goal (7/13-7/19): Participate in 4, 20 minute sessions of ongoing activity that raises my heart rate. I know this is less than what I was doing before, but as I said before, I want to start slow. I will add to this, but slowly.

Monthly goal (7/13-8/12): Maintain a regular sleep schedule. Be in bed no later than 11:30 pm. Set the alarm for 8:00 am. Be out of bed no later than 8:20 am, 5 out of 7 days. No more all nighters, even on weekends. Even if I don't fall asleep shortly after going to bed. Getting my body on a regular sleep schedule gives it the opportunity to be fully rested and ready to take on the day. No surprises. If I get a regular sleep schedule down, the more productive I'll be during the day.

It's time to take charge. Of my life. Of myself.

One step forward, two steps back

Isn't that saying supposed to go the other way around? I've forgotten over the years...but I honestly feel like that's what this whole thing is. As soon as I feel like I've accomplished something I fall backwards and find myself 1 step behind where I began. I managed to get in 3 walks/hikes last week. I feel like after having to work away from home the week before, I'm having the darnedest time getting back into my groove. I had a really good routine down, at least it was for me. Now I'm seriously struggling getting it back. Who knew one week would throw me for such a loop?

I didn't weigh myself this morning. Honestly I forgot and was way too disoriented before I hoped in the shower. Alas I will try to remember tomorrow morning to do it, but I'm scared of what the scale will say.

I didn't reach last week's goal again. I have the hardest time on the weekends. I don't know what it is about weekends that makes it hard on for me to fulfill a regular eating schedule. I did sit on my duff most of the weekend. Ahhhh where did my motivation go?

Week 6 goal: Maintain a food diary for the week in which I record every morsel that enters my mouth. I also have to give nightly updates on here. I mean what's the point unless everyone out holds me to it, right? Right.

On a side note, the complex changed the pool hours to 10 am-5:30 pm. I guess there were complaints of rowdy conduct. That's just fantastic. Especially since it was a nice relief from the heat. I guess there's no more evening swims with T. Bah Humbug.

Holding up

Man I felt like crud today. I could barely bring myself out of bed this morning. I felt no drive to do anything to do with healthy living. I honestly didn't eat much today, but what I ate wasn't exactly the best choices, minus the salad, carrots, and hummus I ate after my walk (think: doritos, banana bread, chocolate chips, and more banana bread). I think part of my blah-ness had to do with getting to bed late last night (damn dorito's quest!) and not going on a walk yesterday. I finally got around to doing my first ab workout of the week. AT 6:45 pm. The workout I chose was a bit too advanced for me, so I just ended up doing my old school crunch routine from my college days. I do however feel 10 fold better after the fact. That just goes to show that working out does more than shape your body, it shapes your mood, too! I think next week I might mix up my walks with a little cardio on the t.v. I'm not sure what my exact goals will be. All I know is that I sit too much on my rump during the day!

I can't wait until my new battery and arm band arrive for my Creative Labs Zen Micro. It sure will make working out a little bit easier. I just hope the new battery is all it needs to work. Otherwise I think I may have to invest in a new mp3 player *crosses fingers* and I really don't need another thing to buy!