It's All About YOU!

This morning, I hit the track for a group track workout. On the way back to the Y, I ended up running with one of my training/ racing buddies. It's two miles back and so we had a little time to chat. Now that the holidays are over, of course everyone is talking about getting rid of the extra pounds you gave yourself for Christmas this year.

How fitting, that yesterday was also the season premier of the Biggest Loser 11 and of course, I watched it... Not quite until the end, I fell asleep before that. Anyways, some stuff got me thinking during that episode that I brought up with my running buddy during our cool down, especially since both of us have weight loss story to tell.

If you tevoed last night's episode and don't want to hear anything about it, it's time to stop reading now. For all others.... Here are my two cents:

When it comes to weight loss and exercise, nobody can do it for you.

You have to make the decision for yourself and have to find ways to stay motivated.

Why do I throw this at you? Well, let me recount a little of last night's story line on BL.

This season, they have (had by now) 11 couples. Since it's BL, there had to be a twist and a big one it is. There will not only be Bob & Jillian, but also two unknown trainers. The contestants had to complete a challenge and in the sequence in which they completed that challenge, they were able to choose to go with B&J or the "Unknowns". If you decided to take the "Unknowns" as your trainers, you were given 4 weeks (!!!!) of immunity. A max of 5 couples could choose that option.

When I heard that, I thought that this is a no brainer. The first 5 couples finishing will choose to train with the "Unknowns". Oh boy... I was WRONG! Three teams decided to go with B&J even though they had the chance to have 4 weeks (!!!!) of immunity. Their statement was mostly, that they trust B&J's track record of the last 10 seasons. When those three teams told B&J the next day that they choose them over 4 weeks of immunity, even B&J couldn't believe what they did.

And now to come full circle in my two cents thrown in above.

It's not about the trainer! It's all about you!

You can have the best and/or highest paid trainers in the world, it's still you that has to make that commitment. Nobody is going to move your body, no matter how much they yell at you. If you don't decide to make a change, it's not going to happen. Of course you can seek advise and you should always ask for help, but the basic decision has to come from you and you only.

I have to point out the girl from the acqua team that decided to go with B&J. I thought she was completely ridiculous in believing that she can only be successful with the established trainers. That girl lost 100lbs in the last year ON HER OWN. She doesn't need no freaking trainer to do anything. She obviously made her decision a while ago and no matter what trainer she is going to work with and as long as she sticks to her agenda, she is going to be successful.

I am done.

PS: I actually wanted to post some more pics from the Germany trip, but this was really bothering me today... So tomorrow, you will see some pictures from our visit the Meyer shipyard where they currently build one of the Disney cruise ships.

Breakfast

Note: This post almost didn't happen... The idea zipped by and almost got lost somewhere between my brain, an eight hour work day and the keyboard... Fortunately, I ended up remembering what I wanted to share... Yay for me.... Or yay for you.... Since you get something to read now... ALL THREE OF YOU! ;-)

Remember the health assessment at work that I mentioned several weeks ago? Back then, I filled out the questionnaire, but today was the lab day e.g. weight, measurements, body fat and drawing blood. My appointment was at 8.45am and I was supposed to fast 8 hours ahead of getting the blood drawn. Picture me getting up at 5am, drive to the pool, knock out 2,600 yards in an hour, get dressed, go to work and then work until the appointed time rolls around... And all of this WITHOUT BREAKFAST. By appointment time I had stomach cramps, felt woozy and almost started biting my fingers off... Okay... The last item is maybe a little (tiny) exaggeration.

But it got me thinking about how much my eating habits have changed when I finally decided to get healthy. You see, if you have ever read about healthy eating habits and how to maintain your weight, sooner or later you stumble over the claim that:

• breakfast kick-starts your metabolism in the morning (here is one example, just google it and you'll be surprised on how many articles are coming up)
  
• fueling your body properly during the day avoids binge eating in the evening when the body preps to sleep (here is an article more directed to athletes, but it really applies to everyone, once again google it and you will find)
  
• eating breakfast is one of the habits that most people have that were able to maintain a significant weight loss (in this article are also the other habits)

So, can I hear a YAY for breakfast, please? YAY! ;-)


(Picture is from here and the article also has some information about why breakfast is so IMPORTANT!)

Before I started my (somewhat*) healthy lifestyle, I was a notorious breakfast skipper myself. But since I never read articles about nutrition and weigh loss, I never made the connection between my weight and my (non-existing) breakfast habits. I also never thought that this is such a common habit for people with overweight. Have you ever noticed how many contestants in the Biggest Loser mention at one point during the show that they have been skipping breakfast a lot. Of course, this is not the only mistake made by the contestants when it comes to eating and exercise habits and it certainly wasn't my only mistake either.

* I certainly still have a lot of room to improvement when it comes to the quality of my nutrition. But compared to what I used to put into my body, I came a long way and in the meantime am able to balance out calorie intake with calorie expense.

If you are a breakfast skipper, please consider to ditch this habit and have a healthy breakfast to kick-start your day. It's just one simple step to improve your nutrition and has a real impact on how you feel throughout the day (increase energy level and such). It certainly is worth a shot.

When it comes to me this morning... As soon as I got back to my desk, I raided my healthy snack drawer (whole grain cheese crackers, granola bars etc), but it took me until having lunch to finally feel back to normal.

So long!

PS: Tomorrow my parents plus brother get back from their road trip and I'll be off work to spend some quality time with them. There is a good chance that you won't hear anything from me until next Monday. Then I plan to resume broadcast as usual... married and all! ;-)

Before Meets After

Last night, I watched Biggest Loser. It's one of my favorite shows and maybe the only show that I really try to follow besides Project Runway. I know it's reality TV, but I like them... Not all of it, but enough to try to follow the seasons. But since I don't have any recording device at my disposal and don't stay at home to watch a show, if there is another activity in sight, I have to rely on reruns a lot of the time. But I digress!

Even after seeing so many seasons already, there is still interesting stuff exercise and nutrition wise that they are talking about.... mixed in with a lot of drama to fill up a two hour show. It also shows what the human body can endure. How many overweight people have you been talking to, that say they can never run because of their knees and because they are too heavy to run. If you have ever talked to me before my weight loss journey, you knew at least one! But those morbidly obese contestants on the show run on the treadmill all the time and they are fine. I guess, if you finally made this decision in your head, when you finally flipped that switch, then you stop making excuses!

If people don't make a conscious decision to change, then a 100K for the at home biggest loser won't be enough of an incentive either. You see very easily if someone stopped making excuses when they show the "after moment" of the contestant that was voted off the ranch. So last night, Dina got voted off and in her after moment she looked GREAT! She stopped making excuses for not working out and not eating right and just did it. I agree it's not easy to work and be a mother/father and so on, but if you want something really bad, you make time for it. And I think getting healthy is something we all should want really bad, because it makes us live longer and it makes us live a happier life...

I have been obese for most of my adult life. I wasn't an unhappy person and I wasn't unhealthy (based on my blood work etc) either, but how I felt inside didn't reflect the person on the outside. So at one point early last year, I decided for myself, that I want to look how I feel with the result that I feel happier and are healthier and look this way now too. Here is my "Before and After":

Since my friends back in Germany don't see me very often in person and some of them choose not to read this blog (no, I'm not mad! ;-) to see the latest pictures, I sometimes get the question on the phone, if I am able to keep off the weight. And that's alright, I wouldn't be the first to put it right back on, but I shared my strategies previously and it seems to work for me, so I am going to stick to them!