Ramblings: Oh those Milano cookies

So, I have done some exercise, I have actually eaten vegetables twice this week. But today I felt like crap and I bought a bag of double stuffed milano cookies. I'm having an existencial meltdown and I want my damn cookies. Lucky for me, the bag only carries 15 cookies and then I go back to my normal life. The way I see it, you have to do what feels good and not say NO to everything in life, because then you'll want it more. Besides, I lost one pound this week, and it shows.

Weekly stats

This message is short and to the point.
Stats for the week:
Walked 2 miles on Monday
Did the 100 Bycep Curls on Tuesday
Did two sets of Squats on Wednesday
Back pain is horrible
Water retention at an all time high
Having a physical in the next two weeks.
Measurements next week.
Keep trying.

Motivation: What drives me

I was reading an exercise mag and the subject of motivation came up. They commented that an altruistic motive is more important than a personal motivation. The example of the altruistic motivation was "I want to get healthy for my kids". This brings up an interesting point on perspective. The reason why you want to stay alive for "your kids" is because you want to see them grow up. It is a selfish reason, it is a personal reason and it goes back to the issue of things being relative. What might be a good motivator for you would suck for me, and viceversa.
I know that my motivation right now is simple: I'm tired of double digit jeans. I want to wear perfect size 8 jeans. Sounds like a selfish, stupid reason. But for me, it is a matter of logic. That is the most common size of jean in the store, and usually, the difference between brands is not that great on a size 8. For some reason the difference seems a lot bigger the larger the size.
So I will keep my selfish, "personal" reasons. You keep yours. Keep trying.

Exercise: importance of workout confusion

Lately I've seen a lot on print and TV about muscle confusion. I decided to give it a try, my way. On a magazine that I saw last week, they suggested a new twist on muscle confussion. Take a very small weight and do a ridiculous amount of repetitions. I decided to do 100 bycep curls with a two pound weight. Sounds easy enough. I was going really fast for the first 50. And then my arm started to show signs of fatigue. I was able to make it, after many stops and starts. Then I had to repeat in the other arm! But you know what? I do this every four days. I have done it three times already (started last week), and the first day after, my arms hurt. Now they don't hurt. But I am still not capable of doing the full 100 without stopping. I figured after I can dominate this, I can go for three-pound weights, and I will let you know how it goes.
Oh, and by the way, this is on top of our regular routines, that is where the muscle confussion is. This is an unexpected add on. Keep trying!

Nutrition: The importance of water

This is my version of what works for me. Don't expect me to recite what everybody knows about how many glasses a day, or ounces. Let's face it, even something as simple as water makes these so called experts give you a different version. When I was growing up it was 8 glasses of 8 ounces. Now it's 10 glasses of 8 ounces. If you go to other sources it is one ounce per pound, on others one ounce per two pounds. No one seems to know how much is enough.
I think that drinking 8 or 10 glasses a day sounds like one size fits all and that would be impossible. And although the ounces per pound idea sounds more tailor made, I was 210 pounds once, and counld not drink 210 ounces of water, as much as I wanted to. There's also the little matter of how much water is in the fruits and vegetables you eat which is supposed to be added to the water intake.
So what am I doing about this? I drink water when I am thirsty. I drink if I sweat a lot or if I feel hot. And if it is not meal time and I feel hungry, I drink water to make sure that I am not mistaken between hunger and thirst. That is what works for me. To give you an example: I just walked to the local pharmacy and back home. It was hot, so when I got home, I took my water bottle and drank some. How much? I have no idea. I try to drink as much as I feel like as many times as I feel like. I decided this obsession with numbers has to stop, so I don't count ounces anymore. And you know what? I feel great. (Keep in mind, I bought a big water bottle that I refill twice a day, so I know for a fact I am drinking way more than ten glasses a day, but the exact number does not interest me).
Keep trying.

The hardest part of this whole thing is

no matter how much you try and how much you exercise, if you want good results that will last a lifetime, you cannot take a shortcut. Some times, waiting for that one pound to come off makes it hard for you to be motivated. But you have to keep trying. After several months of walking and exercising every day, I had to take a break, concentrate on listening to my body. And you know what? I actually lost one pound. No exercise, but now I know that if I watch what I eat and something happens to side track me, I can still make progress. But tomorrow, the three mile walk is on! Keep trying!