Learning to love exercise as a calorie-counter

When I first started using My Fitness Pal, I loved that I was encouraged to eat my earned exercise calories! 

However, two bad(ish) things have come out of this:

1) On my days of rest (DOR), I only get to eat 1310 calories, which just isn't a lot of food. 

2)  My workouts have become all about the calorie burn.

...

I want working out to be FUN again!  I don't want to worry about the calories burned during my workouts, and I absolutely was loving being an intuitive exerciser, even if I wasn't ready to be an intuitive eater yet.

She loves exercise!!! (or is getting paid)

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So how can I get back to a more intuitive and enjoyable approach to exercise?

That's my goal for this week.  I'm going to re-learn to LOVE EXERCISE, and to stop worrying so much about the calories burned.

Today's plan-  run/walk on the treadmill!  This is a workout that I always love, so I'm not worried about it.  I'm going to go for 40 minutes and burn approximately 359 calories.  Since joining MFP, I've become almost obsessed with doing 60 minutes of cardio a day, to earn anywhere from 500-700 exercise calories that I then EAT!  So my 40 minutes goal for today is actually a step towards learning to love exercise again.

About those DORs, I'm planning to have one on Wednesday.  I am going to try to stick to more whole foods than processed things, as suggested by many of my readers, to see if that helps me to feel less deprived on 1300 calories.  I sure hope so! 

Tomorrow I will do Tasty Tuesday, and hopefully Wednesday I'll do a much healthier and more whole foods edition of "my 1300 calorie day" for you guys.

Do you enjoy exercise?  What is your favorite type to do?

An update on Intuitive Exercise

So far, so good!  I am LOVING exercising this way.  I think that by not making a plan, I've actually exercised more this week that I usually do.  Typically by now I would have taken a day of rest, but since I'm really listening to my body and mind and only doing what I really want to do for exercise, I've just not wanted a DOR this week.  I'm sure my body will eventually crave rest, but for now, I'm going strong!

Last night I did walking/running intervals on the treadmill, and it felt so good.  I wasn't obligated to do it by some strict rule in my head ("You haven't run this week yet, you fool!  Time to get back on, even if you don't want to!!!") instead I really wanted to do it ("Wow, I've missed running; time to get my run on! Yay!").

looks like intuitive exercise to me!

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As I ran I watched the last 20-30 minutes of Memoirs of a Geisha followed by the first half of last week's Army Wives.  Let me just say that while I was an emotional wreck (both of these TV options are extremely sappy), I still got in a good workout.  :-) 

I'm looking forward to continuing my journey with both IE and the newfound joys of Intuitive Exercise.

Don't forget to Like my Facebook Page, I post blog updates as well as other random health and fitness tips and articles. 

I still am working on my post about the third principle of Intuitive Eating: Make Peace with Food.  If you want to know all ten principles, just check out my new page!

I promise you a really good, really well thought-out blog entry soon!  Time to get some work done...

Review: Crunch Fat Burning Dance Party (DVD)

I did this DVD this morning! It's 45 minutes long, and it's kind of old... I've had it in my collection since my ED days (when I was about 20, so 6+ years now). I remember this being a much harder workout! It amazed me how well I did with this. I hardly broke a sweat, which means that this is something that I will do when wanting to work out, but when I don't want a huge challenge, so it will probably be weekly or less. It was really fun, though, and a great way to switch things up! Overall, I would say that this is a great workout DVD for beginners! If you are looking for a fun cardio workout that needs NO equipment, this is a great choice. Good music, motivating instructor, and the best part to me: A variety of shapes and sizes of exercisers are featured. Oh, and one man! Love the crowd.

Switching up my exercise routine = my biggest healthy goal right now.

The best part about doing this video? I'm reminded of how far I've come since my eating disorder days. I remember doing this video and not even enjoying it, just trying to burn calories! And I also remember that when I did this as an anorexic/EDNOS-er, I was out of breath and felt terrible during and afterwards. I may not be as thin or as young as I was back then, BUT I am so much healthier and more in shape than I was.

FOOD = FUEL.

Why did it take me so long to finally figure that one out? Without fueling my body properly, I couldn't do all of the amazing workouts that I do. I hope that all of you have fantastic weekends! Thanks for stopping by.

Tasty Thursday!!!

Tasty Thursday is brought to you by Forgetful Tuesday... ;-)

I drank 2 big jug fuls of my WW mug water, one before lunch and one after lunch. Love this jug! Seriously, if you don't have a nice 32 oz water jug, I highly recommend one! It's such as easy way to make sure that I always get in at least 64 oz of water daily. Breakfast was a delicious bowl of oatmeal (1 cup dry) made with unsweetened vanilla almond milk (1 cup) and a chopped up banana. YUM.Lunch was seriously amazing. On this open-faced sandwich: 2 Morningstar Farms chik'n grillers patties, 2 tbs hummus, and 1/2 an avocado. On the side I had baby carrots and cherry tomatoes, sprinled with pepper.I really don't know why, but after that gigantic meal I was still hungry, so I ate my Lara Bar early (had planned it for late afternoon) along with 6 redvines. Everything in moderation, folks! My afternoon snack was a can of no-sugar-added peaches. (recycled picture, since I forgot to take a picture of these! I swear this looks exactly the same.) On my way to class after work, I couldn't help noticing this. Whose skinny thighs are those? Mine!!! How exciting to recognize that my thighs are no longer overweight. I hope that each and every one of you reading this has either already had this moment, or will have it soon. It will not soon be forgotten... I have thin thighs. :-)

Before class began, I enjoyed some more baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. Seriously, carrots are nature's crackers, and cherry tomatoes are nature's kettle corn. So sweet and salty!

I had to take this picture in the school dirty bathroom, just to show you a cute new outfit! That's right, I have an hourglass shape, and I'm wearing stuff to show it off, FINALLY! I am loving my new-found confidence, and I'm hoping that I don't bore you too much with "Wow, don't I look great now" thoughts.

Dinner was 1 cup of a mixture of barely and brown rice (cooked together in the rice cooker, YAY, how exciting that I can do that?!), 1 cup of ff refried beans, and a can of tomatoes. Loved this combo!

Now, I have to get back to THIS. Anyone want to write my International Relations paper for me? Hmmm? ;-)

P.S. Just had to add: All pictures that have a steering wheel in them were taken while PARKED. Just in case anyone was worried! :-)

Excited about exercise...?! Really excited.

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Remember this post? Well, I'm all done with that. I'm excited about exercise again!!!

I'm pretty sure that it is because I have been switching it up. Rediscovering the Wave has been amazing to me!

Another reason that I'm excited: I finally got that free exercise bike from my cousin yesterday!!! It's just a basic recumbant bike, but it has the ability to increase the resistance, which is a challenge for my leg muscles.

Plus, it's in the front room. Which is the main TV room, so now I can look forward to watching DVD shows as well as DVRed shows, all while exercising! How exciting. :-)

One more reason that I'm excited about exercising: I have some new goals.

1st goal: to become a runner.

Yes, I badly want to be a runner. I have spent years telling myself that I couldn't run for many reasons. Mostly, that I am very prone to shin splints.

Well, I finally figured out that if I do shin strengthening exercises a couple of times a week, and ice my shins after a run, I can pretty much avoid shin problems. :-) :-) :-)

This weekend, I did three days in a row of running intervals. Run one minute, walk one minute, run two minutes, walk one minute. Back to one minute. And so on! It felt amazing! I felt so strong and beautiful while I ran. And I know that it worked my heart and a lot of other muscles, since I was drenched in sweat and sore the next day. I'm almost ready to start calling myself a "runner". Almost. I'll let you know. ;-)

Now I'm dreaming of 5Ks and half marathons in 2012... we'll see.

Another goal of mine: getting bikini ready. And yes, I know that this is a shallow, common goal. But I still want it!

I'm pretty sure that I'll look good in a bikini this summer, since last summer I rocked one at 180 or so, and thought that I looked good.

Why not really challenge myself into working on my thighs, butt, abs, back, and arms by working towards getting bikini ready?

I can't think of any reasons. So, official goal: get bikini ready.

The final reason that I'm getting more excited about exercise: It's a big stress reliever. Seriously. Here's my current week day schedule:

• Go to work for 8 hours.
• Go to class for 3 hours.
• Go to the library and study/do homework for an hour or two.
• Get home around 10pm.
• Eat a late dinner/take bath/study more/laundry/etc.
• Get some sleep...

What better way to start that crazy day than 40 minutes of high-intensity exercise??

What motivates you to exercise?

Do you have any fitness goals right now?

Exercise getting boring???

This morning, my Nordic Track workout was... blah.

Usually, I've been able to enjoy my workouts. I think that the reason that I've always been able to enjoy my cardio workouts is (embarasingly enough) TV. There is not much I enjoy more than watching a kick-butt episode of Charmed, Buffy, or the Young and the Restless while sweating up a storm doing some cardio. I know that I'm cool; you don't have to tell me! ;-)

...I recently moved the Nordic Track out of the living room because it was such an eyesore for me. Stacey always said that he didn't mind it, and I had pretty much gotten used to it, but I hated how ugly it looked right in the middle of the floor.

So, as soon as we got a cable box in the spare bedroom, we (okay, Stacey) moved the Nordic Track into there. I figured that with cable, I could find something cool to watch all the time (after living without cable for years, I just had that fantasy...).

Turns out, I don't like doing cardio during commercials. I get BORED. I start thinking thoughts like, "How many mintues do I have left?" which is just not cool.

I'm supposed to go get an exercise bike soon, that will replace the NT as the new living room eyesore. That way, I'll have something cardio to do in front of the DVR and DVD player.

Another option: Get another DVR box to put in the spare room/gym. But that costs an extra $15 a month, so it's not really an option. I could also buy a 3rd DVD player to go in there, so at least I can watch Buffy and Charmed.

Since going back to school, I've had less time to devote to vegging out. I hardly ever get to just sit around and watch TV anymore. Therefore, I treasure my exercise TV time even more, and would love to use it productively by catching up on Y&R.

Yes, to me, Y&R is not an option, I must always watch every episode aired. So, since I'm going to watch it anyway, why not do it in the mornings while on the Nordic Track??

... I don't know if I had a point with this blog entry. I guess my point is that I may be moving the NT back into the living room, just so that I can watch DVRed episodes of the Young and the Restless.

Is that sad?? I don't think so. You gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Tasty Tuesday!

I started the day off right with a high-intensity workout on the Wave. I find the way my legs look in this picture hilarious!
Next up, a giant bowl of oatmeal made with oats, banana, light soy milk, and a tad of vanilla almond milk. With my morning Diet Cola and lots of water! Once again, this oatmeal was eaten half at 8am, and a bit more around 10:30. Didn't end up eating all of it this time, just wasn't that hungry.

One of the engineers brought me a present: a bunch of fancy cookies from the first class lounge at the airport! The ingredients were all vegan, and it was so tiny that I counted two of them at 1 PointPlus, since I really have no clue.


Lunch started with a Green Monster smoothie made with soy milk, flax seeds, spinach, dandelion greens, kale, a banana, and some unsweetened applesauce.

Hi to Stacey on the couch! Don't mind the crazy glare on his glasses.

I was still a little hungry, so I had some leftovers of barley with black beans and veggies! Mixed a teaspoon of EVOO in there, too.

I packed a baggie of veggies and a sandwich for school. I only ended up eating a few of these, and none of the sandwich. Wasn't hungry for it!

I did enjoy a late afternoon clementine... okay, two. ;-)

No, I wasn't driving when I took this, but yes that is my steering wheel!

This is what I'm eating right now for a late dinner. Some more leftover barley and beans with some toast. 1 tsp of EVOO drizzled on the toast.


Thanks to Megan for the name idea of "Tasty Tuesday". I love it! BTW, if you read my blog and don't read Megan's, that crazy! Hers is way better.

*edited to add: I ate an additional 5 pieces of light wheat bread late last night!!! Note to self: stop buying this for awhile, it's clearly a trigger food for me.

Time to switch up my workouts? *thoughts about my weight, too*

Lately I've been considering adding more strength and stretching to my workouts...

...but I don't really want to!!! I love cardio more than anything else, and don't really have extra time to actually ADD exercise... so I'm afraid that in order to start a strength/abs/yoga to my routine, I will have to actually subtract from my cardio time.

I'm about to get a new piece of cardio equipment, YAY!!! It's a recumbent stationary bike, which will be placed in the living room where the dead Gazelle sits.

Did I not mention on here that my Gazelle died? Yeah, it was a sad day. It still is sitting in the living room, broken. And it's broken in a way that seems unfixable... I find myself looking at it, thinking insane thoughts like, "Well, if I strapped a BIG BAR to that leg with some harness-ing stuff and a tarp... maybe?" It's time to take it to the curb. :-(

But, my cousin Mollie (hi, Mollie!!!) has offered me her old recumbant bike (did I say earlier that it was "new"? I meant new to me), which I know isn't the most heart-pumping workout, but I'm determined to make it work! It's free, it's nice, and it's easy. :-) I'm sure that if I add enough resistance, it will be challenging. Maybe it's just what I need to switch up my cardio and to lose a few more inches of hips? We shall see...

I'm getting the bike this weekend, and will post pictures and discuss my first bike workout shortly afterwards. I'm stoked!

For now, I think that I will be adding in 15-20 minutes of light stretching, squats, lunges, and crunces/situps a few times a week. I'll do this in the evenings while I watch TV, normally after homework/study time and before bath/bed time. :-)

I'll let you know how it goes!

Thoughts about my weight: Lately I've been wondering if I am almost ready to start maintaining. A big part of me really want to go for those size 10's (weight = 135)... but I'm almost afraid that I wouldn't look healthy at that size anymore. The last time I wore those, I was severely restricting my diet and overexercising (eating disorder days...not fun...).

Is it possible that I should start thinking about a higher goal weight? I love how I look and how I feel right now, at 151. I'm thinking that 145 may be perfect for me.

I guess that I just won't worry about it, keep doing what I'm doing (eating right and exercising) and see where I end up. I'm hoping to find my "happy weight" this time around, and stay there forever. :-)

For the love of the Nordic Track Skier...

Seriously, I love this thing. I'm sure that I've given the backstory of my love affair with the Nordic Track pro-skier, but here it is again, in detail:

1995: My parents bought the Nordic Track skier, back in the peak of its popularity. I wasn't allowed near it.

1997: We moved the Nordic Track with us from Hawaii to Nebraska, where it was almost immediately forgotten about, stored in the corner somewhere (I think in the basement?)

2002: The Nordic Track moved with us again from Nebraska to Tennessee, only to be stored in a corner again, collecting dust.

2010: The Nordic Track skier found its new "forever-home" with me. It is used several times a week and (if objects had feelings, of course) is happier than its been since 1997!

And it works, by the way. It's a wonderful cardio workout! My lower body, especially my butt and the backs of my legs, and my back and upper arms have all been completely reshaped since I started my skiing.

Oldies are goodies.

Exercise... a habit?!

This has been a crazy week for me. Lots of stuff going on, mostly family-related. Sad things, scary things, time-consuming things. Which I am happy to do, because I love my family!

In the past I would have let this family stuff be an excuse to skip exercise for as long as possible. Not anymore! Now I make time.

My mom, who needs at least a little "me-time" every day right now, is still meeting me at Curves every day after work for a 30 minute workout. It's good and distracting for her, and wondeful for me, too!

And my evening cardio sessions? Yes, they have gotten both later and shorter, but I am still committed to getting in a good cardio workout every day.

Who knew? I have finally made exercise not just a priority, not just something that I enjoy, but a real habit. And it feels great.