Cassie Vs. Redbull

Sorry for fibbing too you guys! I fell asleep by 8:00pm last night, but I mean, sleep is important right? But sadly this also means that I missed my chance to get on the scale. I’ll have to do that next time I stop by my mom’s house. So you lucky people get another tangent of mine, get excited! Ha-ha.

So the topic of today is: getting rid of this phrase- oh might as well.

Let me explain with an example. Yesterday I was tired, beyond tired, probably why I fell asleep at 8pm! And I went to the convince store in the building of my work and decided coffee wasn’t enough, I needed Red Bull (comment on Red Bull coming). So in case any of you are unfamiliar with Red Bull, it comes in a regular version or sugar free. The regular red bull has about 110 calories (in the smallest size) and the sugar free has about 3 calories (again small size). So it’s roughly a 100 calories difference. Since I had all my meals planned for the rest of the day and they all seemed to leave me with a little extra wiggle room, I figured why not go for the full sugar version of red bull for only about 100 calories more? It’s such a small amount for a better taste, in my opinion.

What type of reasoning is that?

If you are trying to get fit then calorie awareness is important. And no one should eat too small an amount of calories, if you do then what would your body run off of? The issue is making the right calorie choices. Why didn’t I use that “extra” 100 calories to eat some almonds or tuna or fruit? Something good for me that would provide either water or energy or both. Instead I was cranky and tired and decided “oh might as well” when it came to which Red Bull to get. There is a danger in that. You can “oh might as well” yourself into a lot of extra calories, not just 100, and not just when you need some more calories. Instead of “oh might as well” I should have been thinking “what would be best to put into my body to add 100 calories to my intake today”. See the difference? Each thing we put into our bodies is a choice, and focusing on making better choices one by one.

Which brings me to my next point, why am I drinking Red Bull? That is a bad decision in itself. Just as a general point I think it would be better to stick to a natural energy booster over something where the ingredients sound like they could destroy Superman. Also it makes my heart race. And when I crash off it I can barely move. There is so much to be said about making better choices.

A final note today is about one of my favorite things that I will never give up, although I’m trying to limit it, coffee. So as most people know coffee can give your metabolism a boost. Interest fact though: if you drink coffee before you eat first thing in the morning, coffee actually has the opposite effect, it will slow down your metabolism. Now you know: there is more than one reason to start your day with a balanced breakfast, right before your coffee (if you indulge)!

Till laters,

Cassie

Trying a new Idea

Hey Everyone!

It’s been awhile, my apologies. Between leaving my laptop behind in every possible situation, I’ve been very busy and very tired. But I have been doing some thinking. While I like rambling in this blog, I feel like if I put more rigid guidelines on when and how I update this maybe it will help me stay on track, cause I have been struggling. And I am well aware that the struggle is part of the journey, but struggling a lot can make us all feel defeated. I’ve had great healthy days and bad not healthy days. But either way here I still stand.

Which has lead me to an important point: Don’t panic.

What I mean is don’t try to base your entire day or week over thinking about the food you have eaten. Don’t be paranoid that other people are going to judge you on what you do or do not eat. Don’t put all your emotions into the cupcake that is right in front of you( I want it so bad but if I eat it I’m bad, I’m a failure, etc). That’s something I struggle with. If I want something I over think it and over think it till I have either eaten it or willed myself not to eat it. But if I don’t eat it I have a hard time not thinking about the food still, like maybe I wished out on the most amazing cupcake in the whole world. I think when you are over thinking about the food you don’t eat or do eat, it’s all a state of panic. You have to take a deep breath, maybe count a few. If you aren’t calm how can you make a rational decision you can stand by? It’s food, one way or another. You eat it or you don’t. If you don’t you won’t get an award and if you do you won’t be punished. Take a minute and try to listen to your body. Are you actually hungry or is this an emotional drive? If you are hungry do you really want that bag of chips, why not try a bag of carrot sticks instead. And whichever direction you choose, maybe take a minute and reflect on how your decision made you feel. That’s my advice for the day.

Back onto the rigid guidelines. I think I need to get on the scale and fess up to how much damage I have done to my body, although I know I’m starting to make the journey back. Maybe share a good meal I had that day, or a temptation I overcame, a new exercise...or if I ate an entire box of mac n cheese by myself. It doesn’t have to be everyday but it should be closer to that than not. I’ve always been a creative thinker, that’s why I go off on these tangents, but I’m not as good as acting on them. That’s part of the reason I started this, to be accountable. And t be able to look back on this all and say “ this is my journey towards health, all the good, bad, and ugly parts”.  So I think I will get on the scale tomorrow( probably cry and want 8 donuts which I will try not to eat) and start actually documenting it all better. That way I can see the progress and results, and you all can to. So maybe as I get closer to health and fitness, it will help some of you guys realize you can do it to.

Pinky swear to update tomorrow he-he.

Laters,

Cassie

Bad Food Equals Bad Mood

I have been in a bad mood for days. And between that and running around and computer issues I have not blogged.  You know when you get into a funk and you just can’t crawl out for a few days?

I went to the Red Sox’s game on Friday which was awesome. But I think I can see what sparked this bad mood. When I got to the game I got a alcoholic drink, followed by a few more and ate chicken tenders( with even more shame to admit, fries). The next day I woke up feeling like a sack of ick, and it never really improved. Today I woke up feeling not so great physically but decided to give my health a chance, put in some effort. So far so good, But I think it’s important to look at what happened on Friday and the days follow, and why.

After that I have a good article to pass on to you and A cool person to check out .

So what happened on Friday? Well I hadn’t planned on going to the game, it was a surprise. It was an amazing game with phenomenal seats and I got to go with my best friend, and her awesome dad. The game really had nothing to do with what happened. If was just that unplanned outings were something I hadn’t…well, prepared for. Which I know sounds like an oxymoron, how can you prepare for something you didn’t know was going to happen?  Well a good starting point is this: don’t let an outing you didn’t plan be an excuse or a pressure to eat poorly and drink a bunch of alcohol. I’m going to have an entry on the issue of drinking alcohol while trying to eat and live healthy, but that really does deserve to be its own entry. Back to the topic at hand though.

My thoughts really went mostly like this: I’m at a place where people are supposed to drink and eat a lot of greasy food, so I better follow suit. There were healthy options too, and of course water(which I and you should always be drinking), and I ignored them.  I mean that’s not “game” food, right?  How wrong is that reasoning? It’s just an excuse. I feel like excuses are going to be a topic that I come back to again and again, because I know for myself( and I’m sure a few of you out there)  that I make excuses on why I can eat bad food or not be active. Excuses are just things we make up for ourselves so that we can do something we know we shouldn’t,  or something that we know will hurt us but we desire it anyways. But even knowing that, it’s hard to make the brain leave that train of thought. You have to be very conscious of your thoughts, or you will end up tricking yourself. Complicated isn’t it? Hopefully I can figure out a way to do this and pass the information on.

So after eating this greasy food and drinking, I didn’t feel too great. That food and drink isn’t good for your body. And when you don’t feel that well physically then you can’t feel that well emotionally either. I woke up the next morning with a bit of a hangover and feeling worse than ever. I finally woke up this morning feeling more up to the challenge. So I felt bad for a few days, but that few days isn’t going to stop me.

So what did I learn from this? To be prepared for the unexpected! Just a few thought I have had so far:

1.       Always choose the healthy option, no matter what everyone else seems to be doing

2.       If you can avoid drinking, you probably should. And I only mean this in the “ don’t use an event or situation to drink 4 margaritas”  all that sugar and booze don’t help you, and they usually make your morning after pretty rough.

3.       Water not only is good for you, but it helps you feel full

So the article that  I read today that I thought was pretty good is called "10 Ways to Turn Around a Fat Day". Which is something I  face a lot as i have mentioned before. The idea that if you make one bad food choice to start your day, you then make the excuse that you might as well continue on in the same fashion and you end up making a whole "fat day" out of it.  It has some unique ways to help you turn around starting your day with some bad food choices. I definately want to give the red one a try! 

http://fitbie.msn.com/lose-weight/tips/10-tricks-turn-around-fat-day

If you want to check out a great trainer who posts a lot of interesting stuff, follow @Fit_Becca on Twitter. Just a suggestion. I think it’s good to embrace all you can in health and fitness, and why not take a peek at or follow a real person who lives the life style?

Talk to you guys soon :)

-Cassie

How to Stop a Bad Morning from Being a Bad Day

If any of you are like me, I have always lived by the motto “ I messed up my diet, might as well go hard”. What I mean is that if I mess up my diet in the morning, I throw the entire day away eating as much sugary, fatty, greasy as I can. I have been told time and time again that this is the worst possible thinking ever. And you know what? It is. Why would you throw away a whole day, add on all those calories just because you had a bad morning? Because what you want, is to eat bad food. You want an excuse. At least, that is the case for me.

A common excuse I make for myself is breakfast.  If I forget to bring it or to be honest just point blank don’t bring it, I have an excuse. When I get to work and grab my morning coffee, I can grab a doughnut too. If not I can get a Nutella to go, or just come into my office and eat some cookies or cake; we usually have at least one of those options.  And I mean in my mind as soon as I've taken that bite of doughnut, or cookie, or dip of Nutella; the day is lost. I will then go on to eat as bad as possible. Why? Well in my head I tell myself that I will start fresh tomorrow and thus be on the right track.

In some perfect and magical world that would be the case. I’d wake up the next day and since I ate my healthy breakfast of oatmeal or wheat toast with a hard boiled egg, then I would be unstoppable. I would eat healthy from that point on and never falter. I really wished I lived in that world, but I don’t. none of us do.  Just because you have a bad morning you can’t just throw the day away. Actually its not even a case of throwing the day away, it’s making the day worse, adding on more calories and fat you don’t need. And what is to say that you cave and have a “bad” lunch like a friend buffalo chicken sandwich with lots of greasy salty fries. By my grand reasoning  you would then go on to eat as much as you could for the rest of the day since this magically promise of tomorrow looms in the distance.

It’s insane. If I tell myself everyday that once I have that bad breakfast, I can binge all day and start fresh tomorrow…well what happens when I then have a doughnut when I get into work? Then of course I can eat crap all day and wait for tomorrow. See where I’m going with this? Nothing will ever change cause I’m not actually changing anything.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” Albert Einstein.

And right he was.  Well I decided upon starting this journey that I really would try to get out of my old patterns of self destruction when it comes to eating. Little did I know that day 1  would give me that exact opportunity. I got to work only to discover that I had left my healthy breakfast at home, safely in the fridge. Panic set in and for moment I thought, " oh well I'll have to start tomorrow". But I stopped( literally I was walking) and realized exactly what I have been talking about above. You either decide you are going to stick with something or you're not. No time of day will change that. And no bump in the road should either. So today I turned down the temptress that is a doughnut, and thus was more sure of myself in other healthy decisions through out my day. 

Let's see how I do when I in fact eat a doughnut...will i keep moving...or will I use that doughnut to float down the lazy river of sugar and fat?

Talk to you soon,

Cassie

Hey There

 

 

My name is Cassie and this is my first attempt at blogging. As you can probably tell from the title of this blog, it’s about putting an end to crash dieting like extreme calorie cutting, over exercising, all liquid diets, diet pills, etc. And an attempt to make healthy food decisions day by day while trying to make regular exercise part of your life. Now this is not just going to be me rambling on about how you all should be doing this, this, and the other thing. This blog is a journey, my journey to be exact.

 

Since I was 17 I have gained and lost the same 60-90lbs three time; I have gained the weight three times and lost it twice. Each time I lost I would get to a weight where I didn’t completely hate the way I looked, to slowly but surely creep back up to a point where I can’t stand to look at myself. I would lose the weight with extreme calorie cutting and counting to the point where it was definitely obsessive. Most of the time I was too tired to work out, most likely from the lack of calories. Gaining the weight back was always so easy: you feel depressed about your weight, you eat about it, more depression, eat about it- and on and on. Well at least that was the case for me. I have been trapped in this cycle for almost 10 years. And honestly, enough is enough.

 

So, I think all these diets and self abuse in the name of being skinny have got to stop. I’m attempting something new. I am going to try not to lose weight to get skinny but to change my lifestyle to get healthy and into the shape I want to live a better quality of life. I hypostasize that it will come down to making several better choices in what I eat each day and forcing myself to get active till I actually start to enjoy it. I also think that  is going to be a lot of emotions I am going to have to face and deal with. There’s going to be a lot of compulsion( and thus binge eating) that I will have to gain control over.

 

This is not going to be a censored blog in any way. When I have a great day, eating well and getting exercise in, I’ll write about it. When I have an awful day where I never get off my butt and eat 4000 calories, I’ll write about it. I’m hoping that through documenting my journey as honestly as I can that maybe someone might read this and think “ Oh that’s just like me, maybe I can do it too” .

 

I’ll try to keep it interesting, try out new work out routines and venture into the world of healthy food I haven’t tried before. If I come across any books, advice, or even good quotes( I’m all for motivational ones) I’ll let you guys know. Also expect regular rants, essays, and complete fiction based on anything I find that relates to this journey while I'm on it.

 

Tomorrow starts the first day of regular posting my journey to a healthy life style. Even if I don’t succeed, at least there won’t be any more yo-yos.

 

Till tomorrow

 

Cassie