Hey there !
At JillFit, we talk a lot about moderation and giving yourself
the benefit of the doubt and finding a way to eat that's sustainable long-term.
I think sometimes these more self-compassionate messages can feel like you're "letting yourself off the hook" or giving up. I'll never forget a tweet from a woman last year saying, "Moderation feels like failure to me."
I can totally understand that feeling, because for many years, I felt the same way. I felt like anything less than perfect was not good enough, even to the point that I'd get so mad at myself for EATING CASHEWS because they were highest carb of all nuts and gosh, I am so BAD that this eating thing! I suck, I'm so undisciplined!
Looking back now, it's kind of insane -- in fact, it's nuts (pun intended! :)) -- to be so scared of overeating something as healthy and relatively benign as nuts. Can you overdo them? Sure, but compared to how badly I could have been eating, I wish I had just gotten over
myself sooner and found some perspective. I spent many months and years berating myself for eating moderately, when in actuality, moderation has become THE THING that's helped me move past my food obsession and yo-yo weight regain.
ANYWAY.
The bottom line was that week after week, I was alternating perfect eating Monday thru Thursday with complete binges on the weekend, and it was not working for results (or sanity). And the crazy thing was that even though that eating approach wasn't working for me, I still clung to it because the other way (moderation, self-compassion) was too scary. Again, it felt like settling and "being okay"
with a body that was not the leanest of the lean.
BUT. Over the last 3-4 years, I have slowly come to the place that I rarely think about food, and I rarely change how I eat, and I really actually love how I eat. My #1 goal at every meal is to feel satisfied. That's it. Not stuffed and not deprived. I
work to find that balanced place that prevents binges later.
Changes to my training:
So because I've gotten my process so automated, I hardly look at my body that much in
general anymore. Not because I don't appreciate it but because my eating is so automated that my body doesn't change all that much. In fact, I've maintained my same size for the last 3 years and I've just got accustomed to that.
BUT. This week, I noticed some real changes based on my training, not my eating (which has not changed). Over the last few months, I have tapered my cardio off. Not because I hate cardio but because I noticed doing more was not getting me any further results.
I think traditional cardio can be an amazing mood enhancer and some people just love it -- which for me, is reason enough to do it -- but personally, I notice that not only was it not adding physique value, but it was affecting my hunger and cravings to the point that on days I did more moderate-intensity cardio, I ate and craved more -- something that doesn't happen with weight training.
Obviously this is an individual approach, but I want to share with you the changes I have been making over the last 6 weeks and the results. For the last 6 weeks, I've been very consistent with the following:
- Track sprints 2x/week - anywhere between 70m to 400m repeats
- Metabolic Effect and metcon workouts 2-3x/week - these are full-body, high-intensity and short (~20 min). I haven't done many body-part split workouts, except legs by themselves once a week
- Incorporating 5-10 mins of actual heavy abs training once a week (I used to never train abs)
- Leisure walking 2x/day, with the goal of getting ~15k steps a day
My intensity is much higher with weights, plus I am doing more stress-reduction activity. Consistency has been key with these
things, partly a result of a longer period with no traveling.
My latest progress pics:
Granted the lighting is different in the photos and chances are good that I am holding water differently, but in the pic on the right, especially my upper abs are chunkier and the whole
midsection slightly leaner. These pics are completely unfiltered:
