This Week February 13th

This has been a challenging week for me. If you recall I had a health scare that landed me in the emergency room twice within 6 hours or so. As a result I have not been able to work out this week like I would have otherwise. I have also felt very exhausted all week. Though, I am very proud to say that I have still stayed within my calorie budget all week long even though I have not been able to exercise since Monday. All in all I only lost 0.8 pounds this week. Though, considering what I have been through this week it has been a huge accomplishment. I will be going to the doctor today to hopefully find out what is going on with my health. I have a few suspicions and will blog about what comes of today’s visit. I really am hoping that she gives me the “OK” to start working out again, even if I do have to start out slow.

Why do I miss working out?

You know, you would think that if I had the doctor’s order to not exercise that I would be relieved. No torturing myself at the gym and then waking up the next morning sore all over. I have come up with a few reasons why working out is so very important in my battle with food addiction and ultimately my weight loss battle.

1) It is a distraction One thing I have learned with my battle with food is that sitting around doing nothing (especially in the evenings and on the weekends) can be the biggest temptation time to indulge in excessive eating. You know the mindless eating I had done in the past in front of the television or just because my husband was having a snack, so should I. So, previously I had spent that time working out and this week I did not have the opportunity to work out like I would have liked to. I really missed it. In the past I have also used a set back like this as an excuse to over eat. For this reason I am even more proud than before that I was able to stay within my calorie budget every day.

2) It creates an even better calorie deficit Probably the best benefit to working out is seeing how high my calorie deficit is from working out at the end of my day. Yes, I am still eating the number of calories I should, but seeing a higher calorie deficit sure does make you feel good about the day.

3) It makes me feel great! I won’t go as far as to say that I am addicted to working out, but I have a great fondness for that high that you get after a good long hard work out. I always feel like I am on top of the world as I am leaving the gym. Might the reason possibly be that I feel like each work out I finish the further away I move from a life of morbid obesity?

4) Helps with metabolism I know, this one is kind of a given. But, I totally feel the difference in my body when I don’t get to work out. I know that it will have an effect on my metabolism and hopefully I can get my metabolism back to where it was very quickly.

Being Noticed

There were three different people at work this week that noticed that I have lost some weight and actually pulled me aside to tell me how great I was looking. This was the kind of encouragement I needed this week especially. Its always nice to be noticed!