Plateau be gone week 2(a)

I've made the executive decision to change my weigh in day to Wednesday. Sorry to disappoint today but weighing in on the weekend just doesn't make a whole lot of sense in terms of planning my week. If I want to have a day where I indulge a little, it will probably be on the weekend. Jumping on the scales after a "treat day" or whatever you want to call it, isn't all that accurate or that good for my morale. There is also the alliteration of "Weigh In Wednesday", which is just too horribly corny to resist.

All in all I've been pleased with my efforts this week. I was very pleased with my efforts in Adelaide. Once you are determined to find a healthy option on a menu, you can usually create one somehow. South Australian white fish is beautiful, especially King George whiting, which is something I love having when I spend some time further west. By having it grilled rather than fried and asking for the chips to be left off the plate, you find yourself with quite a reasonable meal. 

I was surprised at how much easier it was to make better choices outside of my usual environment. It also made me realise how much I let myself "cheat" at times and that whilst I have changed a fair bit, I still have quite a few mindless habits in my daily routine that hinder me. 

The first thing that became apparent to me was that I am suffering from a mild case of "reward syndrome". Reward syndrome is a fitness industry buzz term for "rewarding" yourself after a hard workout with something you ordinarily wouldn't permit yourself to eat. It is a mentality that generations of people were raised with, as was particularly evident to me after spending time with my grandmother. After a day of gentle activity that was walking 9 holes of golf, she suggesting that night that I had "earned" a dessert. 

This is a classic pitfall of people who are claiming that they want to lose weight and "get healthy" but are better at talking the talk than walking the walk. It is a form of self sabotage and reflects a certain lack of commitment to what you claim to be trying to achieve. 

Now, I'm nowhere near as bad as I used to be in this regard,but I found myself thinking "if only I ate this well usually, combined with my usual exercise there'd be no way I'd be stuck in a plateau". That little reflection made me realise that whilst I have come a long way, there is still a way to go. 

I no longer do the direct "I've done this exercise today, so now I can eat this" however the idea of not being able to exercise for 4 days really bothered me. When thinking about why that was I  realised that exercise has become a security blanket for me. I do not pay as much attention to my diet when I'm exercising really hard, which is most of the time. I love working really hard in the gym but it has lulled me into a false sense of security about my food choices.

The plateau puzzled me a little at first, but now I realise that as my fitness has improved, my carbohydrate consumption and my sugar consumption have slowly crept up. I don't intend to cut out either nutrient but I need to do a better job of keeping the amounts of those things I consume in check, 

My trip to Adelaide has given me much inspiration for writing. The health of my Grandmother in her old age is one big topic. Being around her reminded me that diet and exercise should not be something you focus on as a young person just to be skinny; being fit and healthy is so important and has a dramatic impact on your ability to be comfortable and independent in old age.

Be kind to yourselves and I'll talk to you again on Wednesday!