What's on your gym playlist?

I always love to hear what people listen to at the gym, or while running/exercising. Here's a peek into mine.

• Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne
• Toxic - Britney Spears
• Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
• On Top of the World - Imagine Dragons
• Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
• Stronger - Britney Spears
• Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
• Microphone - 98 Degrees
• Dirty Dancing - NKOTB
• The Devil Went Down to Georgia - Zac Brown Band
• How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty
• Ring of Fire - Social Distortion
• Remix - NKOTB
• SexyBack - Justin Timberlake
• One - Metallica
• American Idiot - Green Day
• Forgot About Dre - Dr Dre & Eminem
• Lose Yourself - Eminem
• My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark - Fall Out Boy

Just... keep... moving

That's what I really want my scale to do right now.

I'm currently 39 days binge free (yay!) with one cheat day a week, and I am down about 12 pounds in that time. I realize that really is a good amount of weight to be down in 5 1/2 weeks, however I still get frustrated when it doesn't move as fast as I wish it would.

But then I stop and think about it and realize that it's ok.

I've done a million "diets". The last few that I've done have been pretty rapid weight loss diets. I'd lose between 2-5 pounds a week with my body in ketosis (fat burning mode). But that's not easy, nor is it sustainable. But because the weight dropped so quickly, I was able to see results much quicker than I am now. And I think that's where I'm getting hung up.

I'm doing it the right way now, eating from the four food groups, eating in moderation, and 4-5 times throughout the day. I'm limiting the amount of "white" foods I eat, and try to stay with fresh, perishable foods rather than processed foods. In fact, I hate when I have to get something out of the pantry to eat. Tonight I had a Trader Joe's apple bar, which really only has "good" ingredients, but I would have rather had something a little more fresh. Payday is Friday, so we're running a little low in the fridge and freezer right now.

Here's the thing that everyone needs to keep in mind - you're perhaps working on a "diet", but that "diet" has to become a lifestyle. You've heard the saying "you are what you eat"? Think about how cruddy you feel after eating something greasy or fatty or heavy. I'm not saying you can't eat that, I'm just saying that if you want to lose the weight and keep it off, these kinds of "treats" are just that - treats. They're not everyday foods. They're definitely not every meal foods. If I fall back into those habits and that lifestyle, I will not succeed and the scale will move in the wrong direction.

I need to keep all of that in mind when I look down at the scale and see it moving slowly. It IS moving and it IS going in the right direction. The weight didn't come on overnight, it won't come off that way, either. Good choices and lifestyle changes. That's how we'll be successful.

Eating out

Sigh. Going out to eat. Always a challenge for someone trying to stay on the straight and narrow. I can't tell you the times I have been invited to events for my (other) blog, or Yelp Elite events, or even just out with friends and I say no because I worry that either 1. eating something out of the norm will trigger a binge or 2. even if it doesn't trigger a binge they won't have anything within a normal calorie range for me.

I always try to research places before I make a decision, or before I go, so I have an idea of what meals might be within reason for me. Just because something sounds light doesn't mean it is. Salads can be full of calories from croutons, dressing, cheese, breading on meat, etc. Burgers might be made with lean meat, but buns still have plenty of calories. I've got no issue ordering my burger without a bun, and I'll try to order veggies as my side instead of fries, but sometimes I just REALLY want sweet potato fries. I've never been a french fry fan, but I have a hard time saying no to sweet potato fries.

My biggest fear of the two I listed above is that it will trigger a binge. "Oh, I had a crappy dinner so why not just enjoy the rest of the night with everything in the fridge and pantry". "I'm already eating bad, so what's going to make it worse"?

My new challenge is to make smart choices at restaurants. Instead of the sandwich and fries that sound great, how about the salad with dressing on the side, or substituting veggies for fries or bread. Just today I knew I didn't want anything heavy since it was 95 degrees outside and we were headed to a ball game, but I wasn't in the mood for my usual lobster caprese salad. Spinach artichoke dip sounded awesome, so instead of getting it with the normal baguette, I chose to get carrots. It was perfect because while the dip wasn't super low cal, the carrots kept it manageable and light.

But I need to work on this with my therapist. There are times that I do hold back and get something lighter, or something I might not want as much, and then feel like I'm depriving myself - which can then lead to a binge. I also have problems with eating half and taking the rest home. I usually end up eating the other half as soon as I get home.

I still have many things to work on, this being a big one since I can't keep myself out of social eating situations forever. I'm hoping with time it becomes much easier.