I'm not especially motivated by the scale when it comes to fitness and health. My goal is not to lose weight, but to be active and healthy, regardless of what I weigh. Nevertheless, I've been in the habit of getting on the scale once a week, just to keep myself on track.
But lately, it's been making me crazy. I maintained at around 213 through most of my mat leave - sometimes more, sometimes less, but always in that general area. Then last Monday, I was up to 219 for no reason at all that I could think of. I had been making generally the same food choices as always, I wasn't retaining water or getting my period, or anything else. Just, I suddenly weighed six pounds more than I had for the past several months.
I weighed myself again yesterday - 214. All is well. Then today (my quote-unquote "official" weigh in day), I was up to 218. I don't know what you would have to do to gain four pounds in twenty four hours, but I'm quite sure I didn't do it, whatever it was!
Then I went to get dressed, and my pants are too big. Yay! These are pants that I bought to go back to work, so they definitely fit as recently as six weeks ago. And they're definitely too loose today. Which, given all the spinning and yoga I've been doing, makes a whole lot more sense to me than what the scale told me.
So I hid the scale. From now on, no more weighing. I'm going to keep exercising, and keep making healthy food choices, and I'll know I've lost weight when I can fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Language Pet Peeves
I see lots of posts on the internet about people's pet language peeves - about how irritating it is when other people say "irregardless" or "I seen" or "their" when they really mean "there." Not to mention typos - gods in heaven, don't let there be any typos in online conversation!
So let me put it out there - my biggest pet peeve is when people correct other people's use of language.
Sometimes it is necessary. For example, if the person is a student of English, and they have a teacher whose job it is to correct their language. Or if the writing is so garbled that it can't be understood, then obviously they need some help - not for the sake of correctness, but for the sake of clarity.
But otherwise, I don't see any need for it. And not only is it unnecessary, it's also incredibly patronizing and insulting, for a number of reasons.
First, not everybody speaks English as their first language, and it's a difficult language to learn - even native speakers often get tripped up by the examples noted above.
Also, I have a university education, and I read a TON. Not everybody does, and I recognize how privileged I am to have the education, the access to printed materials, and the time to read them. It feels snobbish to me to assume that everyone can or should have the same level of fluency as I do. I happen to be good at language in the same way that other people happen to be good at sports, which I am not. I won't judge you for your language ability, if you don't judge me for my athletic ability, okay?
Finally, I have decided that there are way more important things to worry about. I just don't have the brain space to worry about the difference between "their" and "there" when somebody else is using it. As long as I can understand what they're saying, I'm all good.
Related reading:
Equality 101: Standard English Privilege and Teaching
Feminism is Not a Four Letter Word: Privilege, Education, and Language
Shitty First Drafts: Why I'm Not Proud of You For Correcting Other People's Grammar
So let me put it out there - my biggest pet peeve is when people correct other people's use of language.
Sometimes it is necessary. For example, if the person is a student of English, and they have a teacher whose job it is to correct their language. Or if the writing is so garbled that it can't be understood, then obviously they need some help - not for the sake of correctness, but for the sake of clarity.
But otherwise, I don't see any need for it. And not only is it unnecessary, it's also incredibly patronizing and insulting, for a number of reasons.
First, not everybody speaks English as their first language, and it's a difficult language to learn - even native speakers often get tripped up by the examples noted above.
Also, I have a university education, and I read a TON. Not everybody does, and I recognize how privileged I am to have the education, the access to printed materials, and the time to read them. It feels snobbish to me to assume that everyone can or should have the same level of fluency as I do. I happen to be good at language in the same way that other people happen to be good at sports, which I am not. I won't judge you for your language ability, if you don't judge me for my athletic ability, okay?
Finally, I have decided that there are way more important things to worry about. I just don't have the brain space to worry about the difference between "their" and "there" when somebody else is using it. As long as I can understand what they're saying, I'm all good.
Related reading:
Equality 101: Standard English Privilege and Teaching
Feminism is Not a Four Letter Word: Privilege, Education, and Language
Shitty First Drafts: Why I'm Not Proud of You For Correcting Other People's Grammar
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Better today
I did go to spinning last night. And boy, did I ever need it. As soon as I settled onto the bike, my body went "aha! This is what I've been looking for!" Had a great workout, and left feeling like I have my body back again. It's amazing how little time that takes, to get into the routine of exercise, and to start missing it when it doesn't happen.
Did a light yoga session again this morning, and I'm feeling good. One of the things I'm really enjoying this time around is the feeling that I'm doing it right. Most of the time, I'm a little sore after a workout - not so sore that I can't move, and not actually hurting, but just enough that I know I've moved my muscles, and maybe done something I hadn't done before.
My lungs feel bigger, and my posture feels straighter, and I feel very easy in my body these days. Who knew, those exercise people were right - it does feel good!
Did a light yoga session again this morning, and I'm feeling good. One of the things I'm really enjoying this time around is the feeling that I'm doing it right. Most of the time, I'm a little sore after a workout - not so sore that I can't move, and not actually hurting, but just enough that I know I've moved my muscles, and maybe done something I hadn't done before.
My lungs feel bigger, and my posture feels straighter, and I feel very easy in my body these days. Who knew, those exercise people were right - it does feel good!
Yoga - I'm getting it! Or not.
One thing about the internet, is that there are way too many places to post things. And also, most of them are ephemeral - everything seems to scroll to the latest post, which is also assumed to be the greatest. When something is more than a couple of days old, it's as good as gone. You can't search content on Facebook at all, and there's just so much noise on Twitter that it's difficult to find a specific signal sometimes when you want it.
So one of the things I'm going to do on my blog, is repost some of my thoughts from various other places on the web. There is no method to my madness, other than it's a more permanent - and searchable - place to keep things I want to remember.
So, without further ado...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 11, 2011
Lunchtime yoga, done.
And I had a bit of an epiphany when I was hanging out there in downward dog. I've been doing yoga on and off for years - sometimes more off than on, but I've been pretty regular the last couple of months. And it's like, all of a sudden, I GET it - the connection between the mind and the body, using your breath to modify the poses, the meditative aspect of it all - it all just clicked for me.
Now, I know enough about both yoga and meditation to know that the feeling doesn't usually last, and that I could well be spending the next six months chasing it again. But for right now, today, it's all coming together for me, and it's working.
October 18, 2011
Remember how last week I was all excited that my yoga had "clicked?" And remember how I said I didn't think the feeling would last? I was right. I did NOT have it today. I did the whole class, but it didn't work. The breath didn't work, the poses didn't work, and I couldn't find a stretch, ever. Mostly I just couldn't get out of my head enough to enjoy myself.
But. I DID it. And I'm going to spinning tonight, and I'll do a light yoga session tomorrow morning. I'll get it back, sooner or later.
So one of the things I'm going to do on my blog, is repost some of my thoughts from various other places on the web. There is no method to my madness, other than it's a more permanent - and searchable - place to keep things I want to remember.
So, without further ado...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 11, 2011
Lunchtime yoga, done.
And I had a bit of an epiphany when I was hanging out there in downward dog. I've been doing yoga on and off for years - sometimes more off than on, but I've been pretty regular the last couple of months. And it's like, all of a sudden, I GET it - the connection between the mind and the body, using your breath to modify the poses, the meditative aspect of it all - it all just clicked for me.
Now, I know enough about both yoga and meditation to know that the feeling doesn't usually last, and that I could well be spending the next six months chasing it again. But for right now, today, it's all coming together for me, and it's working.
October 18, 2011
Remember how last week I was all excited that my yoga had "clicked?" And remember how I said I didn't think the feeling would last? I was right. I did NOT have it today. I did the whole class, but it didn't work. The breath didn't work, the poses didn't work, and I couldn't find a stretch, ever. Mostly I just couldn't get out of my head enough to enjoy myself.
But. I DID it. And I'm going to spinning tonight, and I'll do a light yoga session tomorrow morning. I'll get it back, sooner or later.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Mindful eating
As I noted below, I'm not actually trying to lose weight. I'm trying to eat well, and get lots of exercise, and improve my overall health. (But I'm not going to lie, I wouldn't be sad if I dropped a couple of pounds along the way!)
Eating "well", of course, is a very subjective thing. It depends on your lifestyle, how much time you have, how much money you have, your level of interest, and a dozen other things. It varies from person to person, and from day to day within the same person.
That said, here's what "eating well" means to me, most of the time. If I can keep this up say 85% of the time, I should be able to manage the other 15% without worrying about it too much. These guidelines are a combination of WW's Good Health Guidelines and Canada's Food Guide, plus a bit of my own intuition.
One of the cool tips I've learned is that your body will let out a little involuntary sigh when you've had enough to eat. (I actually sigh three times - it's pretty unmistakeable, if I'm paying attention!) So the key there is to a) listen for the sigh, and b) stop eating when you hear it. It takes practice, but it's a really interesting little cue to know what your body is up to.
Eating "well", of course, is a very subjective thing. It depends on your lifestyle, how much time you have, how much money you have, your level of interest, and a dozen other things. It varies from person to person, and from day to day within the same person.
That said, here's what "eating well" means to me, most of the time. If I can keep this up say 85% of the time, I should be able to manage the other 15% without worrying about it too much. These guidelines are a combination of WW's Good Health Guidelines and Canada's Food Guide, plus a bit of my own intuition.
- 5-7 servings fruit and vegetables (this seems to be the hardest one for me - the others come pretty easily most days. I am a work in progress.)
- 6 servings grain products, whole grains as much as possible
- 2 servings dairy
- 2 servings lean protein
- 2 tsp healthy oils (olive, canola, sunflower, safflower, flaxseed)
- 1.5 litres water
- Multivitamin
- Limit sugar and alcohol
- 30-60 minutes of physical activity
While following the above guidelines, I also try to practice mindful eating. This is what it means to me:
- Eat only when actually hungry; stop when satisfied.
- Avoid eating when bored, sad, or just wandering into the kitchen.
- Limit snacking - eat only at planned mealtimes or when actually hungry.
- Try drinking water or a ten-minute distraction if feeling "hungry" at non-meal times.
- Stay off the internet when eating!
One of the cool tips I've learned is that your body will let out a little involuntary sigh when you've had enough to eat. (I actually sigh three times - it's pretty unmistakeable, if I'm paying attention!) So the key there is to a) listen for the sigh, and b) stop eating when you hear it. It takes practice, but it's a really interesting little cue to know what your body is up to.
Getting up and moving
One of the things about making friends on the Weight Watchers message boards is that by default, most of your friends are trying to lose weight at any given time. (Of course, this could also be said of the general population of women, but that's a topic for another post.) And most of the time, I'm happy to just hang out, cheer on their successes, offer support when necessary, all without trying to lose any weight myself.
You see, I also spend a lot of time in the lefty feminist blogosphere, and one of the themes that really speaks to me there is Health At Every Size - the idea that weight does not necessarily correlate to health, and that diet and exercise do not necessarily correlate to weight. That just makes more sense to me than the constant theme of Weight Loss! Weight Loss! Weight Loss! that we hear so many other places. After all, I can control what I eat, and I can control how much exercise I get, but I can't control what my body does in response - especially after having two children, weight loss for me is just not the same as it was seven years ago when I first started WW.
Now, a bunch of my friends are suddenly having all kinds of success, both at WW and in the exercise department. A lot of them are running, and while you couldn't pay me to join them on the trails, there's no reason that I can't be inspired to start up my own exercise routine again. I can't explain it, but I feel like I've suddenly found my mojo - all of a sudden I'm going to spinning class a couple of times a week, and doing yoga, and lifting weights. The scale hasn't moved an ounce in response to all that, and I can't say that my clothes are any looser either, but I'm doing it, and I feel fit and happy and awesome about it.
You see, I also spend a lot of time in the lefty feminist blogosphere, and one of the themes that really speaks to me there is Health At Every Size - the idea that weight does not necessarily correlate to health, and that diet and exercise do not necessarily correlate to weight. That just makes more sense to me than the constant theme of Weight Loss! Weight Loss! Weight Loss! that we hear so many other places. After all, I can control what I eat, and I can control how much exercise I get, but I can't control what my body does in response - especially after having two children, weight loss for me is just not the same as it was seven years ago when I first started WW.
Now, a bunch of my friends are suddenly having all kinds of success, both at WW and in the exercise department. A lot of them are running, and while you couldn't pay me to join them on the trails, there's no reason that I can't be inspired to start up my own exercise routine again. I can't explain it, but I feel like I've suddenly found my mojo - all of a sudden I'm going to spinning class a couple of times a week, and doing yoga, and lifting weights. The scale hasn't moved an ounce in response to all that, and I can't say that my clothes are any looser either, but I'm doing it, and I feel fit and happy and awesome about it.
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