Misconceptions

I'm learning little golden nuggets of information that are helping me along my journey. I had some serious misconceptions (and still do...) about  healthy eating and exercising.

I was on the treadmill the other day and I was trying to get my heart rate up as high as possible. Because of course, that's the best way to get results, right? Again, it's me trying to do 150% for a short burst, and the main thing that I am burning is... burning out. It was explained to me that when doing so, I am burning carbohydrates (energy) first, and then fat. If I don't sustain activity, I will miss the burning fat stage altogether.

Something else that never occurred to me is that you burn the same amount of calories running a mile or walking a mile. WHAT? That is so hard for me get my head around. So better to walk 5 miles, than run 1 and stop.

And if this is my idea of what exercise should feel like, no wonder it is not something I enjoy.

A little bit at a time

I've tried pretty much everything. It began with Weight Watchers and a gym membership when I was 16... up to the crazy hCG fad diet I tried recently. I've gone to a nutritionist, naturopath and a life coach (who Ryan calls "the food shrink"), all to help me with my journey. I've joined gyms, and taken stroller-fit classes and bootcamps. I've tried low carb, no carb... I've even thought about the lap band- a quick fix it seems. All of these (with the exception of the last) were things I tried, for a while, but never kept it up. My weight has continued to climb and climb, and two kids later I am unhealthily obese. It hurts a bit to say it  that way (especially because I'm not sure that's grammatically correct)... but it's good to face the truth.

A friend pointed out the other day that when I try these things I tend to go all out- putting in 150% and then I fizzle out pretty quickly. My goal is to make changes slowly and realistically, so I can achieve and maintain them so they are part of my life.