Giving it another go
So this all started with thanksgiving this year, Canadian thanksgiving (we're talking mid-October). My boyfriend and I made took a time lapse video of us cooking a Julia Child themed supper. Virtually all the recipes came from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, with the exception, of course, of the stuffing and the turkey. French people just don't DO that. The supper was delicious, we and our guests had a great evening. Upon reviewing the video however, I was struck with my own image; "Holy shit! I look like that?"
Mirrors are a funny thing, they show you your reflection from your own point of view. I like how I look and I'm often caught in front of the mirror admiring my body (I know, I am so vain and yes, this song is about me). Seeing it from the aimless abiotic view of the camera however, my body did not look anything like I thought it did. It was weird, and off-putting (depressing, to be honest).
I have oft touted or at least been complemented on my healthy body image. I like many aspects of my body, I like to wear fun colours etc and I don't really give a rats arse if I don't follow the latest trends or have the coolest brand names in clothes. The thing is, when I would see myself in my mind's eye, I was 'seeing' a body that I don't have. It certainly jives with my hatred for clothes shopping. Wherever I go to buy clothes for a special function, I will admit, I'm not dressing for myself as I do on a regular basis, I'm dressing for other people, or at least the expectations that I think they have. Anyway, when I try on THOSE kinds of clothes, they NEVER look good of me. The body I projected that I had would probably have looked good in those clothes, but not my actual body. It's weird, I know.
I've made excuses in the past that have kept me from changing how I look. "Why should I change, I'm fine the way I am." (Ok that's not an excuse, I still feel that way) "Curvy is in, so I'm in." "I'm only a little overweight and psh what does the BMI know anyway?" Etc, etc. The truth is I'm lazy, I don't want to embark on a body-morphing endeavour because I know it's a lot of work.
Presto-chango, I'm doing it. I've opened (again) a myfitnesspal account and I'm actually sticking to it. Either it's less clunky or I'm more motivated, but either way, it's fun and I like measuring things (I am a scientist after all). I have a fitness tracker as well, which gently reminds me to move when I've been sedentary for an hour. It's pretty nice actually. For me, if I've been sitting for an hour somewhere, I've probably been staring at a computer trying to fill it with words, or losing myself down the rabbit hole of scientific databases and a walk to get away from the computer screen would be good for my brain as well as my body.
The underlying premises of both the myfitnesspal and Garmin Connect (the fitness tracker) websites are questionable. They both tout their own view of how many calories and how much activity you need to do in a day. It's a lot of hand waving when I enter calories from the database, but I'm tracking my activity with one source, and that consistency is enough for me. I can see where I go off track and when I stay on.
So there ya go. It's going really well 2 weeks in. I haven't even begun to lose interest (a pitfall of mine) and it's still fun. There is a forum where I share my weigh-ins once a week and now I think there will be this as well. I'm hijacking my never-used blog for weight loss purposes, muahahaha. Hope I don't lose too many followers. Oh wait, I don't have any! Wish me luck!
Mirrors are a funny thing, they show you your reflection from your own point of view. I like how I look and I'm often caught in front of the mirror admiring my body (I know, I am so vain and yes, this song is about me). Seeing it from the aimless abiotic view of the camera however, my body did not look anything like I thought it did. It was weird, and off-putting (depressing, to be honest).
I have oft touted or at least been complemented on my healthy body image. I like many aspects of my body, I like to wear fun colours etc and I don't really give a rats arse if I don't follow the latest trends or have the coolest brand names in clothes. The thing is, when I would see myself in my mind's eye, I was 'seeing' a body that I don't have. It certainly jives with my hatred for clothes shopping. Wherever I go to buy clothes for a special function, I will admit, I'm not dressing for myself as I do on a regular basis, I'm dressing for other people, or at least the expectations that I think they have. Anyway, when I try on THOSE kinds of clothes, they NEVER look good of me. The body I projected that I had would probably have looked good in those clothes, but not my actual body. It's weird, I know.
I've made excuses in the past that have kept me from changing how I look. "Why should I change, I'm fine the way I am." (Ok that's not an excuse, I still feel that way) "Curvy is in, so I'm in." "I'm only a little overweight and psh what does the BMI know anyway?" Etc, etc. The truth is I'm lazy, I don't want to embark on a body-morphing endeavour because I know it's a lot of work.
Presto-chango, I'm doing it. I've opened (again) a myfitnesspal account and I'm actually sticking to it. Either it's less clunky or I'm more motivated, but either way, it's fun and I like measuring things (I am a scientist after all). I have a fitness tracker as well, which gently reminds me to move when I've been sedentary for an hour. It's pretty nice actually. For me, if I've been sitting for an hour somewhere, I've probably been staring at a computer trying to fill it with words, or losing myself down the rabbit hole of scientific databases and a walk to get away from the computer screen would be good for my brain as well as my body.
The underlying premises of both the myfitnesspal and Garmin Connect (the fitness tracker) websites are questionable. They both tout their own view of how many calories and how much activity you need to do in a day. It's a lot of hand waving when I enter calories from the database, but I'm tracking my activity with one source, and that consistency is enough for me. I can see where I go off track and when I stay on.
So there ya go. It's going really well 2 weeks in. I haven't even begun to lose interest (a pitfall of mine) and it's still fun. There is a forum where I share my weigh-ins once a week and now I think there will be this as well. I'm hijacking my never-used blog for weight loss purposes, muahahaha. Hope I don't lose too many followers. Oh wait, I don't have any! Wish me luck!