Answered ? Motivated for a Healthy Life

Hi friends! I?m answering a couple more questions today, so I?m going to get right to it!!

My body clock is starting to finally adjust to my later shifts. I was up at 7:30 am today. Progress! I had to jet to the gym before work, so I ate a light breakfast while drinking coffee.

Crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam on a small bagel. There is nothing dreamier than melty PB on toast. I think if I?m ever on death row, that will be my last meal.

I was feeling a hardcore full-body workout today, so I opened up my New Rules of Lifting for Women book and did the first one I found!

Warm-up:
10 minutes on the stair machine (not the ?mill? kind, but the death kind)
10 minutes on the rowing machine

A1 ? Wide grip deadlift:
3 sets @ 60 lbs x 8

B1 ? Bulgarian split squat:
3 sets @ 10 lb plate x 8

B2 ? Underhand grip lat pulldown:
3 sets @ 55 lbs x 8

C1 ? Reverse lunge w/ forward reach:
3 sets @ 12.5 lb dumbbells x 8

C2 ? Dumbbell prone Cuban snatch:
3 sets @ 7.5 dumbbells x 8

D1 ? Swiss ball crunch:
3 sets @ 5 kg ball x 15

D2 ? Reverse crunch:
3 sets @ bw x 15

D3 ? Russian twist:
3 sets @ 5 kg ball x 30

E1 ? Plank:
1 set @ 90 sec

Cooldown:
stretching

LOVED doing this workout again!! I worked up a wonderful weightlifting sweat, and had fun doing lower-body moves again (I can?t do them often because of my old-lady hip). However, I switched the lateral flexion with the Russian twists and the prone cobra for the plank solely because I like them better :)

Came home and had a little protein juice before popping in the shower.

PVL peach whey cooler. This wasn?t a whole serving, just wanted to finish of the giant canister I had.

After I was sufficiently clean, I heated up the last of the frozen moo-beef chili remains.

I, ahem, ?beefed? it up a little more with some mixed frozen veggies. This left me SO full! I was barely hungry for my snack when I took my break at work 4 hours later.

Like most things though, the fullness didn?t last. I hit up the grocery store after work for what was supposed to be a quick trip. But it?s snowing (again) and the roads are horrible. Then I ran into a fellow reporter/j-schooler and we gabbed about my career change for a while. Before I knew it I was on my way to the checkout at 6:15 pm and I was starving!!! So I detoured to the prepared food aisle and picked up some sushi which I consumed immediately upon arriving home.

Nothin? special, just a variety pack. I think it was spicy tuna, california and tofu.

With a side of veggies + hummus.

For such a low-key dinner, it was amazingly satisfying!!

Oh, and dessert was a little treat that fell off the shelf and into my grocery cart.

I used to be obsessed with the chocolate covered sunflower seeds my mom used to buy at Costco.

These definitely did not disappoint!!!  Can you tell I?m a sucker for candy coating? :P

That?s actually a perfect photo to lead into my Q&A?s for the day.

chasingthenow Said:

Here?s a question for you: What is your biggest motivation for living a healthy lifestyle? Like, what keeps you from just eating whatever you want and drinking whatever you want and not caring?

Tamzin Said:

I have a question, How do you control your cravings ?

These are kinda similar, so I though I?d answer them together.

First, to answer Maria?s question, my biggest motivator to live a healthy lifestyle is knowing I?ve already done a lifetime?s worth of damage. Most of you know I was a big boozer, smoker, took drugs, ate horribly, and generally just hated myself. I feel really, really bad about doing that for so many years. I see now as my chance to turn things around and make up for all that lost time.

My decision to change my lifestyle did not happen overnight. It was a slow progression that just snowballed over a number of years. To sum it up, I do what I do because I don?t want to hate myself anymore. I don?t want to look in the mirror in disgust, feel embarrassed by the way I act, loathe my body, or think it?s okay to treat myself with disrespect. I did that for many years, and it?s no way to live.

Everything I do ? eating lots of veggies, skipping on the beer, weight lifting, to even smiling at the customers at work. Those are all things I do that make me feel good. And those good feelings are kinda addictive! Now that I know how it feels to accept the way I am, I don?t want to do anything that will make me go back to my old self-destructive ways.

I think this links to how I control cravings too. First, I should say that I don?t ever really experience strong cravings. I constantly eat foods I love so I never feel as if I?m missing out on something.

Sometimes this means ?healthifying? foods, like I did with yesterday?s Subway sandwich. Sometimes, it means having a little bit of the food I want in moderation. Today for example, I was given a free polar bear cookie. I really wanted the damn cookie (cookies are admittedly my worst weakness). But I also know they?re over 400 calories a pop. Knowing the cookie probably wasn?t worth that, I broke off the nose, savoured every nibble, then threw the rest in the trash before I had time to go back. It was good, but not 400 calories good ;)

Sometimes though, you just gotta go all out. There are 365 days in a year. I see no problem with taking a handful of those days and eating everything you crave. For me, it?s always special occasions, like Christmas will be this year!

So with a combination of healthy versions, moderation, and splurging, I really don?t experience intense cravings for any food. I?m an awful ?muncher? though. Walking into the kitchen can turn into a munch-fest for me. It?s something I?m always working on. Some days are better than others. But hey, we all can?t be perfect! :)

And with that I ask you: what?s your biggest motivation for living a healthy lifestyle? Do you have any tricks for controlling cravings?