PWLP: Week Eleven - Lesson Seven

Personal Evaluation

1. Which aspects of your journey have you found difficult to take "one day at a time"?    Exercise, for one. I haven't been consistent in my efforts to exercise daily, and I tend to think about it in that "all-or-none" mentality. Either I go all the way and do all 30 minutes at the maximum level, or I don't do it at all. Additionally, I've found it hard to take the weight loss itself, one day at a time. I want to lose all of the weight right now - regardless of how I follow the guidelines or don't follow them. I feel frustrated and disappointed in myself when I don't see chages as quickly as I'd like, and I find it hard to visualize this as a daily progression, instead of immediate gratification.

2. How can you set daily goals in the areas you indicated above?    I need to be exercising every day. I have begun to realize that more and more as I progress through PRISM. Any day that I 'take off' or slack off on, I tend to extrapolate to the entire week. I don't handle the inconsistency well, and it becomes difficult for me to stick to. Ideally, I'd like to be doing cardio exercises at least 5 minutes a day, at least 5 days out of the week. I think this is a reasonable goal, and once I start taking it seriously, I can progress my daily goals by resistance or time limit. Additionally, I need to set longer term goals with regards to my weight loss. Ideally, I should be losing 1-2 lbs a week, which means that I should have lost anywhere between 6 and 12 lbs by the end of one 6-week phase. I need to stay off of the scale until the end of the phase, and maintain my healthy lifestyle so as not to disrupt the balance I've created with my diet and exercise. When I weigh-in prematurely, I allow myself wiggle room in my diet and my exercise routines.

3. Have you ever found yourself abusing exercise to justify or compensate for overeating? How will you overcome this tendency as you move forward in your transformation process?    In the past, I have abused exercise as an excuse to overeat or afford myself a "binge day" on the weekend. I've also considered exercise something that will 'buy' me my weight loss. I've never considered it a part of my daily lifestyle and it's caused me much grief and frustration. Currently, I try to make time for exercise, though it's not a natural addition to my life yet. I try to remain under my caloric limit for the day before exercise, so my exercising does not 'make up' for the calories I overate, etc.