Been going back to the gym again, after being on haitus since April. I'm a man of routines. Not like obsessive compulsive routines, but moving to the new condo did screw up with my routine. I kept putting off going back to the gym, thinking i'd use the gym in the condo. I didn't. I would get home and then find something to do rather than going to work out in the condo gym. I realized that the only way to motivate myself to working out was that i'd have to stop at the gym on my way home from work. Once I get home - I was done. I had zero motivation to leave and go back to a gym.
Talked to some people who know about working out for some advice. One friend told me that they would do cardio 5 days a week (Monday - Friday), their metabolism shot up, and they were burning calories when they didn't exercise.
I'm trying to find a happy medium. I did for a good year (like 2005) a strict diet & exercise program, but I was miserable. I would look at food packages, avoid sugars (hard to do when you drink alcohol) and really felt like I was developing a minor eating disorder. I would feel "guilty" when eating the wrong foods. Like some slices of pizza or Milano cookies.
I couldn't do that anymore. My life was steamed chicken & brown rice. My personality is one that gets bored easily and if I don't mix up things, like food, I will get bored eating the same thing over and over. I need variety in my diet. I want to eat healthy & allow for that slice of pizza (or three!) from time to time. I figure with going to the gym 5 days a week and doing treadmill/ellipitcal each day it will help get my metabolism up and burning more calories than I consume. I'll let you know the results.
So i'm back to cooking for myself again. Trying to make new, easy dishes that taste good and aren't calorie busting.
Know any good cookbooks? I was thinking about getting The Abs Diet by Men's Health. I have about 8 other cookbooks at home, but some aren't healthy enough for my needs - especially the Italian ones!
You aren't alone. Motivation is the key to all fitness programs. For me after about a month I get bored. I so relate.
At the grocery store, usually near the check out isle, there is a readers digest size magazine called Everyday Foods. I think it has some great recipes, not "diet" foods but most are lo cal.
Okay that's all the advice I have. Good luck.
K
"Cooking Light" 2006 the Year in Recipes has good, easy to prepare and healthy recipes. It is a compilation of the Cooking Light magazine recipes for the year. They are categorized by the month so that helps guide you to cook what is available and in season.