So, here I am: the middle-aged woman who is going to have to find a new job soon. I've got an updated haircut, and I am working diligently to sharpen my technology skills. Now, according to an article I read in an AARP publication, I need to get fit. Ugh.
I saved this part of the project for last, both in this discussion and in real time, because I expect it to be the most challenging. Best case scenario, I need to lose 30 pounds, but I think 20 would be great. If we move at the end of August, I have just about enough time to lose 20. But I have to get on it now, and stick to a plan! Piece of cake, right? Mmmmmm ... a piece of cake ... that sounds good! Oh, wait--NO cake! See what I mean by "most challenging?"
I understand the logic behind fitness increasing one's chances of getting a job. Or maybe what I truly understand is how lack of fitness could decrease one's chances of getting a job. A fit person looks younger and more energetic than an unfit person, and if you were doing the hiring, wouldn't you want the younger-looking and seemingly more energetic applicant? I sure would. And I have to say for me personally, I just look frumpy. I don't think I look old (though I don't consider 54 old anyway), but I have that middle-age spread, and those chicken arms, and those shoulders that are starting to look rounded. Like I said, frumpy. And clothes can only hide so much, whether it is excess weight or frumpiness.
I have a healthy skepticism when it comes to the latest diet and exercise fads. I still hold the basic belief that it's all about calories in and calories out. Simple. I don't believe in eliminating any particular food in an effort to lose weight. I do, however, agree with the idea that most of us underestimate the amount of food we eat and overestimate the number of calories we burn. I know this from my experience and from the experience of the women I work with who have been trying to lose weight for a year easily. They talk incessantly about what they eat and how much they exercise, yet they never lose weight. Losing weight isn't complicated; it's just difficult.
There are a couple of apps I have on my iPhone that I am going to utilize in my quest to be fitter, both of which I have used in the past. The first is My Fitness Pal (MFP). This can also be accessed online at myfitnesspal.com. It is a place where you can log what you eat and what exercise you do every day. Of course, you start out entering stats like how much you weigh now and what your goal weight is, so the program can tell you how many calories to eat every day to reach your goal. It has other features like blogs, forums, and "friending," none of which I use, but certainly features that others might find useful or enjoyable. The thing I probably like best about MFP is that when you finish logging in every day, you get a message saying, "If every day were like today, you would weigh X number of pounds in 5 weeks." It is motivating to see how much less you could weigh in 5 weeks if you stick to your plan. By the same token, it is downright disturbing to see how much more you could weigh in 5 weeks if you don't get back on track!
Another app I like is call Fooducate. This app can be used to log food and exercise like MFP, but I don't use it for that, mainly because I was already using MFP before I discovered Fooducate. I use Fooducate to get nutritional information about food products. You can search for food items (or scan their bar codes, a feature that is also available on the MFP app) and get a "grade" for that food. This app is especially good for learning things like how much added sugar a product has, or whether or not it has controversial preservatives or artificial colors. You can also ask the app for possible substitutions for a food, so it might help you find a healthier alternative to what you were thinking of eating.
Cutting calories alone isn't likely to be enough to get me to my goal weight, so I need to do some exercise also. I have seen it said many times that the best exercise is the one you will do regularly, and I prescribe to that notion. For me, that exercise is running. I have been a runner a number of times in my life, and now it's time to be one again. I have a program I got from Runner's World magazine that, if followed, will have me running 30 continuous minutes in 10 weeks. I know it works because I've used it several times. So, 10 weeks from now, I should be able to run for 30 straight minutes. Stay tuned ...
In some ways, my quest to lose weight is not really a new trick I'm learning, but rather one I'm re-learning. Regardless, I know I need to do it as part of my job-search preparation. I also need to do it for my health and overall fitness, but that idea better fits in the blog I almost wrote ...
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