Is it worth it?

Hey all,
First I just wanted to say hey to Alix....lmao....Your "keep up with the pole dancing classes, they are sure to pay off" comment made me laugh. I haven't taken one yet...but you are probably right!

To Everybody else, yes I guess you had to be in the dream...and there with me right after...I think it was all the people in my dream telling me how hard it would be to maintain. I had a comment the other day about my goals that was rather negative..it was in a similar vein, or I don't think it would have connected like that.

Second....I did my workout today and it was awesome.
I burned 670 calories on Arnold, and then did 110 sit-ups and 24 push-ups.

I have realized something that should be obvious...I am not sure a goal weight is optimal when figuring out where to draw the weight loss line.
I think what I may end up doing is getting to 'normal' on the bmi charts (138) and then begin to eat the way I plan to eat the rest of my life and see where the needle lands.

On my weight loss journey, I have had to learn what I can live with, and live without.
I can live without pancakes, potatoes, stuffing, and mac n cheese....

Hands off my coffee or you draw back a bloody nub. That being said...as opposed to one pot of coffee, I have knocked it down to two cups...soon to be just one ( the second cup is never as good).
Lunch? Meh. I can take or leave it...so a smoothie or an apple and some nuts will tide me over till dinner.
Dinner.
It has to be big. It isn't as big as it used to be.
My breakfasts have gotten much bigger.
I swore I would never eat yogurt...
I didn't know there was a yogurt that didn't look and taste like snot.
It's called fage. I eat it with a half cup of sliced peaches and honey.
Other days I eat eggs...whole ones.
I don't separate, eat egg whites.. or suck down egg beaters. I have done all three in the past, and it always felt like I was on a diet...a horrendous feeling I want to avoid at all costs.
I eat two nice, whole eggs with one piece of toast three days a week. If I offend the nutrition Gods so be it.
It's what I can handle...I like mine over easy and I dip my toast in the yolk.
While that may be 'more cholesterol than is allowable'....it can't be anywhere near as bad as the carton of deep fried cheese curds I used to consume two to three times a week.

One of my favorite dinners is tyson breaded chicken breast with packet gravy (20 calories per 1/4 cup) and mushrooms and grilled asparagus.
It usually totals around 600 calories...when I am done, I'm stuffed.
My goal every day is to get in two servings of fruit and three servings of veggies and all the fat and protein I can fit into 1500 calories...which it turns out, isn't much.

I can handle hunger in the afternoons, not at night.
When I am tired, my defenses are lower....also at night, I have nothing to keep me busy. My mind wanders and I want to stuff something in my face, being hungry would make it that much harder.
It helps to know yourself and work with yourself.
Don't try to make yourself something you aren't.

If you like to exercise in the morning, do that. At night, do that (this is me)
Don't try to make yourself exercise in the morning, because it will 'burn more from your fat stores'.
You know why? Because even if you manage to get up and do it....after a week or two, the exercise will become something you dread.
Don't bike if you don't like biking, walk if you don't like walking or run if you don't like running.
Don't eat 1200 calories in the hopes you will look like kate moss.
It isn't sustainable in the long run. And really, do we want to look like an anorexic tomboy?...not really.
I had to ask myself...can I eat like this long term.
I would rather exercise 6 days a week for an hour to an hour and a half then to cut my calories to 1300 for the rest of my life.
I still have some tweaking to do on the food front...a few more favorites to find...but yeah.
I can do this for the rest of my life.

Now for food items I can or can't do without.
Two nights ago, I had a girl scout christmas party and at said party I had
a HALF A CREAM FILLED DONUT...
It clocked in at 150 calories.
Later that night as I was on Christian, It took me 17 minutes to burn off that little piece of donut.
I asked myself...Was it worth it?
No! would be my answer.
Ding* count the ubiquitous donut a remnant of my past.
I am not much for sweets.
If I am going to indulge, it would be tortilla chips and salsa.
Or a spinach enchilada...tacos or pizza.
Take for instance, Papa teddy's pizza.
A personal pizza with sun dried tomatoes and extra cheese and pepperoni baked in a brick oven...ohmagaaaaaaawd is it good!....760 calories.
Worth It?
Worth the pain of 1 hour and 20 minutes on an exercise instrument of torture?
For me, it is.
Once a month, a little papa teddy's joy in my mouth is soooo worth it.

That being said, If I want to incorporate pizza into my weekly intake, I have to watch it a little better than that....so I came up with my super duper medium calorie pizza recipe.
Recipe follows:
one thin crust whole wheat boboli pizza crust (720 calories for the whole crust...120 cal. per serving)
1 package of boboli pizza sauce (100 calories for packet...)
1 1/2 cups lf mozzerella, part skim (240 calories)
Turkey pepperoni 34 pieces (140 calories)
3 slices of ham lunch meat (90 calories)
6 mushrooms Opt. ( 30 cal.)
Any veggies you want.....
Minus veggies it is 220 calories per slice...
I had two slices and a bit more cheese than normal...
My two slices of pizza wound up at 600 calories, because I added some sun dried tomatoes.
I had the extra calories today, because I really watched what i ate early in the day to take dinner into account.
Tasty.
Some of you may wonder if two slices of pizza were worth it...to me, it was.
For you it might be some cheese cake, or a triple whopper with bacon, cheese and mayo. (1250 calories)
It's about calculating what you are willing to expend in exercise vs. what you are wanting to eat.
It's all about balancing calories in vs. calories out.
What kind of body do you want to have.
What kind of life do you want to live.
Is it worth it?
Some people say watching your calories and exercising isn't worth it.
I have tried that, and the price was way too high.
I spent every minute of every day contemplating how fat I was, how hopeless I felt...and how out of control I seemed.

I want to live a long and happy life, be able to enjoy spending time with my family.
Stuffing my face with any and everything I want ISN'T WORTH IT TO ME.
Watching what I eat, enjoying things on occasion and exercising to maintain a healthy weight and a good level of fitness is worth it.
So, what food makes it onto your worth it list?
Your happily fed blogger,
Chris