November 19
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Meg’s “Fatty-Chan Friday”
“Fatty-Chan Friday” Special Edition:
Getting Ready for the Holidays
By: Meg Humphrey
For those of you who don’t know, which is almost everyone, I do installments on my Tumblr* called “Fatty-Chan Friday.” I’ve been struggling with my weight, health, weight loss, and body image since I started college years ago. Long story short, I’ve gone from this:
To this:
And here I have plateaued for the last 4 years. Fatty-Chan Friday updates on my health and weight loss efforts. They are more for me than anyone else; a reminder to myself of what works/doesn’t work and the encouragement to keep going.
We all know that the holidays are the crux of healthy eating and exercise. There are treats everywhere, folks insist that you get seconds and thirds (don’t forget to take some home with you!), and busy schedules make consistent work-outs a pain. The holiday season starts even earlier for me as my birthday is in early October and it turns into three full months of treats and social functions. Dang.
This year, in order to keep myself in check, I decided that there’s really only one thing to do. Challenge terrible holiday habits to Mortal Kombat.
I listen to the Mortal Kombat theme almost every day. It also miraculously more often than not comes up on my jediPod during the last 3-4 minutes of my longer/more intense workouts. Perfect timing. The basic tenets are based around the following:
Test Your Might: The hardest thing ever is to turn down delicious looking food, especially if they are sweets (thank you, Filipino sweet tooth). In the face of never-ending cakes, cookies, breads, gravy, fudges, candies (I could go on) I have to be able to say “no thank you” and move on.
Excellent! (stay positive): I understand that my will power may not hold out sometimes. I also know myself and know that if I NEVER eat ANY treats then I will go on a reckless sugar binge that may or may not involve a whole package of Oreos. When I do have one cookie or a small slice of pie I can’t beat myself up about it and let the food guilt take over. No, that cup of egg nog wasn’t the best thing for me, but it won’t cause a Fatality.
Get Over Here! (to the gym): I’m not one of those people who particularly enjoys exercising. I don’t hate it, but sometimes I feel so busy, stressed out, or tired that it’s extremely easy to make up an excuse to skip. But I can’t! I shouldn’t! Spending 25 minutes walking uphill on a treadmill is way better than sitting on my bum watching Hulu during my lunch hour. Doing 30 minutes on the elliptical, even on an easier setting than usual, will make me feel better about myself. Even taking a walk down to Kinokuniya and back to pick up the latest issue of LOVE SO LIFE is a good 35 minute walk. Something is ALWAYS better than nothing.
Keeping all this in mind, what I’d really like to have in January are reduced measurements, a smaller number on the scale, a clear conscious, higher self-esteem and a flawless victory.
A read that made me smile on my Monday.
I was thinking about abandoning my work-out regimen on my 10-day Thanksgiving vacation, but you’ve inspired me to not. 🙂
With a large family of filipino in-laws, my wife (it’s her side of the family) and I know all about 2ns, 3rds, and “take some home, please!”. Her birthday is also October, and the food festivities continue into January with the oldest niece’s birthday. I feel there are some kindred food spirits going on here.