Los Angelista Holiday Fitness Challenge Day 9: Dealing With Saboteurs

Overheard last night on the streets of Hollywood...

Holiday Fitness Saboteur: I hear you started the Los Angelista Holiday Fitness Challenge. What's the big deal? Everybody gains a few pounds during the holidays. Just work 'em off in January.

Los Angelista: Yeah, I sure did start a challenge. Weighing myself once a week, exercising 30 minutes a day, and writing down what I eat. It's going pretty well. I even lost half a pound even though I've been to four holiday parties in the past week.

HF Saboteur: Half a pound? That's a lot of work for half a pound! And exercising every day? That's crazy! It seems like you'd be just fine if you worked out only two or three times a week.

Los Angelista:
Maybe, but so far this is working for me, so I'm going to stick with it. I don't want to start off a new decade with my pants feeling tight. And besides, even though it's easy for me to gain five to seven pounds, it's a LOT harder to take it off. So I don't want to gain that weight in the first place, you know?

HF Saboteur: Well, it seems like you're gonna be missing out on a lot of fun. I'd rather enjoy my holidays than have to worry about exercising and writing down what I eat. That sounds nuts! Speaking of nuts... I made two dozen triple chocolate macadamia nut brownies, just for you!

OK, they didn't really offer me the brownies. But the rest of the conversation went down like that. Yeah, you may be trying to stay in shape but fitness saboteurs are out there.

Saboteurs are those seemingly well-meaning people who know you're trying to stay in shape but they encourage you to eat the $7 slice of carrot cake cheesecake anyway because, "You should just get it. Carrot cake is your favorite... and you've been working out SO much that you'll burn all those calories off tomorrow!"

Or they say, "Don't buy into that Hollyweird skinny thing. Even if you do gain five pounds over the holidays, you'll still look good."

And my favorite of the week: "Writing down everything you eat sounds obsessive. Like something anorexics do."

Not that people intentionally have it out for me (or you). Sometimes folks genuinely mean well. Then again, sometimes they don't. So how to deal with saboteurs?

1) Remember your goals. Remember that this is about your health and fitness, not anybody else's. Remember you don't want to wake up in January feeling like a blob with tight pants. Remember that there's a reason you decided to embark on this challenge in the first place.

2) Find a buddy to help keep you accountable. I started this challenge because I need a LOT of buddies to keep me on track. I've also been updating almost every day on the Los Angelista Facebook fan page. Surrounding myself with positive people who encourage fitness helps, even if they're only on-line people!

3) Do exercise that you like. If you hate doing the Jillian Michaels DVDs, don't do them! You're more likely to back out of working out if you're choosing exercises that you positively dread. But 30 minutes of exercise that you actually like can fly by! So if you like doing 30 minutes on your Wii Fit, do that. If you like going for walks or runs outside, do that. Dancing in your living room to some Depeche Mode for 30 minutes can count, too. Whatever it is, just move your body!

4) Take one day at a time: So you didn't work out one day... So you didn't write down what you ate. You were scared to step on the scale because you don't want to see what you weigh. No problem, tomorrow's another day. Just because you had a tough day doesn't mean you just give up! Recognize that you're especially vulnerable to saboteurs if you don't feel like you're doing well at something. If you had a hard day, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater just because a saboteur thinks you should. Perseverance, people!

Anyway, on to week two of our fitness challenge! Thanks for keeping me motivated!

Comments

michelle woo said…
This is great. I've been working out every day for the past couple weeks and I'm realizing that if I miss even one day, it throws me way off. I've always hated the treadmill but now I like it because each day, I can push myself to run a minute longer. Keep it up!
Unknown said…
My mom is in town and as much as I didn't feel like going to the gym today the promise of her famous fried chicken and mac 'n cheese got me to the gym and on the treadmill for an hour. Same drill tomorrow (leftovers). Keep up the good work Liz. You'll be laughing at the saboteurs come January.
Jameil said…
ZUMBA!!! Lol. HF is a HATER!! If you want to continually gain weight, fine but why do I have to join you???? That's a hot mess. I got Rashan to join me in the fitness challenge! Yay!!!!
Jen said…
I hate the saboteurs. Any effort to keep from gaining weight means your anorexic. You cannot possibly enjoy the holidays unless you eat too much... So annoying! Thanks for starting the challenge. I haven't been writing everything down but I have been conscious about what I eat. Plus I have exercised at least 30 minutes each day-even if it's just walking. And I weighed myself this morning and I was 0.2 lbs less. Yeah us!
nick said…
Hey, you even managed to work Depeche Mode into a post on fitness. Very ingenious!
Liz Dwyer said…
Michelle,
Yep, I think missing a day might throw me off as well. Plus, I FEEL better when I'm exercising more consistently like this.

Ms. Wooden Shoes,
LOL! Love that the mac 'n cheese/fried chicken combo sent you exercising! I'm doing my best to deal with saboteurs but it's hard! Hope you have fun with your mom! ;)

Jameil,
They don't have it at my gym! I'm so bummed. Plus I postponed my membership for the month of December because I highly doubted I'd step a foot up in there anyway so why pay them??? And I am LOVING that Rashan joined up. Go, Rashan! :)

Tortuga,
Way to go on not putting on any pounds! Isn't it weird how folks will say you're being anorexic if you're trying to stay in shape? I just don't understand it.

Nick,
I try. I really do! ;)
Unknown said…
I luckily haven't run into anyone that is a HFS- yet. I am sure when I get to NY that it will happen. Glad that we are in this together.

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