EXERCISE REALITY

So a few days ago I was looking at this app that I was using to track all the long walks I was doing during the summer. I’ve mentioned this a million times already but I used walking as the main activity to lose close to 20 pounds in the last four months. The app on my phone gives you a history of your exercise sessions so you can track how far you’ve gone, how much time you’ve spent, and how many calories you’ve burnt. Before I looked at the entire history, I had this impression that I was doing long walks just about every three days since the end of May. Here’s what the actual history showed:

I was a bit surprised to see that for June and July, I essentially only went on these urban sojourns about once a week. It seemed like a lot more to me. The interesting thing is, I lost most of the 20 pounds or so in the those two months. In August, I ramped up the frequency to almost double, yet that only contributed maybe two pounds or so of weight loss. I can only theorize what happened in June and July which had the greatest weight loss. I didn’t realize how much diet factored into losing the weight. Immediately after I stopped working at PopCap, I started eating better and actually less. This is something that I noticed a few weeks ago. While I was on my time off, I did not feel the desire to eat as much food as when I was unemployed. While working, I’d have this strong hunger when I got to work, even if I had some breakfast before leaving home. I’d then have this need for a big lunch in the afternoon. Finally, around quitting time, I’d get famished again and feel the need to have a big dinner. During the summer, I’d wake up after a good night of sleep, and have a very light breakfast/lunch, not feeling the need to eat a heavy meal. I’d then go hours before feeling the need to eat again. At dinner time, I’d feel hungry but not ravenous as before. I’d attribute this to probably getting enough sleep. When I’m working, I usually don’t get enough rest each night. Studies have shown this can cause increased appetite.

Now that I’m working again, I’m determined to break some of the bad habits I’ve had before and remain trim and fit. It’s hasn’t been easy thus far though. It’s been two days and I already feel very tired. I also felt very hungry throughout the work day. I’m hoping I’ll adjust to the changes. I know now it’s all about rest, diet, and exercise, it’s all three and not just one.