An experiment in experimentation...

If you'll look just a bit to your right on this page you'll see I have a little area marked "Priorities". When I started blogging again back in January, I did an overhaul and added a bunch of new stuff to my page(s). I felt like this little "priority" box would be a great little reminder of the things that should be most important on this weight-loss journey. Earlier this week I updated that little box along with adding my goals for May. I made "Eat Less/Better, Move More" one of my top 3 priorities. It's a simple and smart mantra. I need simple right now.

My number one priority, as you can clearly see, is "Educate Yourself". I'm HUGE on this. I really should go back to school and get my degree in physiology/nutrition, because I love, love, LOVE learning about the effects of diet and exercise on the human body. Lately, however, I think I may be reaching an information overload... and I am becoming addicted to this information. I currently have 3 new books at home about various exercise routines, diets, and nutrition that I am beginning to read. That's not including the 2 magazine subscriptions I have (Fitness and Women's Health), plus all the internet reading I do on the regular (HuffingtonPost Health, Time Health and Science, New York Times Health and Fitness, etc.). Today I stumbled across a new health/fitness magazine that I want to subscribe to: http://experiencelife.com/. I may be out of control. But more importantly, I'm wondering, is this massive amount of information doing me a disservice? I worry if I do too much cardio and not enough strength I will lose weight, but still be uber flabby. I worry if I eat too few calories I'll stunt my metabolism and screw myself - even though a lot of what I've read recently says that "intuitive" eating is best, not scheduled eating.

I got back in the gym Monday night for the first time in too too long - it was awesome! I did some HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and put together a great strength training circuit. I felt amazing. Even today, 3 days later, I am feeling the muscle soreness... which makes me wonder if maybe I'm pushing it too hard too fast. I'm in no way close to the fitness level I was at 14 months ago. I need to go back to "beginner" routines and build some base strength and stamina. I mean, this is why I decided to lay off on the Body Breakthrough routines, right? Because I wasn't at a high enough fitness level! So I need to work on slowing down, taking my time, working on my form with lighter weights, etc. And fighting off the inner-monologue telling me that if I don't push myself to the point of energy I'll "never" lose weight - because that's simply not true.

Ideally, I would like to do a beginner HIIT and strength training routine Mon, Weds, Sat and then regular cardio on Tues and Thurs - rest days being Friday and Sunday. However, if I put my expectations too high then I run the risk of "failing" and then moving into a sneaky hate spiral which will lead to not going to the gym at all. So, I'll go ahead and PLAN to exercise 5 days a week, but if it doesn't happen it won't be the end of the world. And if it happens but I only have time to do something for 15 minutes instead of an hour - that's okay, too. Every little bit counts. It's my new motto, sort of.

So did I tell you that I broke my left baby toe? The same one I broke last year? I can't remember and I'm too lazy right now to go back and look.. but I did. It was about a week ago. Then Saturday night I stubbed the broken toe on my husband's shoes that had been left in the middle of our bedroom floor, which made it all swollen and bruise-y again... then last night... I dropped a dinner plate edge-down on the top of my foot right below my two smallest toes on my left foot. It hurt more than childbirth. I'm not kidding you. It immediately turned dark purple and swelled about 4 times a normal toe/top-of-foot size. I couldn't put any weight on it. I cried for 30 minutes. Some of that was the pain.. but mostly because I had planned to get my ass to the gym last night and do some cardio. I felt so damn sorry for myself. But today, after 3 hours of ice, and nearly 12 hours of elevation, it looks somewhat normal. It's still purple.. actually a little more purple... but the pain has subsided quite a bit, plus the swelling has gone down. There's a huge part of me that is thinking, "Yay! Let's go to the gym tonight!", but I know I need to wait to make sure it doesn't get all swollen and ugly again after walking on it all day today.

I kind of went on a couple tangents there... back to my original point when I started this post: I'm considering experimenting with doing what feels natural. I'm still going to count calories because that definitely helps keep my eating habits in line, but with exercise I'm going to quit OVER-educating myself and just do what feels good, what feels right for me and quit worrying about what 101 "experts" have to say. Just for a little while. I am well versed on the "basics" and even the "not-so-basics", so this should be pretty easy. "Should" being the key word there.