Sometimes we focus so much on the number on the scale that we lose sight of the big picture: getting healthy.

Getting healthy is so much more than just shedding pounds. You can be stick thin and not be healthy at all. And I’ll be the first to say that lately, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to remember that my quest for health is so much more than seeing my weight drop on the scale.

My mental and physical improvements should NOT, and CANNOT be measured by a scale alone. At the beginning of January, when I made my little come back, I could not, for the life of me, run a mile without taking walk breaks.

Well today I ran an 11:44 mile. Ok, yeah, compared to 2010 that’s slow because I was cranking out an 8:21 mile but if I temporarily remove my setback and measure my week to week progress, an 11:44 mile is awesome.

Over the past two weeks, I have been training consistently, running two 5Ks, both without any walking breaks. The first 5K last week took me 42:03. This week, I busted out a 40:53.

At the beginning of January, I could only bench 3 sets of the bar. Yesterday, I benched 2 sets of the bar and 2 sets at 55 pounds. The goal this year is to bench 95 pounds. I might not be able to see the physical changes right away, but I can feel it.

And, truthfully, I haven’t been weighing myself. I’ve realized that sometimes, too much of the scale actually has a negative impact on me because I forget my main purpose: to become healthy.

It isn’t about the number on the scale. It’s about how I feel. And I actually feel stronger. I know my skin is clearing up, I have more energy, and there are so many physically fit goals I’m working towards (more on those later).

Maybe I’ll weigh myself this week, as a way to measure more of my progress, but for now, I’m loving my NSVs.

What are your NSVs for the month of January?

Photo courtesy of Madeintaiwan73

Related posts:

1. Experimenting with Scale Purgatory
2. Biggest Loser #1
3. Weigh-in #16

After last week’s poor eating, my mind was only filled with negative thoughts. And all I could do was compare myself to my previous self. Sounds weird, right?

You know how other people compare themselves with others? Well, I guess I do that too, but I just couldn’t stop thinking of where I am now compared with where I was January of 2011. I was at the lowest weight I’ve ever been. Training hard, lifting heavy, being bad ass.

And now? Man. I can’t even run a 12-minute mile.

It’s hard to think of the “what was” and move on because in my head, I just think of how big of a failure I am.

Why did I ever let myself go? How did I get here?

And then it dawned on me that my mind just wasn’t in the right place. I had a lot of issues going on, a lot of unexpected disasters, and yes, a shit ton of excuses.

The worst thing I can do is look at the past and focus on the “what could have been” because you can never change the past. I can only take control of the present.

So the one thing I keep telling myself is to take everything one day at a time.

Instead of beating myself up each time I “fail,” I give myself a mental pat on the back for each victory I accomplish. Ok, so my accomplishment is nothing compared to where I was a year ago, but hey, compared to where I was a week ago, it’s a huge step!

I think it’s important to focus on weight loss, marathon training, healthy eating, healthy body image one day at a time because every day IS a battle. If we focus on the war, we just get overwhelmed which makes it easier to just call it quits.

My mantra for the rest of the month: One day at a time, one step at a time.

And my little win for the day? I ran, without walking, a full 5K distance. Took me 42 minutes at a pace of 13:35 a mile, but the important thing is that I did it.

I have to remember that I have to train myself to get better, which will take time, but that’s ok.

I can do this.

What’s your win for the day/week/month?

Related posts:

1. One Solid Step at a Time
2. Making Time For What’s Important
3. It’s TOURNAMENT Time!

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned in the past month, it’s that people make time for things that are important to them, be it people, hobbies, exercise, training.

If you care about something enough, you will go to hell and back to make time for it.

Everything else is just an excuse.

Comparing myself now to myself last semester, I realized that every time I used “studying” as a reason, I was just trying to find an excuse not to go to the gym.

Was I really that busy studying? No.

Was I really catching up with reading and work? No.

Most of the time, I would be wasting time on Gmail Chat, Facebook, streaming TV shows or football games. I was neither being productive with school nor with my body and mind.

I just didn’t care enough. I let my physical and mental health slide because I somehow concluded that law school took up 100% of my time. But truthfully, I just had horrible time management.

I am not a morning person, so I chose the section that has afternoon and evening classes, which means sometimes, I have 8 hour days with classes letting out at 8pm.

Last semester, I would go home after class, sit in front of the TV, and binge for at least half an hour.

This semester? I hit the gym hard for at least an hour and a half after class. What else would I be doing with my time? NOTHING.

Law school isn’t about the quantity of studying as much as it is about the quality of the studying. Yes, I study more than I did in undergraduate, but it does not require 24 hours of my day, 7 days a week. Besides, devoting that much of my time to anything is unhealthy.

So the lesson I’ve taken away from managing training and exercise time with law school is that: People make time for things they care a lot about.

It doesn’t matter how “busy” I get, it doesn’t matter how heavy my reading load is, it doesn’t matter how many motions or briefs or mock trials I have to do, if I care enough about my training and my body, I’ll get everything done.

I’m still learning about how to be the most efficient with my time, but I’ve now learned to allocate my time more wisely. Instead of wasting it away on things like online shopping and Hulu, I now “waste” it at the gym.

The gym makes me happier. It makes me sleep better. It makes me choose healthier foods. Most importantly, it makes me feel as if I have self-worth.

Regardless of what grades I may have, regardless of what internships I may land, regardless of what my professors and peers may think of me, I believe in myself because I prove to myself each and every day that I am stronger, faster, better.

It’s hard to feel worthy and smart in a high-ranked law school because everyone is intelligent and hard-working. It’s hard to stay on top of all the work you have to do. It’s hard to find a summer internship. But somehow, by running longer and faster, by squatting more and lifting heavier every day, I know that I will be able to handle all the curve balls that come my way.

I’m making time for what’s important: me.

What’s important to you?

Related posts:

1. Stressed Out
2. DNS
3. My First Law School Exam

I was contacted by 4all to try out to be a brand ambassador. I was encouraged to write a post about…

As I was running tonight on the treadmill, my mind kept coming back to the question of who or what inspired me.

To be honest, my first motivation is vanity. When I weighed 263 pounds, the first thing that motivated me to move more, eat healthier, was because I wanted to be thin. I wanted to buy cute clothes. I wanted to look good. I had the brains, I wanted the bod.

But as time passed, I realized that vanity is not enough. The pounds may shed quickly in the beginning, but the quest for health is a process that spans over a lifetime. When you focus on looking good, well, that “inspiration” fades quickly.

My real inspiration comes from my parents.

At my heaviest, I was always quarreling with my mom about my weight. Always. It seemed like the only thing she could do was pick on me about how fat I was. Even though I was huge, my mom had a way of making me feel small and inferior based on my appearance.

It took me a long time to understand that my mom wasn’t concerned about my appearance so much as she was concerned about my health. She wanted me to be healthy, not thin. She could care less what I weighed, but she didn’t want me to get type II diabetes. She didn’t want me to die from a heart attack at an early age. She wanted me to live long so I could accomplish great things.

As I’ve become more fit, as I’ve continued on my quest for health, I can see the brightness and joy in my parents’ eyes. They’re proud of me for all that I have accomplished, not just academically, but also physically and mentally. Seeing my parents genuinely beam with pride is priceless. They don’t boast about my weight loss. Rather, they’re proud that I have learned to set and achieve my goals. They’re happy that I no longer have sleep apnea. They’re in awe that I ran a half marathon.

And knowing that they want the best for me, that they want to see me healthy and fit, that they want to see me hit new milestones in life, motivates and inspires me to train every day.

As an only child, I have a lot of pressure to perform well, and knowing that my weight and health no longer trouble my parents at night, knowing that my mom doesn’t have to fret about my fitness, gives me a sense of peace and satisfaction.

What started out as a plain old quest for beauty turned into a journey towards health with a focus on family. I feel as if I can connect with my parents more now. I can communicate with them and I know when to stick up for myself.

I am gaining power in 2011 by learning how to budget my time better. It sounds so simple, but it isn’t. People make time for things that are important to them, no matter how busy they claim to be.

Do I want to skip the gym after a long day of class? Yes, sometimes, but I keep in mind the sense of accomplishment I feel after a great workout.

I finally ran my first 5K in 2011, which is also my first 5K in a few months. It felt good. I felt strong. And that is something money can’t buy.

I am planning to gain power by running a marathon sometime in 2011. And hopefully a triathlon. This all takes time, but with a training schedule, determination and diligence, I can do it.

I will gain power in 2011 by not succumbing to that nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me to give up. I will not find excuses to skip the gym. I will not use excuses to eat like crap. Because I’ve got big things to strive for, big milestones to accomplish.

 
What inspires you to move?

How will you achieve these goals?

Related posts:

1. Some Things Can Wait
2. The Little Bag That Could
3. Quashing My Food Goblin

When I was little, my mom always told me that in order to succeed in life, you’ve got to take one solid step at a time.

Translated literally from Chinese to English, this means: one step, one footprint.

Chinese proverbs never seem to fail. In order to get anywhere, especially to establish a solid foundation, you’ve got to take one step at a time.

If you leap too far ahead, you’re likely to trip, fall and injure yourself.

Sometimes, I really should listen to my mother.

Applying this one solid step at a time mentality to running, I’ve realized that the way I got to running from nothing to a half marathon last year was because I was dedicated and trained myself every single day. I was always in training mode. I listened to my body, I built up a solid foundation of miles, and I pushed myself.

I didn’t try to go from no miles to ten miles in one day. I took it one step at a time, one mile at a time. And it worked.

I am ditching the mentality that I’ve regressed and just focusing on starting with a clean slate.

So I might not be able to run a sub-10 minute mile right now, but that’s ok. I will get there eventually.

If I stick with it, I will continue to improve.

I’ve been running at least a mile consistently almost every single day, and it’s gotten easier.

I did sprint intervals yesterday and was able to sprint at a 6.5mph pace for a quarter mile. And I wasn’t out of breath or in pain.

Sometimes, I just have to give myself time.

Each step I take has to be solid because I need to build a foundation so I can continue to add miles. Instead of focusing on the 13.1 or 26.2 miles ahead in the future, I’m focusing on what I can do today that will impact and improve my running.

Trying to skip ahead, trying to run too much too quickly, will only lead to injury. And I don’t need that.

What I do need is…

Consistency.
Dedication.
Focus.

And so far, it’s working out well. I’ve set small goals for myself, and even though I’m a bit behind my training schedule, I’ve made a ton of progress in just a few short weeks. It feels good to be able to run again.

I have yet to run a full 5K, but I know that I will be at that point soon enough.

One solid step at a time.

What proverbial genius have your parents bestowed upon you?

How do you go about focusing on taking one step at a time?

Related posts:

1. Lessons Learned From Running
2. Reward #1: Race for the Pedicure
3. Running From Scratch

Two weeks ago, I could not stop stuffing my face.

It was as if my hunger was insatiable. I never felt satisfied. Yes, the food tasted delicious, but my brain never reached a level of true enjoyment.

I don’t know why I kept eating and eating.

Maybe it’s because I wanted to feel content. Happy. Fulfilled.

I’m pretty sure I convinced myself that if I was stuffed to the brim, I would feel as if I was on top of the world.

I didn’t listen to my body or give it what it actually needed. Simply put, I was a glutton.

But since I set my 2011 goals, I haven’t had to deal with binges.

Having goals and actually working towards them helps me in making better decisions.

Does that box of chocolate look tempting? It sure does, but it won’t help me run faster. It won’t help me build muscle. It won’t help me to do push-ups.

I’ve been cooking at home more. I’ve been consciously thinking about my food. I’ve been bringing my Little Bag That Could to class almost every day.

I’ve found time to go to the gym. I’ve made exercise and training a priority. I’ve created time for myself.

And by being active, by persistently working towards my goals, I’ve somehow managed to curb my hunger.

I haven’t felt the need to shovel food into my mouth. I haven’t felt any cravings. I haven’t found food irresistible.

Is it the endorphins from exercise?
I don’t know for sure, but I’ll bet that there’s a strong correlation.

Is it the better choice of foods?
Most likely. I’m eating more protein, tons of vegetables, and not over-indulging.

It’s funny how much easier it is to find balance when you’re happy with yourself.

I’m learning to drop the past two months. No, not forget it, but I won’t beat myself up any more.

I am making progress, however slow it might seem at the moment. I’m trying my best. I’m finding time for me.

I’ve realized that this “hunger”, this urge to binge, usually occurs when I don’t make time for myself, when I just succumb to pressure and stress instead of doing something about it and finding an outlet.

Instead of using food as my outlet, I’m channeling my anger, frustrations, and stress into kicking ass at the gym.

 
But, I’ve been wondering…

When I slack off on exercising, when I ditch my training goals, I feel as if I’m always hungry, as if I could eat everything in sight.

But when I establish a workout routine and plan my training schedule, that insatiable feeling of hunger disappears. I’m no longer thinking about food constantly. I’m no longer planning what I want to eat next. I’m no longer craving fried foods, cookies or ice cream.

Does exercise help to restore a sense of physical and mental balance?

What are your thoughts on this?

How do you curb your insatiable hunger?

Related posts:

1. Quashing My Food Goblin
2. Exercise vs. Training
3. The Self-Sabotaging Occurrence

I’m in the process of transforming the gym and my training into a routine, a habit.

When I didn’t have other things to consider, I could workout, run, and lift whenever I wanted. I could spend time cooking, plating, and taking pictures of my food. Trust me, I miss the luxury time I had to devote 150% of my time to myself.

But people who want something badly enough make time for it.

I remember that in November, when it started getting colder and turned the days grew shorter and night came at 6pm, that I increasingly found myself unmotivated to go to the gym after class. I convinced myself that I had nothing left to give at the end of the day.

I was dead tired. I was exhausted. I was done.

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.

Instead of going to the gym after class, I would go home, curl up in my bed, and watch TV. I would find reasons not to be productive because I convinced myself that an entire day devoted to class and studying was enough for me.

But it is not.

The thing is, the school gym is less than a 5-minute walk from my apartment. I even have to walk past it on my way home. There is no reason in the world preventing me from going except for myself.

I would tell myself that I would just go home, drop off my stuff, change and then go back to the gym. But the second I stepped inside my warm, cozy apartment and snuggled under the covers, I had admitted defeat. To myself.

And the more I stayed away from the gym, the less I cared about my body, the less I focused on my health, the less I valued healthy living. And the more I wanted to binge. The more I wanted to stuff my face. The more I wanted to just laze around and be inactive.

I finally realized, looking back at my blog posts, that as my focus turned away from myself and my health, the less I wanted to blog.

Maybe it’s because I felt like I had nothing relevant to say.

But more than likely, it’s because I felt embarrassed. That I was falling down into a deep trap. How could I be a health blogger when I wasn’t exemplifying the messages that I promote?!

But I’m slowly overcoming that.

Sometimes, you just have to admit that you failed. Not a permanent fail. But a temporary one.

You have to admit that you failed in order to move forward and move on.

My new plan of overcoming myself and my excuses is by bringing my gym bag to class.

The Little Bag That Could. (LBTC from here on out).

I throw my gym clothes, my Vibrams, my extra pair of shoes in case I want to lift (a complicated battle with the gym), and I bring my LBTC to class.

So what if it’s something extra that I have to carry. So what if it weighs an extra few pounds. So what if I have to lug it around in between all of my classes.

Having my LBTC around means that I can’t find excuses for myself. I am prepared. I am ready. I have everything that I need.

I can’t talk myself out of going, especially after an entire day of carrying around LBTC. And it’s so convenient to have all my stuff with me since I pass by the gym on the way home.

My Little Bag That Could made me realize that things that are worth trying for are usually never convenient. Exercising takes time out of your day. Cooking is definitely time- and energy-consuming. Trying to live healthily does not come easily.

It requires hard work. Dedication. Perseverance.

But the Little Bag That Could will keep going forward until she gets there.

Do you ever talk yourself out of doing something you should do?

And, how much does The Little Engine That Could rock?

 
Photo credit: Jamison Wieser

Related posts:

1. Just Do It
2. The Case of the Sweat Pants
3. My Inspiration

What does healthy mean to me?

I’ve been toying with this thought for some time. Because many of my friends know that I am a health blogger, I get plenty of questions regarding what to eat, what not to eat, how to exercise, when and what to exercise, the whole shabang.

For me, there is only one word that comes to mind when I think of being healthy: balance.

Personally, I couldn’t go for the rest of my life without eating pasta or noodles. I couldn’t go for the rest of my life without fried foods. I love to eat.

In the past, I was so focused on weight and the number that I would restrict myself to only “healthy” foods. Plenty of vegetables, lean meats, low-fat.

That was never sustainable.

I would go through cycles of eating “bad” foods, then feel guilty, then repeat.

I might have been eating “healthy” foods but my mind wasn’t healthy. My goals were very short-termed, I was never training for anything, and it was always about the number.

It’s taken me a long time to realize that the number on the scale does not define your health. Yes, it may be an indicator of how healthy you are, but it is not the only measure.

Our society puts so much emphasis on weight, so much judgment against bigger women and so much praise for smaller women, that most of us (men and women alike) forget that the primary focus should be on health.

There are plenty of thin women out there that are not healthy and can not run a mile. They do not eat a well-balanced diet.

They do not have a positive image of themselves.

For me, healthy means to love yourself, no matter what weight you’re at. Appreciate your body for what it can do. Appreciate yourself for what you can do.

I might have super ginormous calves for a girl, but I’ve come to accept them. They are powerful. They help me run. They help me deadlift. They’ve walked hundreds and hundreds of miles in Southeast Asia. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

It’s taken me a long time to look in the mirror and smile at my body.

Are there things that I would like to change?

Of course. I’m not where I’d like to be yet, but I’ve realized that healthy also means that I will always be a work in progress.

You have to fight for your health. It’s a constant, daily effort. But once I’ve stopped thinking about my weight as the ultimate measure, it’s become easier to improve my health.

My goals have become less scale-oriented and more running, weight lifting, exercise-oriented.

Healthy means to not punish yourself and allow yourself to enjoy life. If I eat a slice of pizza, I am not going to the gym for an extra hour. I’m simply going to savor every bite of that pizza and realize that one piece is not going to kill me or destroy my efforts.

I rarely write about what foods to stay away from, because I feel as if most people start obsessing about them. High fructose corn syrup is not good for you, but neither is too many bananas.

I like walking down the middle road. I like finding balance.

This is what works for me. This is what makes me happy. This is how I view healthy. And when it becomes a life of balance, the road ahead doesn’t seem so long any more.

What does healthy mean to you?

Related posts:

1. Day 107: Think Healthy, Not Thin
2. A Healthy Dad Guest Post: Losing is the Easy Part
3. Calorie Counting: A Solution?

Without even trying, (at least it doesn’t feel like trying) I have been maintaining a weight of 173 for about the last month and a half.

I have not been calorie counting.
I have not been meal planning.
I have not been meticulous about my diet.

But I have been able to maintain!

For once in my life, my weight has not been yo-yoing. There are the daily fluctuations, and even the monthly ones, but in general, I have kept at a steady weight.

How have I managed this?

I think it’s because I’ve finally realized that I’m not on a “diet”. I’ve finally come to terms with this being a life-long change, a process that will be ongoing, forever.

What was not habitual, things like working out, running, drinking water, eating vegetables have become second nature.

I don’t think about going to the gym any more.
I just do it.

I don’t think about guzzling water like a fish.
I just do it.

There are definitely days where my inner food goblin takes over and all I want to do is binge, binge, binge but I realize that one rough day is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

I believe that when you change your mindset, when you change the primary focus from being about weight loss to being about health, that things will start falling into place. My experiment with scale purgatory has helped me focus less on the number. I’ve been judging myself based on how well my clothes fit, on how much energy I have, on how happy I am with myself.

Being healthy and happy is something money can’t buy.

I know that I am not at my ideal weight right now, and I’m fine with that. The fact that I have been maintaining amazes me more than how much weight I’ve lost.

Even though I’ve lost 50 pounds since February, I feel much more accomplished from keeping those pounds off than I do from losing them.

Do I still want to shed some pounds? Sure.
But am I upset that I’m not losing every week, or even every month? Not at all.

What are your tips for maintaining?

What healthy habits have become second nature to you?

Related posts:

1. A Life Worth Fighting For
2. A Merry Life
3. Weigh-in #18: A New Decade

Aside from the obvious fact that weight gain and obesity results from a horrible diet, I realized recently that other aspects of my body reflect my food intake as well.

Prepare yourself and don’t be too disgusted, but I was enlightened and amused by my discoveries so I thought I’d share.

 

1. My skin becomes a barren wasteland.

When I consume high amounts of extremely processed foods (potato chips, Jumbo Slice, burgers, you get the picture) my skin becomes a wreck.

I break out and get a ton of zits on my face. Gross, right?

On the other hand, when I eat a well-balanced diet, filled with vegetables and healthy fats, my skin is silky smooth and delicate.

My skin completely reflects the quality of food I’ve eaten. When I eat like crap, my skin becomes like crap. It becomes overly greasy and rough to the touch. Disgusting, I know.

It didn’t occur to me that when I consume high quantities of unhealthy foods, not only do I gain weight, I also end up having horrid skin. The second I quash my inner food goblin, my skin reverts back to its healthy state.

Who knew a healthy body and diet equals healthy skin.

 
2. I start looking like a Head and Shoulders commercial.

Bad foods equals dry scalp. Dry scalp leads to ridiculous amounts of dandruff. I’m not quite sure how or why this occurs, but it does.

No matter how intricately and thoroughly I wash my hair, you can’t outwash a bad diet.

The situation becomes unmanageable when I consume high amounts of sodium, probably because I end up dehydrating my body even though my water intake is still the same.

Not only do I gain weight, my hair turns into a disaster zone, looking similar to that of a lice-infested preschooler.

 
3. I snore and the earth shakes.

At my heaviest weight, I used to snore like nobody’s business. A loud, 90-year-old man snore. My mom and grandmother both snore, so I thought it was hereditary.

Wrong.

It was because of my weight, which was related to the foods I ate. It was so loud that my college roommate couldn’t sleep sometimes. Embarrassing, I know.

But as I’ve lost weight by altering my diet, my snoring has completely disappeared. I sleep like a silent, ninja panda now: quiet, stealthy, deadly.

It’s amazing that a long-term change in food consumption can even alter the way I sleep. What I thought was hereditary was actually my body telling me to stop eating a ton of crap.

 
4. My bling doesn’t fit.

One of the most revealing signs of water retention and bloating, results of high sodium consumption and too much processed carbs, is that my rings stop fitting.

I have one ring that I often wear on my pointer finger. Whenever I decide to sabotage myself, the ring becomes a good indicator that it’s time to restore some balance into my life.

It will only fit when I stop retaining a ton of water, which only occurs when I resume a healthy, well-balanced diet.

This by no means is a conclusive list of how my body is affected by the foods I eat. Essential vitamins and minerals are present in vegetables and unprocessed foods that you just can’t get from a bottle of soda, a bag of Cheetos, or a deep-fried Twinkie.

However, this is NOT to say that one slice of Dominos pizza will ruin you forever. That’s simply not true either. I’ve realized that my body doesn’t magically transform overnight. These disastrous results only occur when I decide to have a bingefest for a few days. They only happen when I disregard my health and start stuffing my face for an extended period of time.

I’ve realized that bodily changes take time. Whether it transforms for the worse or the better, only one thing is certain: it’s a slow, long-term process.

As long as you pick yourself up when you slip and fall, you will always be able to achieve a body that reflects your healthy habits.

How has your body reflected your food intake?

Am I the only one that gets horrible dandruff?

Related posts:

1. What Healthy Means to Me
2. Good vs. Bad Foods
3. For Once in my Life, I’ve Maintained!