Archives for March 2012

Bat Wings and Body Issues

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No photos, please!

A couple of weeks ago I bought a cheap pocket video camera. I shot this kind of “funny” video about diagnosing my flabby upper underarms (!) that I posted on my Finnish fitness blog. Big mistake!

Watching the video for a few times forced me to face my body issues – mostly how fat I’ve become. I also have bat wings, double chin, too much facial fat and my teeth could use fixing – and this was only the upper part of my body.

It seems to be okay to gain weight as long as you’re not forced to see yorself in too many photos (or videos) and if you somehow manage to avoid squeezing yourself in a tiny changing room to try on new clothes.

All are activities I’ve mostly managed to avoid lately.

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Well, maybe something good comes out of shooting that video. It might help me muster enough motivation to actually lose the extra weight I’ve gained in the last three years. So far part of me has stubbornly resisted the idea of getting to work. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Psychology

Guilty of Taking Care of Yourself?

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taking care of yourself

Guilty as charged!

Last Sunday I felt guilty of taking care of myself.

When I woke up last Sunday I wasn’t feeling that great. The muscles in my upper neck and shoulders were a bunched-up mess, and I felt worse and worse as hours went by. I finally realized I would get a full-blown migraine attack soon, so I popped a triptan to prevent it.

The medication worked but because I felt a little wonky afterwards (perhaps a side-effect of the medication?), I decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. I spent the rest of the day sitting on a sofa, munching on candy and watching a couple of movie rentals. (What a decadent way to spend  Sunday night!)

There’s nothing special about this story so far, except the fact that I felt guilty of not doing anything  useful with my time. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Psychology Tagged With:

Are You An Emotional Dresser?

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emotional dressingI’m procrastinating on writing the second part to the 2-part post “Two weight loss strategies that guarantee failure”, so I figured I’m going to write something light-hearted in the meantime. 🙂

I want to discuss some interesting stuff I found on the Internet  the other day.

Science Daily reviewed some recent research on a phenomenon I dubbed “emotional dressing”. Psychologist Karen Pine investigated the relationship between women’s emotional state and what clothing they choose to put on in the morning. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Psychology

2 Weight Loss Strategies That Guarantee Failure

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weight loss strategies

Skipping meals is a bad weight loss strategy.

Many popular weight loss strategies practically guarantee you will fail to lose weight in the long run.

The problem is, we often don’t have the faintest idea about the real reason we fail.  We blame lack of self-discipline, sugar addiction or even genes for our lack of success. But often a look at our daily eating habits would be enough to tell the real reason whe fail.

It goes without saying that I’ve tried these weight loss strategies myself more than once. It has taken me thirty years of haphazard attempts at weight management to learn these two simple truths.

#1: Skipping meals

A very popular way to fail at weight loss is going too long between meals, or skipping them entirely. I think this is the most popular weight loss strategy because it’s so easy to implement. Think of the following scenario: It’s noon already and you’re busy finishing a report so you think to yourself:

“Well, I’ll  just skip lunch. I’m so busy I won’t even notice I haven’t eaten. What’s even better, that way I can easily cut some calories. Piece of cake! (sic)”

This strategy always backfires – especially in the long run. Usually it backfires in a few hours. 🙂

Why skipping meals is  such a bad idea: The problem with skipping meals is that you get too hungry to be able to control your eating at all. When you get home, you will scarf down the most calorie-laden  treats you can find in your house. Moderation isn’t possible when you’re starving! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Weight loss

Push Up Challenge and Migraine Stuff

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Pain in the neck

I decided to abort my push up challenge yesterday. Doing push ups stiffens my upper neck muscles which in turn triggers migraine headaches, so I decided it makes no sense to  continue with the challenge.

Also, I visited a headache specialist on Tuesday for the first time.

To decrease inflammation, she put cortisone injections to the muscles that attach to the base my skull . (Yikes!) I also got a prescription  for preventive medication (amitriptylin) to be taken in the night. The nice thing (really a side-effect) about amitriptylin is that it knocks me out in the evening and I’m finally able to get a good nights’ sleep. I also got a prescription for sumatriptan, which I take in case I notice I’m getting a migraine attack.

Now we will wait and see how my migraine corresponds to the medication.

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I’m a bit disappointed I have to give up push up challenge. I could already feel I’m getting stronger in my upper body. However, it doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on military push ups altogether. No, I still have more than 6 years to figure out how to get a really strong body upper body.  🙂

If I can’t take a straight route to my goal, I take circuitous one!

Filed Under: Fitness