Emotional Eating

If there is one thing I need to learn from all this, it’s how to stop emotional eating. Last week was a rough week in that regard.

  

As some of you who follow me know, I was laid off in March due to a company closure. Now, I really hated my job (I had been in the industry way too long and I was burnt out) so the first two weeks of my lay off were nice. I got stuff done AND I finally started my weight loss journey.  I joined a gym and started this blog.  It’s almost 6 months into this layoff now and I’m starting to get really bored and a bit frustrated. To make matters worse I took this opportunity to try and make a career change, so the job hunting has been rough.

The week before last I had a job interview that if I landed it, would have allowed me to move back home to RI (to be with family) and start a great job in the industry I wanted. I was really looking forward to getting that job so my hopes were a bit too high. Last Tuesday I got the call and I didn’t get picked for the job. They decided to give it to someone who had been previously laid off from the position; I guess I can’t blame them for going with that option.  I know I could get a job back in the industry I was in before, but I was extremely unhappy and grumpy most of time. Do I really want to go back to that?

That day started the plunge. I was 1.2 pounds away from hitting my first goal of being less than 300lbs, and that phone call shot it all to hell. Well…to be honest, I shot it all to hell. I went on a huge emotional eating binge. Not as big as it could have been but a binge none the less. I stopped counting calories, I only went to the gym twice (once being the day before I got the bad news), I didn’t blog and I started eating at night again.  All because I was frustrated and just stopped caring. I tried stopping myself a few times, saying to myself come on make better choices, but in the end I just didn’t care. I was mad, depressed and overwhelmed. By the end of the week I was feeling better but I also gained 3 pounds. Last week I should have hit my goal of 299lbs, but instead I was staring at 304 again.

This week I am back on track. Eating better, hitting the gym hard and overall feeling better. That does not however make up for the fact that I let a depressing situation get to me like that. There are going to be many more times in my life where I will be upset, not feeling up to par, or where something doesn’t go my way. So how do I train myself to not overeat emotionally?

Food plays a major part in your life especially when you are overweight. We use food as a reward, we use it as comfort, we use it to entice. We pretty much use food as way to express or suppress all of our emotions. So how do we stop?

What are some ways that you have coped with emotional eating?

By the end of this week I hope to hit my goal. Then after that I can lay off the scale again for a while until I feel I am close to my next goal of 270lbs. I know the weight will come off slower due to weight training but I shouldn't be putting the pounds on anymore.

Cat names

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OK, need your help. We are getting a new kitten. I have been charged with coming up with the name. My first choice was Focker, but my girlfriend said it had to be more feminine.

So here are a list of names that are a possibility right now. Also if you have any other good names, let me know. I think by the list you will see where I am going. Geeky, tech, cool. Also for description,she is a black and tan torti.

Shenanigans
Guinness
Widget
Bios
DOS
Linux
Jazz
Helix
Tesla
CAT5
Cursor
Sega
Twitter
Pixel
Fraggle

So come on, vote, tell me your own suggestions. Polls are open! :p

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HIIT and 5k Worries

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Forgive me bloggers for I have sinned. It has been 19 days since my last blog post.

I have to tell ya's. I don't know how you all do it. Most of you blog everyday and a very good portion of the time it's very interesting stuff. I on the other hand, can't seem to come up with read worthy stuff on a consistent basis (at least about health/weight loss). I think I have pigeon holed myself into this health blog category. I have a bunch on my mind as of late, but only a little portion of it has to do with me going to the gym or eating this and not eating that. I think I may need to start another blog to release some of the pressure on my brain.

Anyway...back to this health stuff. I have added some HIIT (high Intensity Interval Training) to my workouts and so far I think I like it. Don't get me wrong, it kicks my ass in a major way, but I feel really good after it. I do it on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's after my weight routine and it looks like this:

Warmup = 5 mins (getting heart rate to about 60%-70% max BPM)
Sprint for 30 seconds
Rest for 1 min (by rest I mean slow jog or fast walk)
Repeat this cycle for 8 intervals.
(Right now I have my sprinting up to 8mph and my rest at 3mph. Not bad for a fat guy I think :p)

Now, I could not do 8 intervals right from the start. In fact, I still can't but I am working my way up. I started at 4 intervals and now I am at 6. The goal here is to get your heart rate as close to max as possible. The first sprint, will be easy as your heart is just warming up. By sprint 4 it really starts to hit you. So by the time you are at sprints 5-8 your heart rate is not dropping as fast during your rests and it tends to stay way up into cardio level.

It's called Peak 8 training and you can get more info here from Dr. Mercola.

Peak 8 Training

There are also a lot of other HIIT programs out there and they all follow the same principal. Keep your heart rate high for a specific period of time. Keep in mind though to work up to the high levels. Seriously...this stuff kicks your ass in a very short period of time.

So, now on to this 5k stuff. I am not sure I'm progressing as planned. As a big guy this running long distance stuff is really giving my legs a pounding. I am not giving up on my training by any means, I will complete this 5k. I just don't think I am going to finish in my goal time of 40 minutes. I realize walking will be involved in this, but I really didn't want to do too much of it. As it looks right now though, I think walking might be the large majority. I can usually keep a good pace at 5mph-5.5mph but for only about 2 to 3 minutes. By that time my legs are killing me. My calves feel tight and my quads start to burn a bit. After that, it takes me about 5 minutes or so for my legs to stop hurting and then I can muster up some jogging for about a min or 2 before my legs start hurting again. My legs feel much better when I run at faster speeds (longer strides I think help) but my stamina keeps me from doing that for any long period of time.

So far my fastest 5k is 49:20

I'm not sure I will be running anymore 5k's after this one. I really just wanted one under my belt to say I did it. I do however think I will stick to some sort of sprinting routine. There's something about it that makes me feel really good after doing it that i just don't get from trying the long distance thing. I'm also going to take up biking as well (just bought one off a friend) and when I lose weight I will start swimming again.I just don't think long distance running is in my blood.

 Here is the bike I just bought off my friend. It is no pro mountain bike, but it will do the trick I believe.

So, what do you all think? Should I start another blog for stuff not related to fitness/health? this just doesn't seem the place for all the other stuff that goes through my head. Also, do any of you do any kind of HIIT training? If so I would love to know what you do.

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