Yesterday was the first day of my Six-Week Body Makeover (and also the first day of my marathon training plan). I decided to do the 6WBMO after reading about it at The Fit Shack. I’m not really trying to lose a lot of weight, but I wanted a structured program to help me transition away from my current (not so healthy) eating and exercise habits and toward a more consistent nutritional & fitness plan. My goals from the program are to (1) replace fat with muscle; (2) reduce the amount of junk/processed food I’m eating; and (3) minimize my emotional attachment to food.

To achieve #1, 6WBMO recommends 5-6 sessions of low-ish intensity cardio–think fast walking or slow jogging instead of all-out running. Since I’m training for a marathon, this is precisely the type of cardio I need to be doing. The program also includes resistance bands and a twice-weekly strength training workout. As a long-time hater of strength training, this is probably a good place for me to start. My marathon training program calls for four runs per week, so I’m supplementing that with one long (45-60 minute) walk and the two weekly strength training sessions to meet the program recommendations.

Regarding #2, 6WBMO calls for you to omit (or at least greatly reduce) sugar and salt from your diet. This pretty much requires you to make food from scratch. I’m not cutting out salt entirely because I tend to have lower blood pressure and don’t really need to, but I’m making an effort with the sugar. I cooked a huge pot roast with potatoes and carrots on Sunday to use for my meals this week. I’m already tired of it. I can see that I’m going to need to make sure I get more variety in my diet.

Working on #3 is trickier. I have a long history of disordered eating, so I tend to use food as a soothing mechanism. I also get very panicky about food–I’ve seen this in pretty much every recovering EDer I know. It’s kind of embarassing to talk about, but what the hell. Recovering anorexics and bulimics tend to be very controlled in their eating. If someone asks me for a bite of my food, I get so anxious and upset. What if there isn’t enough??? What if they take more than I want them to?? How will I know exactly how much I’ve had if they eat some of my premeasured portion???? Needless to say, it can be difficult to explain to others.

It’s not logical, but it’s real and that means I have to deal with it. What I like about 6WBMO is that it encourages you to make all of your meals in advance and carry them with you. It sounds silly, but having all of my food for the day in my lunchbox is a real emotional security blanket for me. If I start to feel worried about what I’m going to eat next, I can just unzip my cooler and look at it. Sounds ridiculous, but it really does help me.

6WBMO also requires that you eat every 2-3 hours, which is perfect for me. Hunger can be a very distressing feeling to a recovering EDer. Bulimics don’t really know what it feels like, and it can be very triggering for anorexics. Eating often enough to keep me from getting really hungry helps keep me on a more even keel overall.

I ate pretty much on plan yesterday, and I did my walk for the week. I’ve got all my meals for today in my trusty cooler, and I’m planning to do a 3-mile jog after work. So far, so good! I’ll probably do a few 6WBMO updates each week to let you know how I’m progressing. If you have any questions about the program, don’t hesitate to ask!

It finally arrived!!!

(Note about the picture: I took one of my own, but something weird happened and it disappeared. So this is a subsitute picture from the interweb.)

I ordered Michael Thurmond’s Six Week Body Makeover last week after reading about it at The Fit Shack. I’m super excited to try it out! It was expensive (about $120) BUT you can get a full refund if you’re not satisfied after six weeks. It’s pretty cool–you take a quiz to determine your body type (you can take it for free online). I’m Type E: Ecto-Endo, which means I have a pretty high metabolism (true), but also tend to have more fat and less muscle. Basically, I’m skinny fat.

The program gives you a tailored eating plan (lots of protein for me) and exercise routine. My official start will be on Monday, May 5, which is also the day I being my marathon training program. That’s right–I registered for this year’s Marine Corps Marathon!!

I’ll be blogging about my six-week makeover journey, so stay tuned for weekly updates (and probably daily pleas for support and encouragement)…

My first 21-Day Makeover was a smashing success. I successfully developed a daily writing habit–these fingers are just itching to write! I believe that this habit is with me for the duration, which is excellent given that my life goal is to be a full-time writer.

I had a few ideas about what to do for my second 21-Day Makeover, and I was having a difficult time deciding. I thought about getting up early to give myself a block of uninterrupted writing time in the morning. Unfortunately, it’s just not fitting well with my lifestyle and work schedule right now. I think I’d like to keep that as a progressive weekly goal (check out this week’s forum for more).

I had also considered making meditation the subject of my next makeover. But to tell the truth, I just… don’t really want to. Insert important lesson here: Sometimes it’s best not to push yourself too hard when you experience resistance. I want to want to meditate, and I won’t if it’s just another chore to cross off my list. So that one’s out.

Then I saw Stephanie’s Great Walking Experiment and I knew exactly what to do. For the past, oh–I don’t know, SIX MONTHS or so, I’ve had a real resistance to exercising. Me, who has always been a dedicated runner and has competed in more 10ks than I can shake a stick at. I had to have two major surgeries last year, and I just (to be honest) got really pissed at my body. Here I’d eaten right and exercised and done everything you’re supposed to do, and I was having a double masectomy at 29. NOT FAIR.

I have a pretty decent metabolism, so there’s no real compelling reason for me to get off my kiester and move. Except that’s not true. Exercise has always been my primary stress-reliever, and anyone who’s been reading lately knows that this girl has been STRESSED. So, I’m declaring a truce in my passive-aggressive war against my body. Together, we’re going to do this walking thing, and we’re both going to feel much better. On top of the physical benefit, I think it will be very emotionally healing. So… today is Day 1!

Have you been inspired to start a 21-Day Makeover of your own? Tell me about it! And stop by to check out Love is Blonde’s 21-Day home makeover plan and give her some support too! I started a thread in the forums if you’d like to chat, or you can email me or leave a comment here.