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So, it is that time of year again. Time to D.I.E.T. Oh my. As part of my... ahem... resolution.... (wow, it hurts to say that) I am kinda-sorta on the diet train. Who's surprised? Not me.
So, okay, this isn't a willy-nilly 2011 resolution. If you'll remember, numero uno on my 30 x 30 list is to weigh 150. I'm a few pounds away from that. I'll be 30 in approximately 20 months. I need to lose about a pound a week to reach my goal in time for my big birthday. You do the math.
Fine... as a sacrifice to the blog and my lovely readers, I'll do part of it for you. This week's weigh-in number:
drum roll, please...
 |
| 233.5 hefty ol' pounds |
After all the Christmas cookies, summer sausage, peanut butter balls, cake truffles, cheese, chips and salsa, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, southern-style green beans, pastries, cakes, barbeque, sodas, mixed drinks, and more... much more... I'm a little bloated. That's right, that's all water weight. Uh-huh.
Two years ago, I joined Planet Fitness. It was fine, but I can't take my kids. After some flip-flopping, going here and going there, but never regularly, I'm still a member. Last year, I bought some more Wii Fitness games so I could work out at home. The batteries have been dead in my balance board for... forever. And, I tend to cuss at the faux trainer. Another flop.
I tend to go at it really strong for a few weeks, drop a few pounds, and then burn out. This year has to be different. My plan is to take itty-bitty steps towards better heath. I'm going to use the Habit Streak app on my new phone (which I got for Christmas) to help me do this. This week's step is to drink three glasses of water a day. That's it, just three. Maybe I'll be inspired to cut back on some of my calories, too, but no pressure or anything. Just three glasses a day. I think I can do that.
I might not lose a lot of weight at first, but I'm tired of burning out. I'm tired of the yo-yo-ing. I'm tired of looking like a chipmunk, storing nuts for the winter. Winter's here, and I'm plenty fed. It's time to drink some water.
All the power to you. I am starting with the one goal a week thing too. For this week I am making sure I get at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies a day.
ReplyDeleteYou've got this!! Small changes will lead to larger life style results. It takes about 28 days to break a habbit (quite smoking, stop drinking soda), but with persistance you can do it. I'm rooting for you!
ReplyDeleteSmall steps is definitely the way to go. Starting with water is great. You'll find, over time, that you slowly increase your H2O intake as you begin to prefer it to other forms of hydration, and, depending on how much juice/soda/etc you are drinking, you'll cut out soooo many empty calories.
ReplyDeletePhysical exercise is a must, but its probably the hardest part to start. I began with walking. I just made sure I went for a walk every day, 30 minutes. This gave me an easy way to get in my exercise and a chance to establish it as part of my daily routine. (My husband got used to me being gone, I didn't find a way to excuse myself.) Then, I transitioned to the elliptical at the gym. Just 30 minutes, but it was low impact and more cardio. And for calorie burning, its probably the best way to go--you can change up the resistance on your good days, but on a crappy day you are still getting a decent workout. (And I always tell myself a crappy short workout is better than no workout.) Plus, once you are doing more rigorous cardio, you can cut out a day from your routine. Then, I transitioned to running, but I don't actually enjoy running, I just enjoy being in shape and exercising, so I don't know that the transition to running is good for everyone.
But I lost 20lbs in 5 months this way. Actually, thats a lie, I didn't have a car at school so I was walking 2-4 miles a day in addition to rigorous exercise 3 days a week. But I've kept it off for a year, with the exception of December, but its a month of celebration based on food, and I gave myself some leeway.
Next thing I did was purchase some free weights, look up a routine that lasted approx. 30 minutes, and lifted weights while I watched TV during the days I didn't run.
Lastly, as for eating: Bananas are cheap. Start there, and make yourself eat one every day. I then worked my way onto other cheaper fruit. I try for at least a banana and an apple every day, even if its a tiny kind of crappy apple. When oranges are in season, I do apple, banana, orange every day. You'll be surprised how your snacks (for me, I was really into crackers and kashi bars, etc) kind of fall by the wayside. Carrots (ones you peel are also a good mindless snack for when you are doing something. I try for one a day as well. There, you've already hit 4 fruits, and this is just for snacking!
I don't mean to be all cheap with my eats, but it can be costly to cook healthy meals, and so one of my goals was to find ways to bring in more unprocessed snacks into my diet without spending lots of money.
OK, this post was longer than I meant for it to be, but I went from a person that loathed exercise to someone that counts it among her favorite parts of the day, so I wanted to share. I was lucky that my husband hopped on the exercise bandwagon with me, so I had that support/accountability at home. It definitely helps.
Thanks for your tips, Amanda. That's a really great idea about the apples and bananas. My main struggle with getting my fruits and veggies has been that they are SO expensive to buy fresh and I don't really enjoy canned or frozen (unless baked in a pie, lol).
ReplyDeleteAs for the exercise, Katie and I have been having dance parties each morning, but that's about it so far. I'm trying to trick myself into committing to little habits, rather than loading myself up with goals all at once and then burning out again. I do LOVE the elliptical at the gym, though. When I finally make it back there, I plan to jump right on. As for running, that's out. My boobs smack me in the face ;)
I'm 5 10' and I weighed 10 pounds more than your weight when I started three years ago loosing weight. I'm down 40lbs from that and I want to loose 30 more pounds. I just don't want to be overweight anymore. I have one free day a week where I don't work out and can eat my favorite fatty foods. That really helps me during the week. Good luck to you!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited that the comment posted, the blog told me it was too large, and I came back today to leave a smaller version (sometimes when I get started talking I cannot stop, I think its because I haven't really met anyone in Memphis to bestow all of my talking wisdom onto yet. except my husband, and he tunes me out.) :-)
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