pottersclay

Yesterday was a struggle for me. I was having a difficult time avoiding food after 8pm (which is one of my goals this week).  And I wanted to munch on something - not because I was hungry, but because I wanted to munch!

I got a lot of great support and ideas - thank you everyone!

Tonight at 8pm, my husband and I took the girls (our two Chows) for a short walk. We were home by 8:30, and I feel so good doing that extra walk, that I’m not looking forward to munching out. That’s how I dealt with the munchies tonight - I left the house - left the kitchen - left the food. And it worked.

The rest of my day was still routine. A short 15-minute walk in the morning. My daily dose of vitamins. Recording food intake, and reading and writing blogs. I’ve made it another day.  I have to say that blogging does have it’s benefits - and the support is going to help me tremendously.

Food Log

Exercise Log

I just finished Day #3, and I’m not doing well.  I’m only making a few minor changes - and not really attacking the food I eat. I am not depriving myself of anything.  I am not overdoing it by just walking 15 minutes a day.

But I am struggling with this “no eating after 8pm”.  I’m sitting in front of the television and just want to pick. I’m not hungry. I just want to munch.  I never realized how much I snacked at night until I stopped.

I’m going to be going to bed at 8pm if I can’t control these urges!

Food Log

Exercise Log

I’ve stuck to this plan for TWO days in a row. I’m psyched. Another pat on the back for me!!

My food journal is still a horror story. I’m still eating like I normally do, just stopping at 8pm. I’ve added a daily veggie and a daily walk.  But the sweets are still there, as well as the other snacks. It really is eye-opening to see what I do eat in a day.

According the book I’m reading, today should be spent on customizing my food plan.  They talk about the “fast easter” in this chapter. And that’s me. I am a fast eater. I always finish the meal first - and then I start picking, and before you know it, I’ve had seconds and thirds.

Although I have made my goals for this week already, I am going to consciously slow down my eating for the rest of the week. Perhaps try some of their ideas as well as others found on the internet:

• put down my fork between bites
• choose slow eating foods - lobster, artichokes, watermelon
• make a game of being the last to finish
• swallow what is in my mouth before putting more food on my fork
• use chopsticks
• play slow background music
• time your meals with a kitchen timer until I’m used to the slower pace

I’ve read so many benefits of eating slower - and now it’s time to put that into practice.

Food Log

Exercise Log

I’m continuing on with the same book - Prevention’s Your Perfect Weight - and now I made it to Day #2.  Give myself a pat on the back for completing one day!  YES!!!

Beginning a diet (aka lifestyle change) is hard. I’m excited that I did complete the first day.  I recorded all my food intake - and it’s not a pretty picture. Not healthy at all. But totally honest.  I can work from that. If I gave up sugar all in one day I’d never stick to it. But if I continue to eat sugar - just gradually decrease my consumption - then I have a better chance of sticking to it.

According to the book, Day #2 is to focus on an exercise plan - which, in my case, is walking. I’m just going to answer the questions here:

1. How often will you walk?  I am going to commit to walking at least five days this week. Eventually I would like to walk every day, but I don’t want to discourage myself if I miss a day. If I do end up walking every day this week, I will feel like “superwoman” having gone above and beyond my goals. 

2. What time of day will you be more apt to want to walk? I would like to walk first thing in the morning - to get it out of the way and give me a confidence boost for the rest of the day.

3. Will you plan extra walking time on weekends to catch-up or will the walking shoes remain in the closet? I am not planning on extra walking on the weekends, but if I need to play catch-up, then I will. And if I’m bored and restless, then I probably will dig those walking shoes out of the closet and go for a short walk. Just nothing planned.

Food Log

Exercise Log

It’s the first day of a new week. It’s the first day of summer. And it’s the first day of a new me.

I need to lose weight. My knees are getting worse, and it’s all the extra weight I’m carrying. I remember the days when I could walk for miles (and even did a 5k). I remember the days when I wore fashionable clothes and shopped at “normal” size clothing stores. And I want those days back.

This blog will help me stay on track. I have made it my “home page” and will see it every time I open my internet browser. It will be hard to avoid BuddySlim and hard to forget my purpose.

I am reading a book that has collected dust in my bookcase for who knows how long - Preventions “Your Perfect Weight”. It’s a 52-week plan to weight loss and I’m going to do it.

Day #1 - Set some goals.

“You should set behavior goals rather than weight-loss goals, because you can control your own actions far more easily than you can control what happens to the arrow on the bathroom scale.”

I love that quote - and it’s so true.  Sometimes you eat right, and exercise, and drink your water, and that scale either doesn’t move, or moves in the wrong direction, or doesn’t move enough in the right direction. But if you’ve done everything right, then you have succeeded.

My goals for my first week are simple:

1. Take a multi-vitamin every day
2. Take an iron supplement every day
3. Drink an 8-ounce glass of water every morning before breakfast
4. Walk a minimum of 15 minutes every day
5. To write down every item I eat or drink in a food journal
6. To exercise an additional 15 minutes every day I go over my food intake
7. To eliminate eating after 8:00pm
8.  To read at least one blog every day to stay motivated
9. To blog every day to stay accountable
10. To eat a serving of vegetables every day

Oh sure, I know you need to drink more than 8 ounces a day. I know you need to eat more than one serving of vegetables a day. And you need to exercise more than 15 minutes a day. And yada yada yada.

But it’s going to be Baby Steps for me.  If I succeed at these goals for the first week, it will be such a boost to my morale. Then next week I can adjust the goals to be even healthier.