It's amazing that I'm now done and a winner from Round 1 of this DB. Honestly, this felt like a long month. I wish I could say "it flew by" but I was always thinking "make sure you don't get too cocky like before..."
I'm down 9.6 lbs since the start of the game. My personal goal was to average 5 lbs per month until the end of the game. But that can lead to some serious anxiety. So. my REALISTIC goal is to keep up with actions that helped bring that scale number down.
1. Get off my lazy butt and go food shopping. Otherwise, it's easy for my healthy eating to be hijacked by my cravings and environment. I also need to make my lunch for class or other outings where I may be tempted to order out impromptu.
2. Keep up blog on DB - just to release any joy and frustrations. Also reviewing comments and blogs from other folks. Very supportive and inspirational!
3. Journal everything on MFP. At first, it was a complete pain. Then I had to come to one basic fact - I always have my phone or iPad nearby...why not? Yes, it takes time at first but it makes you become more mindful of what your eating because you're always thinking "Oh, I gotta log that in...how much is that?"
4. Quick weigh-in morning and night. Not to be obsessive - just to check for any water retention, residual for a night out to eat, lil' motivation.
5. Do official weekly weigh-ins. This helps build my library of pics - showing my progress.
6. Never meet anyone for a meal out hungry. But when you meet them for a meal - enjoy it it!!! Also try to check out the menu before arriving - better to know the devil in the dish before showing up.
7. When eating out...enjoy the morsels, go slow and slowly stop before the 'stuffed' monster arrives. I did this for dinners out in the first month - it was good to take it slow and even express how I wanted to enjoy the meal with folks at dinner. It made it memorable, special and it reduced the feeling that I would be "missing out". Only craving now...a Butcher and Singer burger...but I'm not going to change my schedule around to eat a burger by myself....save it for an occasion. Delayed gratification plays an important role in wellness.
8. Be consistent with exercise and enjoy it. There will be days I can't get out for my hour walk (which I love) but even a at-home yoga in the evening after some strengthening exercises to get my body moving is a reminder of wellness.
9. Plenty of water to keep hydrated, energetic and flush out salt.
10. Meditate on the steps being incorporated for life-long wellness and act as an example for others looking for ways to improve their health. I wish I could be "natural" about eating but there are so many ingrained habits that can cause me to quickly rebound. So I need to be more mindful through the actions above.
As I wrote earlier, part of this is accepting delayed gratification - holding out on or reducing need for current cravings for a bigger, more desirable goal.
Round 2....I'm ready!