The longer I live, the harder some things are. Getting excited about weight loss is one of them. After all, I've been at this a long time. I've been overweight most of my life, and have only been successful at weight loss a handful of times. So, when I face the second month of this current struggle, those failures haunt me. Will I lose my motivation again? 

There are some things I feel hopeful about this time. Last month, it wasn't about eating my typical crap foods, just fewer of them. I ate clean, non-processed foods most of the time. That changes the way things taste, and I rarely crave peanut butter cups. ;) After a month of eating this way, I crave oatmeal pancakes (with protein powder and almond butter) for breakfast. That's a good starting point.

Also, my exercise has moved from "light" to "moderate." In the past, I hung with "light" because it was quicker to walk 20 minutes on the treadmill and be done with it. Folks on the boards here (as well as a lot of time spent watching weight loss shows on my iPad) have encouraged me to kick it up a notch. I sweat daily now. I got a FitBit and won't let it defeat me (by not making 10000 steps) now. I stand up at the computer now. I feel guilty sitting down now. ;)

So, in this blah of a winter, when I would spend a ton of time cuddled up in the warm spots reading or watching a show, I now see change happening. I may need to kick it up another notch to drop 9.1 pounds this month. That worries me. But today, I choose to pretend that I am a healthy person. I'm ignoring the gloom of winter and just doing it anyway. It's amazing to me that so many make this choice every day without blinking an eye. I am finding it's time to act like a grown up and leave my lazy and instant gratification days behind me. 

I invite you to join me. LET'S DO THIS!