Lose weight the fun way.

Posted on January 1, 2016

I'm going to commit to writing every day about my progress, even if I just jot down one sentence. For several years I've belonged to Weight Watchers, but have been half-hearted in my approach. Joining this challenge is my attempt to change that.

For today I'm going to focus on tracking everything I eat. I'm going to focus until it sticks. In the past, I've done it here and there, but a habit never took hold. If it takes all month, and it might, I'm ok with that.

I chose the photo because it represents the kind of mom and person I can be. Even though I'm overweight, I'm not a couch potato. Exercise has largely fallen by the wayside since I returned to work last spring, but I took a short walk the other day and realized I really missed it. I love to be outside- walking, hiking, being active with my daughter. We live in a great area for outdoor fitness, and have thus far enjoyed a mild winter, so I plan to get out as much as possible. My elderly neighbor walks daily in all kinds of weather, so chilly weather is no excuse.

Meal planning is another weakness I want to address. We have a bad habit of not planning, and as a result we order unhealthy food or go out. Bad for our wallets and our waistlines, though I am the only one who's really suffered for it. But I'm also the one with the power to change it. I made a menu plan for January which is nearly complete. Our lives are busy, but I'm careful not to overschedule my daughter so incorporating easy meals around her activities isn't too hard. This month I plan to have meal-size salads once a week, and soup/salad sandwiches on Thursdays, which is our only very busy day. I have never, ever liked vegetables, which is a huge challenge for weight loss, but I'm slowly learning to enjoy steamed carrots and steamed broccoli. As a child I only ate canned vegetables, and I've realized fresh vegetables are so much better. Liking salad has been helpful but I'm hoping to expand my palate a bit more.

January is often a rough month for me- I often find myself feeling low and I refer to it as the "January Blahs." I think it's because the glow and optimism of the New Year wears off quickly and you realize the same challenges you dealt with last year are still in your face. Bad winter weather doens't help. But this year I'm going to think ahead for some strategies to manage the blahs, because they will be the biggest challenge to meeting my goal.

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Lynn K.

01/01/2016 8:12PM

Man you have excellent ideas for meal planning and daily writing. I would've never thought of "meal-size salads," or soup/salad sandwiches once a week. I'm not so sure I'll be able to write everyday, but it is also a great idea, and I think I'm going to try and steal theses ideas from you.As for the "January Blahs," I don't think I get them regularly, but I think this year is different because I am so excited about doing this DietBet thing. I'm not thinking of it as a diet, but as a chance to try out new (healthier) foods, and a real chance to change the way I feel about myself through exercise and healthier eating.It may be cliché, but we must do this one day at a time. Clichés are only clichés because there is truth to them. Maybe making a daily goal and attaining it in order to manage the daily blahs might be helpful. The goal does not have to be big at all. Something along the lines of, "I can do one push-up, so tomorrow I will do two" upping the daily count until one say you say, "Holy crap I can do 30 full-length push-ups without batting an eye! Something like that, I'm sure, would work quite nicely. I know I would smile and celebrate that. It's really hard to be in the throes of the blahs when you are genuinely smiling and celebrating. Happy New Year and good luck to you!

TracyJ

Thanks for your comment! I appreciate it! I too am hoping my bet will propel me through the month. Knowing I go through this every year helps because I can prepare. Your comment about push ups reminded me of a great book I read- "Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Big Results" by Stephen Guise. The author started his exercise habit by committing to doing just one push up a day, which turned into more. It was an interesting read.Happy New Year and good luck to you too! :)