Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Progress at a Snail's Pace

So it has been almost a week. One week into the healthiest day of my life. Let me reflect on the three areas I am supposed to be focused on.

Food: This hasn't been as hard as I thought it was going to be, in most cases. I have accepted that my current obligations require that I eat out. So I dropped $7.99 on the Eat This Not That app so I could at least make better decisions. I have also been pretty successful in choosing Subway or the like when fast food cannot be avoided.

So where are the challenges? Surprisingly, breakfast is a big challenge. Mornings are hectic for me and hectic might be putting it lightly. I need to figure out breakfasts that I can either prepare ahead or that I can grab on the go. So far that has been a jar of pineapple chunks and maybe a hunk of cheese from the gas station. I would love to hear your ideas for breakfast.

I attended a wedding this weekend and without guilt had a piece of wedding cake. I am not really a cake person, but I love wedding cake. I was able to eat it without guilt because I had been making good choices. The problem is once I let myself have a little leeway, I seem to lose focus and continue to justify bad choices. So I started Monday feeling a little defeated.

Then I stepped on the scale and was down 2 pounds. Not bad for small changes. (And I noticed that I feel and look less bloated since I have avoided fast food.) So I immediately felt a bit encouraged and was back on track. Even turned down a Dilly Bar that evening. (If it had been a Buster Bar, I might be telling a different story, though).

But tonight, I kind of lost perspective. I made good food choices all day and met a friend and her daughter for dinner. Since we both had toddlers with us, we opted for IHOP. Keeping in mind that IHOP receives an F grade in the Eat This Not That app, I figured if there is no right choice I should just choose what I normally would have. So I ate too much and now feel bloated and stuffed.

Just because a place offers options for good choices, doesn't mean I will make one.

Exercise: I wish I could tell you that I am exercising every other day and am almost in love with it. To be honest, I haven't really exercised at all. I have thought about it alot, but by the time A. is asleep I am exhausted. I will try and do better.

Sleep: I have done surprising well here also, with the exception of tonight. I have got seven hours of sleep every night. But here is the catch, I am not sure if it is because I am entering into a deeper sleep when I sleep more, but I am having a much harder time getting up than when I was sleeping less and exhausted all the time. I am consistently snoozing my alarm with no recollection of it happening. Luckily, work is pretty flexible and we have yet to miss breakfast at daycare.

Soda: Okay, I know this wasn't one of the original goals, but it is a biggie for me. I have stuck to my soda schedule. We are up to 6 pm and tomorrow it will be back to 5. So far so good. Keep your fingers crossed.

So to recap, I now have two rules of a healthy life
1.) No Nutella in the house. It is reserved for trips to France only.
2.) Just because a restaurant has some healthy alternatives, doesn't mean I should eat there. IHOP falls into this category. I am sure there will be others.

Starting Monday I am going to set small weekly goals. Any thoughts on what they should be? I would love to hear your suggestions.

2 comments:

  1. I heard a woman who had lost a bunch of weight on her own say that the only difference between the people who gain weight back and the people who don't is that the people who don't gain weight back stop overeating after their first "slip". No regrets. No kicking yourself. No backsliding. Just right back on. Easier said than done of course, but I always think of that when the old' "Oh well, I already ate a bag of chips at lunch, I might as well have two (or three)helpings of mashed potatoes with dinner." Maybe erasing the phrase "might as well" is key! I think it sounds like you're doing great!

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  2. I know that I've told you this before, but it bears repeating. My friend lost more than 50 pounds by simply cutting everything in half. If she used to eat 3 slices of pizza, she ate 1 1/2, etc. So if you find yourself in an IHOP situation, cut the monstrosity on your plate in half and send the other half away. You're doing amazing!!

    Rachel

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