Day 1: Done.
Seriously, it wasn't so bad. But let's review the highlights.
A Mistake: I ate some restaurant leftovers for dinner. I justified it by telling myself that the portions were small. However, the sodium content was large. So I felt pretty yucky after. But I hadn't exercised yet, so I figured that would make me feel a bit better. Which brings me to...
The Stars Are Aligned Against Me: During my physical this morning, my doctor was saying that the best thing we can do for our kids in terms of exercise is to have them see us exercising. I usually exercise after A. (my daughter) goes to bed. This is a problem because I usually end up falling asleep too. But I am just neurotic enough to envision her hand getting caught in the treadmill, so I tell myself I should wait till she is asleep. Actually, she is pretty timid about everything and won't go near the treadmill while it is running.
So with the doctor's advice on my mind. I headed to the treadmill for my promised 30 minutes before she went to bed. A. came in and began playing with her Little People town in between long periods of staring at the treadmill. (In all fairness, up until now the treadmill had mostly been filled with Little People stuff. So I think she felt a little like an invaded country.) But as she played I began to smell that odor that tells a parent no matter how much you are committed to the exercise, you are not going to be able to get through it until you have changed a diaper. Well, to make a long story short, my daughter, who has only had two previous "blowouts" in her life, left my work out pants covered with a not so lovely substance and a playroom floor in need of bleach wipes. At this point, I abandoned the treadmill and vowed to try again tomorrow.
Lesson Learned: Even at the age of 41, I cannot be trusted to have Nutella in the house. It is the devil's spread.
The Soda Plan: In the spirit of full disclosure, a normal day for me includes more than 150 ounces of diet soda. I love it. I really do. I have read all the articles. I know it is terrible for me. I know it isn't really helping me diet. I know. I really do. But did I mention that I love it?
So here is the plan. Beginning yesterday I am going to cut off my soda drinking one hour earlier until I am no longer drinking soda. Tonight I can drink soda until 11 pm, tomorrow until 10 pm. With this pattern, I will be soda free by June 19. This is a hard one for me... I really do enjoy my Diet Pepsi.
Showing posts with label beginning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beginning. Show all posts
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Today Is the First Day of the Rest of My Life
"Today Is the First Day of the Rest of My Life". This was written on a little sticker that had been stuck to our mirror when I was growing up. And for whatever reason it has been dancing around in my head for about a week now.
I am not someone you would necessarily call a healthy person -- not unhealthy, but not healthy either. I have never been particularly interested in health or fitness. I played competitive sports in high school, but was only as good as I could be without really putting forth any extra effort. I have never been thin, but throughout my 20s I could maintain my weight without giving it much thought. In my 30s, I began to see a bit of weight gain. Blaming it on moving to a city where I drove more and walked less, I joined a gym. For the next three years I forked out money for a membership and for a time a personal trainer. I sporadically showed up and never committed.
So I sit here now as I do most nights, comfy on the couch with the tv on, and well after I should be in bed. I find myself just past 40, out of shape, overweight and unhealthy. But that is all about to change. I have a plan... sort of.
Tomorrow I will have a physical. Tomorrow I will begin the healthiest year of my life and I plan to blog about it right here. Not so much because I think it will be terribly interesting reading, but more so that I am accountable to it. I hope readers will give me advice, encouragement, perhaps even criticism.
I have been preparing for about a month. Now let's remember that the unhealthy me is the one who has been preparing. So I have eaten all the fast food I believe I love, telling myself that after tomorrow I won't be allowed to have it anymore. I have had cookies for breakfast. I haven't exercised a bit. This should show you what an uphill battle this might be.
I feel I need a format to all this change. And to remind myself that this year isn't about losing weight. It is about being healthy, which right now translates to being able to walk two flights of steps without being winded. There are three main areas that I think need attention.
AREA 1: My Eating Habits
My eating habits need to improve, but as they say "baby steps". So for the first month I am just going to attempt to make the best food choices available to me and be more conscious about my eating. I don't want to overanalyze this area yet and frankly I am not educated enough yet to go too deep. Also, if you know me, you know I have a wicked diet soda habit. I know it needs to go and I have a plan for that too, but remember... baby steps.
AREA 2: Exercise
I am going to start off basic here also. The goal for the first month is to do some sort of exercise for 30 minutes every other day. And it will most likely involve the treadmill and other exercise I can do at home. In future months I would like to try some different types of exercise, hoping to find something I love.
AREA 3: Stress
As I thought about the my sources of stress, they fall into four categories: disorganization, procrastination, lack of sleep and money. The most important of these, I believe is lack of sleep, so the goal is 7 hours every night.
Month 1's goals:
1.) Conscious eating
2.) Exercise for 30 minutes every other day
3.) 7 hours of sleep
I am going to try and set small weekly goals also. Perhaps a habit I wish to develop, a resolve to accomplish some task, just not sure yet. I also haven't quite worked out how much disclosure in terms of weight, etc. I am comfortable with. So all I can promise is that all of my posts will not be this long and I will attempt to be as honest as possible.
So tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.
I am not someone you would necessarily call a healthy person -- not unhealthy, but not healthy either. I have never been particularly interested in health or fitness. I played competitive sports in high school, but was only as good as I could be without really putting forth any extra effort. I have never been thin, but throughout my 20s I could maintain my weight without giving it much thought. In my 30s, I began to see a bit of weight gain. Blaming it on moving to a city where I drove more and walked less, I joined a gym. For the next three years I forked out money for a membership and for a time a personal trainer. I sporadically showed up and never committed.
So I sit here now as I do most nights, comfy on the couch with the tv on, and well after I should be in bed. I find myself just past 40, out of shape, overweight and unhealthy. But that is all about to change. I have a plan... sort of.
Tomorrow I will have a physical. Tomorrow I will begin the healthiest year of my life and I plan to blog about it right here. Not so much because I think it will be terribly interesting reading, but more so that I am accountable to it. I hope readers will give me advice, encouragement, perhaps even criticism.
I have been preparing for about a month. Now let's remember that the unhealthy me is the one who has been preparing. So I have eaten all the fast food I believe I love, telling myself that after tomorrow I won't be allowed to have it anymore. I have had cookies for breakfast. I haven't exercised a bit. This should show you what an uphill battle this might be.
I feel I need a format to all this change. And to remind myself that this year isn't about losing weight. It is about being healthy, which right now translates to being able to walk two flights of steps without being winded. There are three main areas that I think need attention.
AREA 1: My Eating Habits
My eating habits need to improve, but as they say "baby steps". So for the first month I am just going to attempt to make the best food choices available to me and be more conscious about my eating. I don't want to overanalyze this area yet and frankly I am not educated enough yet to go too deep. Also, if you know me, you know I have a wicked diet soda habit. I know it needs to go and I have a plan for that too, but remember... baby steps.
AREA 2: Exercise
I am going to start off basic here also. The goal for the first month is to do some sort of exercise for 30 minutes every other day. And it will most likely involve the treadmill and other exercise I can do at home. In future months I would like to try some different types of exercise, hoping to find something I love.
AREA 3: Stress
As I thought about the my sources of stress, they fall into four categories: disorganization, procrastination, lack of sleep and money. The most important of these, I believe is lack of sleep, so the goal is 7 hours every night.
Month 1's goals:
1.) Conscious eating
2.) Exercise for 30 minutes every other day
3.) 7 hours of sleep
I am going to try and set small weekly goals also. Perhaps a habit I wish to develop, a resolve to accomplish some task, just not sure yet. I also haven't quite worked out how much disclosure in terms of weight, etc. I am comfortable with. So all I can promise is that all of my posts will not be this long and I will attempt to be as honest as possible.
So tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.
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