Back in the Saddle, Again!

I have gone back and forth on whether or not I wanted to keep going on my weight loss journey after reaching my goal weight.  Down 60 pounds, I feel pretty darn good in many ways right now!  I conquered an obstacle I'd been trying to beat for 15 years.  That is an amazing feeling. But, alas, I am eyeballing the extra cushion around my waist and hips pretty hard-core these days.  I threw down a challenge today and already have several folks who are willing to take off ten pounds with me.  You don't have to do what I'm doing; find something that works for you!  This works for me.  (Please keep in mind that I have been my own lab rat for nearly 15 years. I have tried everything under the stars... Weight Watchers, Atkins Diet, South Beach, no sweets, low/no fat, crash diets, fad diets, liquid diets, videos, magazines, (I didn't eat those...thought about it a few times, though.).  Dexatrim, Green Tea something, "kill your appetite/boost your metabolism"... do you get the picture yet?   I tried it ALL. And I failed.)

I didn't really get wholeheartedly on board with this until this afternoon.  I was just about to go fishing for my afternoon snack...even BORROWED a dollar from my co-worker until I could break my $5 and it hit me all at once. Maybe it was a nudge; I don't know.  But the next thing I know, I gave him back his dollar, emailed my workout buddy and told her I wanted to go down ten more pounds. She responded immediately and said she's in.  I published a quick blog update set my sights for the mission at hand.

Since half of my day had been shot to hell with less than impressive decisions, I decided to begin where I was, then, and take it from there.  I drank more water, I didn't go to the vending machine for an afternoon snack.   One of my co-workers gave me a piece of gum, and I chugged a few ounces of water to help ward off the sugar craving I was having. And, it worked! 

When I got home tonight, I raced to my bedroom and donned my uniform and dressed to the shoes. (My uniform consists of my workout clothes for any new followers.  Getting dressed to the shoes mean you're 100% ready to workout...including your shoes.)  My workout buddy had my kids at the park and gave me the green light to go run for a while.

I haven't lied to you before, so I'm not going to start now.  It was hard!  It was hot, I was tired, and I am not in nearly the kind of shape I used to be in.  I had all of those old, familiar voices in my head telling me, "You can't do this. It's been too long. You need to build up your endurance. It's too hot. Give up, Tami. No one else will know you didn't run."  One thing's for sure. You have to face and dismiss these voices, because there "ain't no outrunning them."  So I started firing back with my positive self-speak. "Not only CAN I do this, I AM doing this. I am running, and I feel good about it. I matter."  I ran for 30 minutes and got two miles in. 

I recommend a website called Livestrong.com, "The Daily Plate". It is free and has a place to track your water intake, calories in and exercise.  It is very, very helpful.  After I entered in my food choices for the day, I discovered my total caloric intake was actually less than it should have been. (I shoot for 1400-1500 calories a day when I'm in weight-loss mode and 1600-1800 when I'm maintaining.)  I only ate about 1200 calories today, and that's too low for me.I will have to keep a better eye on that tomorrow.

I feel I should give you the top ways you can fail at this based on my experience:
1. Make too many changes too quickly.--No life-overhauls today, please.  Baby steps!
2. Take on an entirely different eating habit. (As in trade in pork chops for tofu.)--If you don't know what to buy, how to fix it, what it tastes like, or if you'll eat it, then it shouldn't be on your menu. (Except for maybe hummus...that stuff is the bomb.)
3. Look at the overall picture, meaning, the total number of pounds you "need" to lose.--  No one can lose 70 pounds in a week. So don't even focus on that big scary number. Baby steps. One-to-two pounds a week..max.
4.  Lose weight rapidly. --If you want to continue to yo-yo, drop 5-7 pounds in a week. Sure, it will make you smile, and it will also return. Proven fact.
5. Say "I can't." -- No one 'has time' for this. It's either something important enough for you to prioritize, or it's not. 

Today: I drank almost 64 ounces of water, ate approximately 1200 calories (boo), burned 318 while running, and did not cave to an emotionally-charge crave-fest. :)   I learned to make a smarter choice in lunch meats, keep a closer eye on my calories in, and had a small victory against the meanies in my head. Now that I look at this, I had a FANTASTIC DAY! :)

One meal, one decision, one day at a time.  You can do this!!  Cheers!