Day Two: We're on a Roll!

It takes 21 days to make a habit.  We're on day two already!  Isn't this exciting?  This was a tougher day for me than most, but I did a really good job.  I have a lot of stressors coming at me all at once right now, and I caught myself being bombarded with cravings today.  I wanted to eat like there was no tomorrow, binge like every cookie was made just for me, and salivate until I embarrassed myself.  Yeah, it was like that today.  But, I did a good job. I drank water and chewed gum, and when I discovered I truly was hungry, I had a light afternoon snack. I bet not even ten minutes had passed, though, and here came more cravings.  Sometimes they are so INTENSE!  So, I did some deep breathing and tried to get to the root of what was making me want to eat.  I was angry and frustrated by something I couldn't figure out at work- both are big triggers for my emotional eating.

It's so important to encompass your "why" factor in with your eating plan and exercise program.  Sometimes I catch myself floating in the kitchen looking for something to eat and have no idea why I'm in there.  So I ask myself some questions: when was the last time I ate? If it's been 3-4 hours, then yeah, I'm probably hungry.  If it was an hour earlier?  I might need to drink some water or take a look at myself. Am I lonely? Angry? Sleepy? Those are my three biggest triggers. What are yours? When you find yourself heading for your comfort food, what need/emotion are you trying to soothe or escape? Give this some thought. Maybe journal about it a little so you'll be prepared the next time your trigger gets flipped.

Today, I ate almost 1600 calories and burned almost 500 between mowing the yard and vacuuming the house.  Tomorrow, I hope to get in a  real workout. I ran Monday night and HOLY CRAP are my quads sore. Whew!  The last two nights have been devoted to yard work, which, by the way, STILL COUNTS as activity.  (Anyone who thinks their heart rate doesn't get up there when they push-mow a big yard is out of their mind. LOL)  I am very proud of myself for updating my daily plate, drinking my water, getting some exercise, updating my blog, and being kind to myself.  Oh, and I'm also day two- smoke free! :)

I'm so proud of you for all you've done! I have heard some awesome feedback from many of you, and it's truly amazing the power people have when the decision to make life improvements is made and acted upon.  Hang with me, OK?  The next 8-9 days are going to be tougher and trickier.  But I promise you, for me, it's been worth every battle.  You can do this!

Your mission tomorrow:  Try to get your heart rate up for 20 minutes.  Get it in the "fat-burning" or "calorie burning" zone. If you are unfamiliar with the different target zones during workouts, let me know and I'll go over it.  Basically it's like this.  If you aren't getting your heart rate up high enough, your workouts will merely be for the sake of maintaining your current weight.  If your heart rate is too high, you will go into "conditioning mode" which is more for athletes who train for marathons or play sports for hours on end.  They're building muscle and endurance.  We need that middle ground.  (My target heart rate is 148-150 for at least 30-45 minutes.)


So tomorrow when you get up or get home from work, go straight to your room and get dressed to the shoes.  If dinner has to be delayed by 30 minutes, so be it.  Do something nice for yourself!