Good-bye Diet Coke...

Well today is nearly a week since I have had even a sip of Diet Coke!

I started out in college addicted to Mountain Dew. I realized that Mountain Dew was making me keep gaining weight and it was hurting my kidneys. I gave up the Dew only to switch to Diet Coke. Oh I love Diet Coke, but it doesn't love me...When I decided to get healthier I knew that my consumption of Diet Coke was one of the things that I was going to have to change. On a daily basis I would drink at least 6 cans of Diet Coke! I know that sounds awful, and I knew it then. So on February 13th I began limiting myself to one can a day and drinking at least 8 glasses of water. I am constantly thirsty so drinking 8 glasses was not a problem; Usually I drink 9-10 glasses. 

I was enjoying having my one can of Diet Coke a day...until one day last week when I realized I hadn't even had one sip! And I was fine with that. 

Never in my life did I think I would be drinking only water. I hated the taste of water (Or lack of taste I should say...)! But here I am, sitting here typing this with my trusty bottle of water right next to me! 

Good-bye Diet Coke!

Official Two Week Weigh-In

Well I just got off the scale: 2/27 197 lbs

That's down one pound from last week! I'm thrilled. Any weight loss is good to me! I'm pretty pumped now and I'm ready to tackle this week.

I just dug in my closet and found a pair of shoes that are better than the ones I was using (My dog had chewed the soles out of them...). I've got my gym clothes on and I'm ready to go.  I'm planning on doing strength and cardio today. Gonna head outside and walk and maybe try to jog for a minute or two.

Food: I got some new stuff to try yesterday. Bought whole grain bread, chicken and turkey slices and more veggies. I've added a protein bar for breakfast because I can't eat a big breakfast as it makes me sick. I'm excited about the bread. I love bread! I couldn't live without it. I really don't think that there is a type of bread I wouldn't love. I refuse to entirely give up food I adore...so that is where moderation is going to come in to play.

Well I am going to get off the computer and go exercise!

Two Weeks

Today is the two week mark. Two weeks ago today I signed up on Sparkpeople.com and decided to start making some life changes.

Two Weeks In:
*I am effectively drinking only water. I take a sip of a Diet Coke only once per day, if that. My kidneys haven't felt this good in a long time! I have yet to get sick of the water, but when I do I have some Crystal Light I can add to it. It's funny, I used to hate drinking water; Now I crave it!
*Cutting my portion sizes in half seems to have already had an effect on how much I can eat. Even if I wanted to eat more I won't. It makes me sick.
*I am getting stronger everyday. Starting out 5 crunches hurt SO bad. I'm up to 20 with ease! 2 or 3 push-ups at first, now I can do 10!

I still have so far to go though. I have to say that I don't yet regret making these changes. I feel better already. Not so sluggish. I feel like I have more energy and I feel like I am sleeping better. This week I plan to increase my cardio if the weather cooperates so I can go outside and walk. If the weather doesn't cooperate, I may have the cleanest house in the country!

I started out making Sunday night my weekly weigh-in night, but I've decided to move it to Monday night. No particular reason, just decided it yesterday.

And so tomorrow begins week 3...

Picture Motivation For Me

Thought I would share a picture that shows why I am working to lose weight:

This is a picture of me in November 2011. I hope this will eventually be one of my "Before" pictures!

Motivation Running Low

I want to exercise, I have plans to exercise. Have I actually exercised today? No.
I have no excuses. I know I need to and it makes me feel better, but some days getting myself going is the hardest part.
I did do something to benefit my health today. I went and purchased a (cheap) pedometer. I've been walking around our property and I have no idea what the distance is, so I bought a pedometer that not only measures steps but also distance. So we'll see how the pedometer works for me. I'm hoping that seeing that I'm no where near the 10,000 steps recommended will help motivate me to walk a lot more.
I've also been looking into purchasing an elliptical machine, but those suckers are expensive. So now I'm thinking about joining a gym...I just need something for days when it is raining. I need way more cardio than I'm getting now so I have to do something.

Back At It

I have to admit, I have had a hard time the past few days getting motivated to exercise.  Like I said before, getting fit is more important to me than getting skinny so I really have to exercise! I've been recording my stress levels and quality of sleep and I'm amazed at the relationship between the two.  My stress has been pretty high the past few days and I haven't slept well, which makes it hard for me to get going.
Well I did it today. I ate my salad for lunch, ate a few raisins and then got to work. Sparkpeople.com has been awesome about helping me come up with an exercise plan. The main thing about the site that annoys me is that it won't schedule me strength training for two days in a row. Maybe I shouldn't be doing two days in a row but that should be up to me. I found that I can override that rule and pick my own strength exercises, and that's what I do.  I've been doing modified planks, crunches and squats at least a few everyday.  Plus I stretch everyday.  I feel stronger everyday, but I have a long way to go.
Today I was wanting to squeeze in some time walking too.  As I don't have access to a treadmill or a vehicle, I made use of the acre we live on.  (Can't walk down the road; I live in the country, people let their dogs run wild.) I started last week walking twice around the acre and I was hoping to do more today, but I couldn't do it.  Two laps around had my lungs and calves burning.  I may go back out this afternoon and try to squeeze in a couple more laps.
So I am making a pledge to myself to try to walk a little everyday. I know my little Jack Russell Terrier will be glad, he loves walking with me!

One Week

I started last Sunday by weighing myself.  I weighed in at 205 lbs.  On Monday I started watching what I ate and exercising a little every day.  One week later I weigh in at 198.5 lbs! I haven't been under 200 lbs for a long time.  (At least 8 or 9 years!) I am elated but I honestly would have been happy to have only lost 2 or 3 pounds.
It hasn't been easy by any means.  I mean last Tuesday was Valentine's Day and my Dad always buys me a box of chocolate! But I've been watching my calories every day, trying to stay between 1200-1500.  And I at least do crunches, lunges and squats everyday, but more than that more days than not.
Honestly this little bit of weight loss has only firmed my resolve to keep going.  I can already see small changes in my body, and I can't wait to see what I look like "after"!
So tomorrow begins week 2 and I'm hoping to up the exercise.  I decided a long time ago that if I ever dieted and exercised that it wouldn't be to get skinny; I want to be fit!

250 lb vs. 120 lb

Via Pinterest.com

Found this today on Pinterest.  I noticed how the larger woman's knees were bigger like they are inflamed. Also the bone size in the lower leg.  This is my inspiration today to go exercise!

Me & Food

At this point I feel I should mention that I am a terribly picky eater.  No lie.  I've ALWAYS been that way.  When I was a child my Dad would try to bribe me with money, presents, anything to get me to try new foods.  No way.  I have 5 or 6 foods that I like, and that's all I'll eat.  And they aren't healthy foods either.  Pizza, sandwiches, Pop-Tarts...junk like that. Not only am I picky, but I'm obsessive. I will eat ONE type of food everyday as often as 3 meals a day, and only that.  I will eat that one food until I get sick of it then I rotate to a different food, and the cycle repeats.  Add to this the fact that I have no sense of smell and you have a mess.  Yes, I have NO sense of smell.  Never have.  Yes, I CAN taste food.  Hold your nose and eat something and you will find that you can taste the food, only the taste is muted.  That is how I taste food.  I find I rely a lot on texture and taste to decide if I like a food or not.  So that might help explain some of my pickiness.

Anyway...I've always been drawn to a diet that is less processed.  I like the idea of 90% of the food I eat being not processed.  But many veggies and fruits have textures that are un-appetizing to me.  I've really been thinking about how I can force myself to try new foods.  

I've decided to force myself to try different vegetables and fruits.  I think that is the only way for me.  I'm not giving up my favorite processed foods though, but I am significantly limiting them. I plan to cut back on serving sizes.  Instead of two pieces of pizza I will just eat one, instead of two sandwiches I will have one. (Yes, I am also obsessive about numbers. I like even numbers...) Hopefully after cutting back like that I will be able to cut back even more. 

Well so far I'm doing great! Sunday I helped my Dad make homemade soup with peas, tomatoes, okra, corn, lima beans and hamburger meat.  I had never tried this soup before.  Heck, I had never tried tomatoes, okra or lima beans before! But I did! I ate a bowl Sunday and we had leftovers on Monday night! I found if I closed my eyes and didn't see the okra or tomatoes go into my mouth I liked it. (Whatever works!)

I'm excited about this adventure! 

Why I'm Striving To Learn

Why am I trying to learn to be healthier?  I've grown tired of being tired, fat, feeling gross ALL the time.  
When I was in my early teens I was pretty fit.  I wasn't thin, but I wasn't fat. I could do physical activity without getting winded very quickly, I could walk for miles, I was the sit-up QUEEN!  I had AMAZING willpower. I could take or leave food.  I never had a very healthy relationship with food though.  I would often go a day barely eating anything.  And it scared me that I enjoyed the feeling of being very hungry.  My Mom was good about keeping an eye on my eating habits so it was never able to spiral into anything serious, fortunately.  After I turned 16 or 17 my relationship with food didn't change, but I began struggling with depression and the depression made me eat and sleep a lot. My weight quickly ballooned.  But every so often I would have good weeks or a good month and I would watch what I ate so I stayed in a 10-15 pound range.  In college I was able to stay in that same pattern with my weight.
After college my weight got worse.  I had my first "real" job, which I hated.  I was miserable and the yummy, fattening food made me feel better. (At least at the time I was eating it!) My weight blew up to 220 pounds.  And I was miserable.  But fighting the depression gave me no energy or initiative to exercise.  Things got a little better after I left that job. I was able to diet my way back down to around 200 pounds, which is where I am now.
The past couple of months I have spent quite a considerable amount of time researching diet and exercise.  I've tried to get myself inspired. I kept telling myself that I would start tomorrow, but I kept putting tomorrow off for another day.
Well the day came last weekend when I decided that I could always find a reason to stay fat and not exercise or diet.  No more excuses.  I found a website I like that had diet and exercise tips and trackers and signed up.  Three days a week of strength training, three days a week of cardio.  And I'm working on my diet as well.  I'm trying to learn to like veggies, that I don't have to eat everything I prepare and that I can have what I enjoy in moderation.
So that's the beginning...