Getting older

I am on track. I'm eating better than ever. My new job is making it more challenging to find the time to exercise, so that has stalled the last couple of weeks. However, I am working all that out and know I'll have a good routine down soon so that I'm taking care of myself.

I'm feeling a real shift in my mindset about health and fitness. It's a very good thing.

I'm 36 years old---going to be 37 in a couple of months. Health and fitness is becoming less about "looking good" and feeling confident and more about preventing sickness, disease and living a long life.

I am really starting to get freaked out about what horrible shape I'm in. The older I get, the more it's going to cause major, major problems.

Right now, even though I'm over 100 pounds overweight, I am soooo fortunate to not have any major health problems. But that will absolute change if I don't do something very, very, very soon. I'm reaching a real critical point in my life where my health and fitness matters a lot more to my life. I feel it so strongly.

What I eat matters more than ever right now. How much I exercise matters so much more now. It's not about looks. It's about being alive and LIVING. When I think about it that way, I feel such a sense of urgency that I didn't feel before.

I want to protect my body as much as I can against things like stroke, heart attacks, diabetes, cancer and all those other things. I don't have control over it 100 percent, but I have a lot of control over it.

What I eat and how much I move makes a HUGE difference in combatting sickness and disease. Again, even the most healthy people get sick. But I am at MUCH greater risk at my current state of health.

I'm just feeling such a wake-up call lately. I've GOT to change now.

10 pounds!!

I've lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks!

Obviously, I won't keep up that pace. My body is just shocked by all the changes!! But it sure is nice to get a little boost.

Some of my clothes are already too big on me! THAT is a great feeling!!

So I'm keeping it up. Healthy food and exercise---the old-fashioned way.

Weigh-in day!

I'm weighing and measuring myself every Friday and this week I lost 5 pounds in my quest to lose 50 pounds by Dec. 1!! Woooo-hooooo!! That is a good start!

I have eaten so well this week. Not perfect, but better than I've eaten in a long time over the course of a week. It really helped to keep my little mini-fridge stocked with healthy food that I really enjoy.

I never felt deprived at all. The one thing I probably did was eat TOO MUCH healthy food, but I'm going one step at a time. And my first step is switching to healthy food. The next step will focus on quantity. Right now I'm just going to focus on cutting out the junk. I'm not going to worry about quantity right now.

One of the best things I did was to cook 12 chicken breasts one night---with sesame ginger marinade yummm!!!---so they were ready and already cooked to eat conveniently all week long. Put a couple of vegetable sides with it and had a great meal!

I actually lost some inches, too, during this first week. I'm measuring just about everything---waist, hips, chest, elbow, neck, etc.---15 different body parts! I lost a total of 9.25 inches!

So Week 1----down 5 pounds and 9.25 inches.

Good start.

Good day

1. Got my new mini-fridge stocked with healthy food! (see pic)

2. After being laid off for six months, I got a job today!!!! AND it's even a job I will really love! Woooo-hoooooo!!!!

Oh yes.

It has been a good day.

Food list

Got my new mini-refrigerator yesterday! I really needed it, because I am now renting part of a family's house and there is just very little room in their refrigerator for me to stock healthy food. So that was a really positive step for me.

Now I will stock it with healthy food!

With my goal of losing 50 pounds in the next 19 weeks ( right before I go on the already paid-for and scheduled December cruise with my mom and sister), I will stock that refrigerator with healthy food I LOVE. Then I'm eating only this healthy food every 2-3 hours and giving myself one cheat day (Saturdays) for the first month at least. That way, when I crave crappy food I can at least tell myself, "I can have that on Saturday," and it won't seem so bad.

I'm weighing and measuring myself every Friday to measure my progress. I'm already exercising, so I just need to get the food part going.

I'm focusing on healthy food I really, really enjoy. And there is actually a lot of it! Here is what I will keep on hand as much as possible---as my budget allows.

• Almonds
• Chicken Breast
• Salmon
• Black beans
• Light Vanilla Soy Milk
• Skim Milk
• Fiber One Honey Cluster Cereal
• Bananas
• Strawberries
• Purple seedless grapes
• Pineapple---my favorite!!!
• Oranges
• Green apples
• Protein powder for protein shakes
• Mushrooms
• Green bell peppers
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Salsa
• Low-fat shredded cheese
• Deli sliced turkey
• Wasa multigrain crackers
• Whole grain bread
• Oatmeal
• Peanut Butter
• Honey
• Wraps--high fiber, whole grain
• Mixed frozen vegetables that I can steam in steamer bags
• Yoplait fat-free yogurt
• Blueberries---to put in yogurt
• Fresh spinach
• Light ranch dressing--to drizzle only
• Baby carrots
• Fiber One granola bars
• Fat-free jello pudding
• Eggs--hard boiled
• Lean Cuisine meals---for when I'm really in a crunch for time, I know it's not ideal
• Veggie sausage patties--LOVE the Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties
• Veggie burgers---LOVE the Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patties

I won't be able to get all this every week, but this is my list to choose from. Then I can get what I can afford and what I have room for in my little mini-fridge each week.

And I really do LOVE all the food on this list! It's just a matter of making it a priority to have these foods handy, and making the time to prepare these foods.

Friday is my first weigh-in day!

19 Weeks

I'm already scheduled and paid to go on a 5-day cruise to Mexico the second week of December. That's coming up pretty soon! Wooo-hoooooo!!! I'm going to use that cruise as short-term motivation to lose weight. My goal is to lose 50 pounds before the cruise. It's definitely do-able if I get on the ball NOW.

I have all of August, September, October and November to lose that 50 pounds. From today, I have exactly 19 weeks until I go on the cruise. That's an average of 2.6 pounds a week. That's a very healthy amount to lose on average.

I'm doing great on my workouts. I'm feeling stronger, more healthy, more fit. I feel like I have more energy. I don't get tired or need to sit down nearly as often---hardly at all. And that is a HUGE difference from just a couple of months ago. 24 Hour Fitness, Zumba classes and walking around big stores is really working for me in this record Texas heat!!

However, on my food, I'm not doing well at all. So my bad-food-eating is totally cancelling out my working out, so that I've lost very little weight (if any) even though I'm feeling more energy and more stamina due to my workouts.

In my new living situation, it is more challenging to eat healthy. But that's no excuse. I need to be more pro-active and make sure I can eat healthy food I like at every meal.

My next lily pad is to buy a small refrigerator to put in my room so that I have space of my own to keep healthy food. I've got my exercise going---now I need to focus on food, which is the most important part.

Lily pads

I heard a quote the other day from Clinton Kelly on the television show "What Not To Wear" that really got my attention. I'm paraphrasing, but he said something like, "You don't try to make a huge leap when trying to get to the other side of the river. You just go one lily pad at a time. So only focus on the lily pad right in front of you."

This is so key for me in my health and fitness journey. I have a perfectionist mindset. All or nothing. And it sets me up for failure every time. Every single time. I know this. But I keep doing it anyway.

I have a LONG way to go in my health and fitness journey. The river I'm crossing is very, very wide. I need to lose about 150 pounds to get to my ideal goal weight. Yes, that is a WIDE river.

And my focus has been on the other side. That is NOT working.

I have to focus solely on the next lily pad. The next step. One more small step each time. That's all I need to focus on for right now---not the whole journey. That's too overwhelming.

I'm also going to stop talking about what I'm "going to do" on this blog. When I make promises, then don't keep them, I feel even more like a failure and I hide out. That doesn't help me at all.

So I'm going to switch and talk about what I ALREADY DID. What I AM DOING. Not what I'm "going to do". My focus needs to be on communicating what action I AM TAKING. Not what action I'm "going to take". That's not working either.

I'm a planner and a thinker. I will analyze and plan things to death. But that's not what matters. It's the ACTION that matters.

So here is what I HAVE DONE in the last few weeks, since I lasted posted on this blog:

1. Regular Zumba classes at 24 Hour Fitness. I have gone to every Zumba class, which is a one-hour dance cardio class. I LOVE it!! I wish all exercise was this much fun! I actually look forward to it! I just wish they offered it more than twice a week. I am looking into other Zumba classes in the area, though. So hopefully I can go more often since this is exercise that is really working for me, as far as actually DOING it.

2. Started regular "window shopping". I try to "window shop" in at least 2 stores once a day. I'm so excited to be in an area that has big stores again!! I can spend a couple of hours browsing through stores like Ross and TJ Maxx and I don't have to spend a thing. But it keeps me on my feet and it is building my stamina.

3. Regular gym workouts. In addition to Zumba, I also go to the gym at least 3-4 times a week for regular workouts. Now these workouts have been far from stellar. But each time I do some kind of cardio and some kind of strength exercises. They are not what they should be yet, but it's another lily pad. Right now, I'm getting myself there and I'm going through the motions. The intensity will come.

4. Taking a multivitamin. I'm finally getting this habit going again. I've taken one every day for the last two weeks. So I'm doing really well, here.

That is progress!!! It really does feel so much better to post victories, rather than plans!

One lily pad at a time. That's my new mantra.