My goal for the upcoming week: take the stairs at work every. single. day. I work on the 3rd floor and currently take the elevator. I used to make the excuses of “oh, I went to boot camp this morning and my quads are sore” or “I have too much to carry” or “I’m wearing heels.”
No more!
For the next week (January 2nd – 11th) I will take the stairs every day, every time. If I have too much stuff to carry, I take a 2nd trip.
This year, I resolve to continue to lose weight and inches. I’ve been making commitments all along, but in 2012, I, Katie, resolve to not drink soda. Yes, really. Salt and soda – my two biggest food vices, now gone.
Next up: continue on my 50-lbs-lost by June 1 goal. That’s about 10 lbs a month for the next 5 months. It’s certainly a stretch goal, but if you shoot for the moon, and miss, you’ll at least land among the stars.
Happy New Year All!
I have set a lofty lofty commitment to lose 50lbs. My goal is to do it by June 1st. Yes, it will be difficult and require some serious discipline. Which is why I’ve created the following guidelines to help me. Any other tips you have, I’m all ears!
Avoid
Soda
Added salt
Alcohol
Sweets
Fatty food
Fried food (french fries, chicken nuggets, crab rangoon, egg rolls)
Eating out
Include
3 servings of veggies per day, 2 servings of fruit
10 cups of water per day, minimum
Vitamin regimen
1-2 cups of milk per day
Lots of lean protein
Do
Work out 5+ times per week
>3-4 boot camps per week
>2-3 days of 30+ minute cardio (300+ calories burned)
>1-2 days of tennis per week
Eat 5 small meals per day
Write about it every day
Weigh myself daily
Be transparent with my weight loss
Eat a high-protein breakfast every day, as soon as I wake up
Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning
Break the big goal into bite-size pieces
My gosh, it’s amazing what 7 hours of decent sleep can do for the body! I feel so much better just for having more sleep. I’m still incredibly busy and stressed and all that, but the week is coming to an end, the stuff I’m working it is kinda, sorta coming to a close, and the office holiday party is tomorrow! Oh, and I went to the doctor today and have a little virus, which explains so much!
But, the big news today… the big big news… I hit 17 lbs lost this morning! I even told the nurse he had to weigh me today (you know, for their records). Not sure he wrote it down – he probably thought I was doing it for my own information. Still! It’s big.
Also, I have a big goal. Big. Big big big. A goal to get small. Small small small. 50lbs by June 1st. It’s going to be tough. I will be tempted to procrastinate. I was just so motivated today – for all the things I listed above – but also because a coworker told me she could see the changes in my face. And, of my three pairs of jeans, the ones that fit “medium” (not my tightest pair, not my largest pair) were sliding down my hips. And so, I vocalized my new (and 1st) 6-month goal: 50 lbs by June 1st. Eeeek!
This one’s a doozy (for me at least). My December Challenge: 12 boot camps before the end of the year! I’m shakin’ in my Nikes!
I know “they” say to do it for a week at a time, but I like to meal plan 2 – 3 days at a time. The reason: it’s more efficient for me. I can decide what to put in the plan based on what remains in the fridge or cupboard. Before, I had so much wasted food. So, here it is…
Monday 11/28:
5:30 AM: 1 slice of toast w/ fried egg, goat cheese (grapes if necessary)
5:45 AM: Warm-up at gym
6:30 AM: Boot Camp
7:45 AM: Spicy Southwestern Egg Roll (modified) with Grapes
10:00 AM: 4oz. plain Greek yogurt w/ ½ cup fruit
1:00 PM: Salad w/ Gardenburger, goat cheese crumbles and salsa (no dressing!)
4:00 PM: Mediterranean Grilled Cheese (pita half, feta, sun dried tomatoes – skip the olives)
6:30 PM: Shredded chicken over roasted potatoes and green beans
7:30 PM: Tennis
Tuesday 11/29:
5:30 AM: 1 slice of toast w/ fried egg, goat cheese, half a banana
6:45 AM: Cardio workout at gym (recumbent bike or treadmill)
7:45 AM: Veggies (brusell sprouts and potatoes)
10:00 AM: 4oz. plain Greek yogurt w/ ½ cup fruit
1:00 PM: Salad w/ Gardenburger, goat cheese crumbles and salsa (no dressing!)
4:00 PM: Lean Cuisine
6:00 PM: Workout with Nicole – elliptical
7:30 PM: Chicken breast and brusel sprouts
Looking ahead this week:
Wednesday: morning boot camp
Thursday: morning cardio
Friday: morning boot camp, corporate lunch
My only (unpublished) goal for last week, the week of Thanksgiving, which was to enjoy it. While I did do that, I obviously had some struggles, as mentioned in my desolation. If I’d had the foresight, I would have made a meal plan, and set some goals about sweets.
Sweets are rarely a concern of mine (I’m more of a salty snacks kinda gal). So I’m not making any more sweets goals until the week of Christmas.
This week is about salt. I don’t really understand salt or why I should care about it with regard to weight loss. I know it causes water retention, but if I always eat salt, then I’m always retaining some water, so I’m always a couple of pounds heavier. But if it’s consistent, I’m not sure why it matters. Perhaps someone else can enlighten me?
BUT, my goal for the week is no salt shaker. When I have the option (such as at a restaurant) to have them prepare without salt, I take it. When I make my eggs – no salt. When the recipe says ‘salt optional’ it’s an option I decline.
I’m basically blindly accepting that someone more informed than I has determined salt is bad when trying to lose weight, and faithfully preventing it to ‘see what happens.’ Wish me luck!
November goal continues for a few more days: no eating out!
I am pretty shy about this blog. I shared it slowly with friends and family members. There were (and are still) family members I purposely did NOT share the blog with because I feared what they said. Well, as it is human nature to talk, they talked. Within two days of starting the website, word had gotten to someone I had purposely not shared the blog with.
This person has always been a straight-shooter. It’s rare you see a tender side to her, because she grew up surviving. When she told me she’d heard about the site, she thought it was great, great, great. BUT, she told me I will never be a size 8.
My heart sank.
She hadn’t actually SEEN the site at that point, so she asked if I’d sent her the link. I hadn’t. When she asked why I hadn’t included her, I told her it was because I’d figured she would say something like she had. She started to wheel back and explain herself and blah blah blah.
I get it. Granted she doesn’t think I can do it, what she was TRYING to say was that I should be happy to get to a size 12 or so. I shouldn’t be disappointed if only I get that far.
What really irks me is what I said next. I said that a size 8 was a goal and once I proved to myself I could do it, I’d probably go back to a comfortable 10 or 12. Why? Why would I say that? Do I have doubt in myself? Do I not think I can maintain a smaller size? If anything I should have said Oh Yeah? Watch me! But just like she was trying to forgive me ahead of time for not reaching my ultimate goal, I was giving myself an out as well. I really don’t know what to make of this though I continue to ponder. Thoughts? Wisdom? Experience?
I’m on day 21 of no eating out! I haven’t had a fast food meal, a take-out burrito, or a dine-in bowl of pasta. Nada. I even turned down free, catered food at the office. There have obviously been some grey areas (milk shakes for instance, cause they’re drinkable), but I’m so proud of how far I’ve come this month.
My coworkers on the other hand, have had an odd reaction. I’ve really scratched my head trying to figure them out, honestly. Here are a few examples of what I’m talking about…
I came into the office with a diet soda in a McDonald’s cup, which I guess could imply that I ate there, but we’d only picked up food for my mom. The drink was merely a convenience from having to make another stop on the way to the office. One of the girls suggested that I was really pushing the boundaries of my rule. I’m thinking that I wrote the rules, I should know when I’m breaking them. But according to her, I’d found a loop hole.
In another instance, we had some really good Italian food catered for some weekend workers (myself included). Before it had arrived, I was told by another girl that I am certainly going to want to give up my plan, because their food is so good. I didn’t budge.
Can anyone explain this to me? These are great people, who have congratulated me on my weight loss so far. What is it about what I’m doing that turns them into doubters and saboteurs? Why do they feel the need to gloat about the good food we are getting? Or suggest that I’m failing when in fact I’m succeeding?
This is not the first time I’ve seen this. I can think of a handful of stories where someone making healthy choices was teased by those around who WISHED they could make the same good decisions. Heck, I’m sure I’ve even done that. I guess someone making bold choices, regardless of the reason, makes others uncomfortable. And then what happens? If you’re threatened, you try to bring the person down to your level – “Here Katie, try this lasagne. It’s so good!” or “You can skip your Saturday run just this once.”
I have to keep MYSELF from saying these things to me- I don’t need my friends saying them too.
Really though, I’m just guessing here. I would love to hear your thoughts!
A year ago, I would not recognize the person I was today. I would THINK I had it in me, but when push came to shove, I didn’t stick to my guns the way I did today.
Let me enlighten you a bit. Today, something major happened. Again, I have this lofty November goal/challenge to not eat any meals out. I may not have spelled out every single little instance of this out clearly, but in my mind, this means no eating out, no ordering in, no picking up – no foods prepared by someone other than ME. It’s a goal to get me closer to a smaller size, but ultimately it’s about building healthier habits.
Today was a thanksgiving (lower case t) lunch for all employees. It was catered Mexican food (my fav) and it was free. In the past, I had always said free food trumps healthy food. I was also very poor back when I thought that, but you can see how my priorities were misaligned. In those days, it didn’t matter if I was on day one of a diet – if someone else was paying, the diet could wait.
Quick confession regarding my decision today: I REALLY had to think about eating that (free) food. I discussed with my coworkers the possible loopholes in my challenge that would allow me to eat this offering of thanks from our CEO. They suggested I only eat the healthy stuff, skip the tortillas and cheese, etc. etc. I even started thinking through a trade-off where IF I ate from the make-your-own-fajita train today, then I could not have diet soda OR processed foods for the rest of the month. In the end, I decided PoK-e-Joe’s just was. not. worth. it.
Before I could talk myself into eating the yummy food, I made my Top Chef inspired Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Chicken Fresca and ate it before I headed to the conference room. As everyone lined up to assemble their meal, I stood back and just chatted with coworkers who were waiting for the line to die down. Eventually someone asked me why I wasn’t eating, and I explained my deal.
And get this! They said that I inspire them! Me!
I’ve never thought much about inspiring others, especially where healthy choices were concerned. I did however read this blog post once, by one of my favorite bloggers at one twenty five, where she talked about inspiring herself. My choices today, and as of late for that matter, have inspired ME. What a great feeling it is!
