Starting slow.. and excited about it!

DaniMarie

New member
So.. I decided that the best chance I have of succeeding this time around is to start making changes slowly... and wait until I am VERY comfortable with those changes before doing more....

Here's the plan:

- Breakfast: Replace usual cereal or poptarts with fat free yogurt (tropical dried fruit mixed in) and an orange. (Occasional bowl of low fat oatmeal if needed)
- Lunch: Replace usual random lunch room lunches (I work as a teacher.. lunches aren't great I'm sad to say =( ) with whole grain pita filled with smoked turkey and small amount of mayo, grapes, and sugar free pudding cup.
- Dinner: Remains the same for now.
- Snacks: Replace all the horribly unhealthy snack food you can imagine with fruit, pudding cups, honey wheat pretzel sticks, or skinny cows as needed.
- Beverages: Water, limit soda consumption to 1 glass a day (already done)
- Exercise: Replace sitting around every night after work with a daily walk around the neighborhood and yoga dvd 2-3 times a week.

Even though this still isn't the "uber-healthy" lifestyle, I feel it's all stuff that is completely doable for me right now, and not so much of a change that I will get instantly burnt out and crave my old ways.

Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

P.S. My first official weigh-in was last weds, 5/19 (even though I hadn't completely thought out my plan). So my 2nd weigh-in will be this weds.
 
Thats the way to do it Danimarie....slowwwwww.

Good thought into your changes.

I like oatmeal for breakfast....with blueberries and raspberries. (And I like the steel cut oatmeal alot better.) I make it ahead of time and reheat every morning.

I would recommend you ditch the fruit/pudding cups and just buy real fruit. Cheaper, fresher, more vitamins and minerals, tastier, healthier, (still going), more satisfying, more volume per calorie, more versatile.....I could go on even more. Your bod will love ya for it!

The evening walks are a great idea too. I make my walks a challenge. I limit myself to 1/2 hour and I try to beat my 15 minute mark distance every time.
It gives me something to think about until I get to that midpoint....and then I get to cooldown on the way back home at a more leisurely pace. Eventually I will increase my time but for now...its enough to keep me focused.

Good luck and start a diary! Its a great way to stay on track!
 
I think that's a good start. Making too many changes too fast makes it really hard to stick to. The idea isn't that you are going on a "diet" for a few months than you can go back to eating whatever you had before. The idea is to make lifestyle changes so that you have a healthier life for the rest of your life.

That's pretty much what I'm doing this time and it's the first time I've actually stuck with it. And the great thing is eventually you don't feel like you are even "dieting" because it's just become your way of life.

Good job and good luck!
 
Well, my first weigh-in was this morning, even though it probably shouldn't have been... but that's ok! I lost a pound! It feels good, but at the same time, I'm used to "diet" first week weigh-ins... the kind where you lose 4,5,6 lbs right off the bat. But this is OK... I didn't officially start my changes until Monday so, not bad. And like everyone always says, the weight didn't come on over night, it's not gonna come off overnight =)

The good news is I'm really enjoying my changes so far... I've stuck to all of them! I found a loop around my aparment complex that's exactly a mile long... I walk it every night after work, and there are tons of inclines on it, so even though I'm just walking, it feels like a pretty good workout.

=)
 
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