Week 1

I lost 4 pounds!

While I'm excited by that, I'm really more proud of the little changes I made to get to that 4 pound loss. In the past, whenever I've decided to 'diet' or lose weight or start an exercise regime, it's always felt SO big, like this huge shift in my life has to occur and the feeling is probably similar to what the earth felt as the continents broke up - painful, big, and a bit scary. While I've had success with those shifts in the past, they have never stuck. It takes a lot of energy to break up huge chunks of land, yo!

I went into this challenge with some basic goals, but nothing specific in terms of numbers of pounds or inches I wanted to lose. I still don't have those types of goals, despite some random numbers that have started to float around in my head. I don't know that I want those goals, at least not now. What I want is to continue with the small changes. Taking the stairs more instead of the elevator. Parking farther away from the door at work and at stores. Choosing fruit instead of fries. Choosing apple slices (and being surprised when almost the whole bag is gone) instead of chocolate. When choosing chocolate, choosing 3 Hershey kisses instead of multiple trips to candy jar a day. Choosing to listen to the positive voices in my brain instead of the negative ones. Choosing to thinking happy thoughts when going up the stairs and taking note this morning when my body automatically went to the stairwell rather than pausing for a second in front of the elevator. There's probably a dozen more little things that I have done and want to continue to do, but all of those small things are what I am most proud of this week. The fact that my jeans are quite as snug, well - that's just a bonus.

On to week 2!

10/6 - quick check in

Last night I walked a mile. I've been pretty happy with my food choices this week and curious to see what the scale will show tomorrow.

For today:

stairs at work
perhaps black bean soup for lunch
taco salad for dinner
another mile tonight

Getting re-focused

So the weekend wasn't so great. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't write my food down and didn't really exercise and I didn't really feel so hot.

But so far, this week has been better.

Doing the stairs at work (didn't even hate it this morning) and parking farther from the building - check.

Being mindful about what I eat and writing it down - check.

Walking tonight - soon to be check.

Looking forward to the black bean chili that is cookin' up in the crock pot for tonight's dinner!

Day 2

So yesterday I didn't eat enough during the day and was a bit (ok, a lot) cranky last night. Today is better.

I got out for lunch today and ordered off of the 'lite' menu. My years of WW taught me that lite really just means probably under 1000 calories (which it was way under that), but I still managed to have a really tasty sandwich and fruit on the side instead of fries. The food was great, I felt totally satisfied and hope to keep the crankies away.

I also made the decision to track my food on fitday.com instead of in a notebook. I've used this site in the past and like how it breaks down my intake and I can track various nutritional goals, exercise and weight. If you haven't tried it, check it out. Did I mention, it's also free?

The only thing I am a bit disappointed with is my cold. It's keeping me from stairs because I just get too winded and cough like a fiend after I'm done. I'm parking my car farther away and plan to walk tonight and this weekend and I'm feeling good about that. So far, so good.

Day 1

So my initial assumptions were right - this DOES start on 10/1. But here I am - starting a day early. Go me.

Accomplishments today:

• Parking farther away from the office door
• Walking up two flights of stairs and internally chanting 'this isn't NY, this isn't NY, this isn't NY'
• Having oatmeal for breakfast instead of a Starbucks something
• Acknowledging my small accomplishments (something I haven't done in the past)

I have my lunch planned and my water bottle at the ready.

Oh, and for anyone reading this and considering joining the movement, we have our very own Facebook Group, so come on over and say hi!

Goals and Preparations

Tomorrow is the beginning of the 90-day challenge. I'm not sure why, but I thought it started on 10/1. Perhaps it was wishful thinking. I've been thinking about my goals and what I want to accomplish. Here's where I am so far:

Food

1. Meal planning and preparation. Heather and I have worked hard this year to reduce, and in some areas eliminate, our eating of processed foods and things like HFCS, MSGs, etc. When I've dieted in the past, frozen meals like Healthy Choice and others have been food staples, so for me, planning will be a critical part of this challenge. We are typically pretty good about planning our dinner menus each week, but I've never planned my breakfasts or lunches. So, tonight I'll be mapping out those meals for the rest of the week and I'll take a quick trip over to Publix to get the things I need.

2. Journaling. I really hate journaling my food, but I know that it works. I might not stick with this for the full 90-days, but I am going to keep track of what I eat for the first 30 days at least. I have a little notebook in my purse that will be my friend for this goal. I'll post here about some of my discoveries, favorite recipes or ideas but likely won't post daily food journals.

3. No more candy bowl. There is a lovely woman in my office who keeps the whole place afloat with her candy bowls. I like her, but I secretly hate her candy bowls. What makes it worse is that the candy sits right next door to me. So beginning tomorrow, the candy is dead to me. It'd be swell if she could just not buy any more chocolate, but I don't think that's going to happen. I think I'm going to have to imagine that a family of spiders has taken residence in the chocolate bowl, because that will certainly keep me away.

4. Eating out. I'm not going to be all crazy and say no more eating out, because, well - that's just not realistic. What I will commit to is eating healthier when I am out. Less fries - more salads, fruits or steamed veggies. Seems fair enough.

Exercise

This is the part where equal parts excited/nervous about this challenge. I really suck at keeping up with a regular exercise routine. So I'm going to start small and work my way towards bigger. Here's what I am starting with:

1. Parking far away from the office door and walking more. Thank you to my brilliant and lovely niece for reminding me of this tip. We have a HUGE parking lot at my office, so I will do this on non-rainy days (I typically don't have/use an umbrella when it rains).

2. Taking the stairs. This one makes me roll my eyes because it reminds me of living in NYC. For the most part, I hated living in NYC. One of the biggest reasons I hated living in NYC was the stairs. They were everywhere. So here I am - 2 flights of stairs up to my office and 2 flights of stairs down to the parking lot. I can do it but I will hate it. What I will think of is the fact that while living with those horrible stairs in NYC, I actually lost 2 pant sizes so I will grudgingly admit that they are good for something. I'll also remind myself that it's not stairs to the subway which I hated the most. Blech.

3. Walking. I want to start walking 3 times a week, a mile each time. By the middle of November I'd like to be walking 2 miles at a time and/or perhaps one or two more times a week. I need to get a couple of new play lists together for this goal. Looking forward to listening to Florence and the Machine and the Gossip during my walks!

That's where I am starting from, but I'm sure my goals will morph as I go along. Thanks again, Chuck, for the idea an inspiration! I'm excited!

Accepting the Challenge.

So my friend Chuck posted a challenge to his Facebook friends and family a few days ago. He wanted everyone to join him in a 90-day, end-of-year, through the holidays (WTF?!) challenge to lose weight, get fit and/or get healthier.

When I first saw the idea, I thought it was pretty cool. I was proud of Chuck for 'putting it out' there and I knew that I'd totally be there to root him on. Then there was a voice in the back of my head that asked if I'd participate. That question was answered with a very loud and very resounding, "Hell NO!" See, I'm not one who shares stuff like this with the general public. The very notion just scared the shit out of me. But the idea stuck.

Yesterday he posted another note. I thought about my fear and I thought about what I was afraid of, but couldn't really name anything solid, and very quietly the idea began to germinate.

This morning, being the persistent guy that he is, Chuck posted another note about his plan and challenge. My feelings this morning where torn. Part of me was, 'hell no - I'm not doing this publicly.' But then another part of me felt like I needed the challenge and it could be really good and really interesting to participate in publicly. I went to lunch and thought about it some more. I decided, why not? I could do this. If nothing else, Chuck and I will have each other's back. And that could be fun because before real life, jobs, kids and getting older Chuck and I always had each other's back in college.

So here I am. 2 days away from the beginning. I'm open to whatever happens and it'd be great fun to see if any of my other friends or family members choose to participate. Thanks, Chuck!