Big Steps - New Month

It's a new month. Time to make a fresh start, right? That's what I was thinking too. This is going to be a tough month. One where I could, and probably will, make a lot of excuses to not really follow the diet. This weekend is the Fourth of July and we are taking an extended weekend off. I forsee lunches and dinners out as we have plans to catch the Royals in action, a trip the aquarium at Crown Center, and based on the amazing forecast, a trip to the zoo. The trip to the zoo, and a walk to the local pool, will result in some exercise, but nothing that will exert too much energy! However, I'm hoping the minor activity will help keep the weight gain at bay!

 

   In three weeks we are heading to Virginia for a family reunion and there will be lots of food and drinks to be had. The thought of counting points, withholding treats and drinks, and not allowing myself to have the things I love while on vacation just doesn't sound appealing. And, we aren't going to be getting any exercise so that doesn't really help my case. All, I can say is that this girl will take her vacation in stride and if pounds are gained, so be it!

 

Outside of these two fun filled family vacations, we don't have anything planned for July. If I make poor choices here and there, that's okay. I have the rest of the month to work out the kinks. However, there is our big cocktail party at the end of the month. Remember me telling you about it and how I have the dress all picked out? Well, I need to be careful but not too careful as there was this invention of SPANX several years ago!

 

This past weekend we had a BBQ which involved a lot of food, several desserts and a couple of beers! And, there was leftovers of the food and desserts. (There was plenty of leftover beer, but I only drank at the BBQ.) I can report, that with all the consumption, I still lost 0.8 pounds! I was pretty happy about that. I would say that July has started off with a bang! Get it...bang...fireworks...

 

I'll keep you posted on the progress!



Big Steps!

I know people say to take baby steps when you're first starting out with something new, but not this girl! I've never been that girl! Just ask my mom. I am a "go big or go home" kind of girl! I blogged about self image on Style My Way a couple of months ago and decided to finally take the reigns and do something about it. I mean, no one is going to lose the leftover baby weight but me, right? So, I signed up for Weight Watchers online yesterday. Yes, it was on May 13th. Yes, it was on the second week of May. Yes, I realize that if you are going to set a goal for yourself most people start it off at the beginning of a new month. Again, not this girl!! I also know you are never supposed to utter the words diet in public! One should never tell family and close friends that "I started a diet" because if you fail, they know you failed! However, going back to my forty before 40 post, look at numbers 13 and 14. I pretty much spelled it out!

Dieting is hard. Dieting sucks!! I know that on Weight Watchers they claim that you can still eat the foods you love, but that's not really the case! I love cupcakes, cookies, bread, milkshakes, frosting from the can, candy bars.....can I really eat all of those things? Yes, if I don't want to lose weight! Yes, if I eat them within moderation. Yes, if I stay within the points I'm given per day. But what it really boils down to is, no! I can't really eat those foods as often as I would like! I have to be choosy about when I actually eat them. Like when no one is looking or I lie about it on my tracking tool!

Another component of dieting is the dreaded exercise. For those of you who love to work out, I envy you. I hate it! I dread going to the gym, pulling out the workout clothes and getting on that treadmill or lifting those free weights. However, when all is said and done, I feel better afterward. It's just getting through it! I've made the cardio/motivational play list for my iPad. I read magazines or books will on the treadmill. It's just getting myself pumped to go! Yesterday, since my hubby picked up the peanut, I decided to hit the streets instead of the gym. The weather is too gorgeous right now to holed up in the gym. I put on shorts, the horror, threw on the old tennies and off I went. I walked the general route of our neighborhood and kept pretty a pretty good pace. Lots of hills, I went that way on purpose, and felt really good after I got home. I even slept well for the first time in months!

I'm sore today but it's a good sore. I haven't really pushed myself to walk like that in ages. Sure, I stroll around the zoo, Deanna Rose, the mall, but it's all at the pace of a two year old and that's just not cutting the mustard. Will I get back in the gym, maybe. Will I be more inclined to try and get out among nature, probably? Will I bring myself to charge up the controls to my Wii, yes! Because I have a goal! I need to stay focused. I'm not going reveal how many LBs I plan to lose. That's between me and my reflection in the mirror. Oh, and that little number on the scale that's screaming at me! But I will try my hardest to lose what I can however fast I can. Right now, my eight tracker is telling I need to lose eight pounds by next Monday. That is NOT going to happen because who loses eight pounds in less than a week? Celebrities, that's who!

So, it's out there! Like Harry Burns said, "Call the cops, it's out there!" I'm not brave enough, like Jessica of What I Wore, to photograph myself before and after. I honestly can't be that honest with you on my appearance. Vanity, self-conscious, scared. Call it what you will. I can't bring myself to go that far. I can tell you how I'm doing, tricks I've found, recipes I've tried and loved and how I'm feeling throughout the process! Until then....wish me luck!