Day Three: Plan of Attack

Alright. Here goes....I know I want to lose weight and I know what my goals and expectations are. Well, how exactly do I plan on achieving them? I have researched quite a few plans online and I have received a lot of feedback from friends and family (Thank You All!). I decided that I do not want to start some super crazy boot camp-like ridiculously calorie restricted program. Why? Because I will quit before I start. A popular word(s) of advice has been "Weight Watchers Online". My mother and my sister in law have both joined and have already seen results. Just by asking friends on FB I have been told many great things. Several success stories. And you know what? The online program is super affordable! ($17/mon). So I signed up!

The program is custom designed for my size, basically I am not eating the same amount of food as someone 50lbs lighter than me, but rather in accordance to my weight. The online tools have already helped me set some weight goals. My 1st goal is to lose 10% of my start weight. And after each time I hit a weight goal I will *reward* myself (Yay for reinforcements!) and create a new weight goal, which will be 10% of that current weight. This will continue until I reach my goal weight. I calculated and did a mini forecast...if I do the 10% goals, then I have to reach 4 goals total to make it to my goal weight! That doesn't seem so bad! And of course there will be times I hit plateaus, and I will have to overcome them.

So....WW has some great tracking tools that I plan on using to my utmost advantage! I can log in daily and track my food and activity. I am able to plan my meals and recipes (according to point value!) all in one place. And I will weigh myself weekly. A cool thing about WW is that not only do I get a set amount of daily points, but I also get a weekly allowance that I can choose to use in a number of ways. I can use the extra points on a day that I might feel a little more hungry, or maybe accidentally go over my daily allotment. I can divide it up for small daily treats or save it up for a bigger weekly treat. That at the moment is to be determined...(if you have done WW, let me know if you have found 1 way to be more helpful and why).

Food...right on the website are some tricks to measure food with my hands (thumb is an ounce of cheese or meat, fist is a cup of fruit or pasta, palm is 3oz of meat/fish/poultry, etc), so now I can easily figure it out without just "guessing"....Which is great, because I am normally a generous guesser! Breakfast: I think I am going to try doing a cereal along with a fruit for most days. I am just starting a new job and I am not sure how crazy my days are going to be. I don't want to set a goal of making a hot meal every morning until I know its feasible. Lunch and Dinner will rotate for me, since I will work some days and some evenings. So I am going to choose a WW friendly meal (like a SmartOne) while I am at work and then a sensible meal for when I am at home. Basically some days will be SmartOne for Lunch, sensible meal for Dinner and the other days will be Sensible Lunch and a SmartOne for Dinner. Snacks: I need to incorporate some filling and healthy snacks (please give me tips!). My cousin told me that Peanut Butter has helped her combat hunger. She advised a spoonful of it, and waiting like 30 mins. And I should feel satisfied and not hungry anymore. I will try to add some veggies and fruits for snacks, and possibly some protein bars.

WW Online suggests that I incorporate 5 servings of fruit/veg, 1-2 servings of meat, 2 servings of milk, and 6 glasses of water....(along with healthy fats and whole grains). That doesn't seem very overwhelming to me (wahoo!) I am also going to take a B12 and a multi vitamin.

Physical Activity: To start off, I am going to incorporate 30 mins of walking (either outside or by using my gazelle) everyday and challenge myself to add an additional DVD workout 3 times a week. As I get more comfortable, I want to increase both the walking and the extra workouts. Its been a very long time since I've consistently worked out. I also have an extra benefit that for the past 4 years I haven't had. A job that requires me to stand! My last job was in a cubicle, and the work was rather monotonous. So what happened? I sat all day and snacked all day too! Time to change! My new job will not allow me to snack constantly, which will help A LOT.

Okay, so this blog wasn't very exciting but it was informative. I am happy that its not a crazy plan, and it is extremely doable. I have been in a hotel room for the past 2 weeks making it almost impossible to start---but hurray! tomorrow I go back home :) I am going to hit the grocery store and get all my tools for success ready. Wish me luck! Tomorrow I plan on opening up about some of the emotions that come with being fat. Stay Tuned! Please share my blog with your friends if you enjoyed it!

-With much hope and a lot of prayer

Lizzy

*Sexy or Bust*

Day Two: My Goals & Expectations

Its always a good idea to have a set of goals or accomplishments in anything you set out to do right? So, I guess that is where I will begin today's blog. I have an ultimate goal and I have several mini-goals that I hope to reach in between. My main goal? To be about a size 10. If you read Day 1, you will remember that although size 10 was not my smallest size, it was definitely the size I felt the most sexy and comfortable in. I enjoy having curves. I am Puerto Rican & Proud. At a size 10 I am a Pepsi bottle or hour glass shape. So that is my ultimate goal. I want a flat[ter] stomach, but I want my hips, butt, and breasts (just proportionately smaller of course.)

Okay, ultimate goal: Check. Now, mini goals... 1) I want to start an exercise routine that I won't quit. 2) I want to start eating proportionately (I love foooood, but I need to start eating the right amounts!) 3) Let's see... I need to start incorporating more water intake. Sometimes a day will go by and I've barely had a sip. 4) And lastly I want to continue to Blog along the way.

How am I going to reach these goals? Well, as far as exercise goes, I have plenty of tools to my advantage (that I have sadly let sit and collect dust for far too long). I have a set of Zumba DVDs. I have owned a Gazelle since December of 2006! (For a while I thought it was an extra shelf for clothes....) We have On Demand, which gives me endless supply of workouts. AND if I remember correctly, there is a fitness center courtesy of my apartment place that I have at my disposal. I know, I know....if I already had these tools, why am I not using them? One word: Lazy. Part (a big part) of the reason I have not been successful is that I have a tendency to be lazy or try to take the "easy" way out. I need to focus on the fact that if I want to lose weight, and be healthy, AND keep it off then I need to stop being lazy. I need to get my more than ample booty (or bootay) off the couch and in motion.

Food. My best friend and my worst enemy. I love food. I love cooking and baking and eating....*sigh* And I know, because I have been down this road quite a few times, that cooking and baking and eating does NOT have to be about fat and sugar and other unhealthy components... There are just a few things that I am going to need to overcome. I will have to take on a different mindset. You might be wondering what I mean. Well, let me explain. I am a picky vegetable eater. Vegetables I like: Broccoli, Asparagus, Corn (is it a veg?), Raw Celery, Squash, Zucchini, and Eggplant. (And of course staples like onions and peppers). Vegetables I don't really care for: Everything else. LOL....Okay okay I forgot lettuce. I do like lettuce. So finding side dishes that are healthy will be a tough task for me. If you are reading this and have some recipes or ideas PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I will take any advice I can get. I also need to focus on remembering that portion size is so very important. I am used to eating huge man-sized plates. And most times getting seconds. As I write that I am ashamed. But it is my reality. And this is my mission to make a new reality.

Next mini goal will probably be my one of the easiest. (Unless I just jinxed myself). Water. H20. Agua. Hydration. In the past, once I struggle through the first week of drinking lots and lots of water, I usually end up craving it. So I know that this is feasible. And I know I can do added things to flavor the water but I probably should limit that to once a day. Or else I will only want sweetened drinks. I can live without sodas, and for the most part I can live without sweet tea. So again, I am hoping this goal is an easy one.

Okay next comes what I am already doing. Blogging! My cousin RBL and I both read an article on Yahoo! that stated people who blog while trying to lose weight have a higher success rate. So here goes. I hope I have readers out there. And I hope I haven't bored you to tears yet. I have no idea how this blog will pan out. All I know is that its worth a shot. I hope that I find this process to be encouraging and in a sense, an emotional cleansing process. There are a lot of feelings and emotions behind being fat. Some that I have voiced to close friends, and some that even my husband probably hasn't heard. (And if he is reading this, well...now he will).

Okay the 2nd part of today's post is supposed to be my expectations. Well. Honestly, I expect this to be difficult. It is said that nothing worth it, is ever easy. So I would be a fool to think this would be any different. I mean sure, the mini goals aren't rocket science. But I will have to make conscience efforts to overcome laziness and procrastination. I will have to retrain my way of thinking. I expect to cry...a lot. (I am naturally an emotional wreck) I expect there to be days where I want to quit. But I also expect myself to get over it. If I want to be happy and healthy then I need to put all these obstacles behind me.

So that is all for now. Tomorrow I want to talk about what kind of exercise regimen I am going to do, and what type of eating plans (not diet!) I am going to attempt. I hope you enjoyed today's post. Share it with your friends or leave a comment if you can.

With much hope and a lot of prayer,

Lizzy

*Sexy or Bust*