Starting Over, Feeling Good

Struggle is a part of most things we do to improve ourselves and our lives, and that's definitely been true for me the past couple of weeks with my weight-loss/healthy living efforts. As I have before and may have to again, I'm in a bit of a starting over spot. For the past two weeks, I've allowed myself to get away from tracking my calories and exercising/eating like I should. I have all manner of excuses (board meeting, stress in various areas, travel, Thanksgiving), but I hate that I let those things derail me. But I'm not going to beat myself up over it because that won't do me any good either. So, beginning today (Monday), I'm looking ahead and rededicating myself to this effort again. And I'm going to do it by sharing my actual weight with you. When I stepped on the scales this morning, I weighed in at 164.8 pounds. Tonight, I weighed a little more, as was to be expected since we weigh the least in the morning, but I used a new scale to check my BMI, which registered at 27 -- in the overweight range. I need to shave 3 points off that BMI to get back below the overweight range, and my goal weight by my birthday at the end of May is 140. My more immediate goal is to hit 155 by the end of the year -- yep, 31 days from now. So, how am I going to do that?

1. 2 hours of exercise each day, no excuses -- I got that in today with 1 hour 10 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes of stretching/elastic band work/sit-ups, and 30 minutes house cleaning.

2. Keep track of my food intake, no excuses -- 1,483 calories consumed today; need to shave 200-300 calories off that in the days ahead.

3. Read something to inspire me each day -- Today, I read a few pages in the latest issue of Prevention.

4. Writing progress each day -- This will help me to not feel guilty about taking 2 hours out of each day to exercise if I am also putting in the hours necessary to make good progress on my writing projects. I feel good about today's progress because I finished the second chapter of a new proposal, then printed out and read the first two chapters I'd written (copy edited, made notes about characters/setting to refresh my memory, jotted down ideas about future scenes) since those two weeks of dismal health choices also included dismal writing progress.

5. Don't forget to reward myself for good behavior. Today, I still had enough time in amongst all the writing, editing, exercise and other tasks to watch two episodes of Gilmore Girls (just started season 6). Just call me one of Pavlov's dogs. :)

6. Cook a healthy dinner at least 5 nights a week. This will also help in my husband's weight-loss efforts, something that is extremely important to me. I'm off to The Biggest Loser Web site now to look up a recipe for tomorrow night's dinner.

I have to say that Day 1 of this renewed effort has left me feeling good, physically and emotionally. I just need to remember that feeling to keep going.

How are the rest of you faring in your journey? Share your recent ups and downs. Anyone interested in joining me in my extra efforts this month. Let's see how many pounds the Healthy Writer community can lose in December! Seriously, I challenge yourself to weigh yourself today, post that number somewhere you'll see it every day (above your computer, on the refrigerator door) to inspire you to get in that exercise and make healthy food choices. Keep track of how much you lose this month, and report back on Dec. 31.

Here's to a great December!