Next Steps

I am pretty happy with myself at the moment.

I have my water here, I packed my clothes to go to the gym at lunch, I packed a healthy lunch for today and I ate breakfast.

I got some exercise over the weekend working on the barn, but yesterday I made some poooooor choices.. like snacking all day and lying around.

Today is a new day.. Monday and I am back on track.

I have a gym membership that I have not used in over 6 months.. any one else in that boat with me?

January is always crowded when most people.. including myself.. decide to get back at it.  This year, I turn 40.  I have been seeing quite a few blog posts out there about 40 things people are going to do because they are turning 40 this year.  I am still thinking about the 40 things I would want to accomplish this year and if I can get it together this week, I may post those here, since most of the 40 things have to do with shrinking the size of my breeches and well, breeches in general.

One of those things is taking a trip up to British Columbia.  Living in Washington State, it is not a far drive to Langley B.C.  My best friend lives in B.C. as well, so we take trips up there as often as possible.

I am planning on buying a couple pairs of britches there.. why?  Well.. the Equestrian Factory Outlet is opening next month in Langley B.C.!!!!!

You can check them out at their Website.. Equestrian Outlet.

Their website is not very informative, but We saw an ad in Flying Changes magazine this month for the Langley store!  Basically, they carry a large selection of European brands and they are up to 75% off!

I also found out that Kerrits has their annual sale in Oregon in December.  I will also be doing a trek there this year.

I have many dreams and or goals this year that I would like to accomplish.  I tend to dream big.. and now I need to put the work in to accomplish some of those things.

For me.. the biggest project I have for this year is my health.  Weight, stopping smoking, and getting fit are all my number one priorities for myself this year.

So I will report on the end of the day, what I accomplished.  Happy Monday everyone!

Setbacks

Everyone has them correct?

The question I end up asking myself is.. What am I going to do to overcome them.

Here are my current "setbacks"

I missed breakfast three days in a row.. but I did have a Luna bar this morning.
(I stalked up on those for my desk at work.. it helps to have something here when I forget)

I ate fast food twice this week for lunch.. Same reason.. I forgot (didn't plan) my lunch and so I skulked off to Burger King

I have not done Wii Fit or my Sports active at all this week.

I have absolutely NO excuse.. except that I was gone at night two nights and the other two.. yep.. back on the couch, being exhausted...

So.. It is Friday.. and I am going to be doing housework this evening so I can work on the barn this weekend.. which means... that I will be getting some excersize outside, building and lifting and walking back and forth from the house to the barn.. and on Sunday afternoon, I will be planning out the week and I think I am going to see if I can find a few fun things to help me remember my lunches and breakfasts next week.

It is also time to implement the next phase of my plan.. Consistent Exercise.

I will be posting on my plan for that this weekend...
What are your setbacks and how do you over come them?  I need all the help I can get!

Step one.. plan for my success

The first step I have decided to take is to make a plan.

Making a plan for me is one way I hope to ensure success.

So I am getting honest with myself and making a plan to tackle my challenge areas.

I love to eat.  I know that it is the single biggest issue for me... FOOD!  I love food.  I love cheesy, starchy, fatty food.  I am not a big sweets eater, but I love me some bread and cheese and some nasty fatty bacon cheeseburgers.

I also love salad, with good dressing.. of course.. and I love veggies.  I love fruit, and I love whole grains.. sooo part of my plan is to look at all of the foods I love to eat and figure out how I can make them a part of my lifestyle without sacrificing being healthy.

There are a million weight loss "plans" out there.  South Beach, Weight Watchers, Biggest Loser, Atkins, Grapefruit diet, Belly Fat diet.. but they all have one thing in common...

Consume less calories in a day, and less fat in a day and exercise to lose the weight.

There are also a gazillion tools out there.  I like SparkPeople the best.. why?  It is Free, and you can track everything.  It has meal plans available, exercise plans, message boards, blogs, articles and recipes.  I will be using Spark People to track everything, but I am going to use my own meal plans based on a variety of information I have gathered from books, the internet, and common sense.

Changing how I eat, is one part, but I want to make sure that I can follow this lifestyle from now on.. forever.. and that is a long time.  So I don't want to completely cut out cheese, bread, pasta, or chocolate.. just shift the types and make better portion control choices.

Click HERE for the my pyramid portion sizes that we Should be eating.. it is an eye opener!


My biggest challenge with eating healthy and losing weight.. is how I eat throughout the day.  I am NOT a breakfast eater.  It is very difficult for me to think of food in the morning.  I also notice that when I eat breakfast, I become hungry faster and that of course leads to poor food choices.. when I am not prepared..so I am getting prepared.  Eating small meals throughout the day is the mantra of most fitness and health experts.. protein, healthy carbs and low fat are the way to go, 5 to 6 times a day.. hmmmm so What does that look like?  Well, I am are aiming for 1500 calories a day to start and that would be ideal to spread out over 5 to 6 meals a day.

I am not really a grazer by nature.  I am more of a stuff my face a couple times a day..and then feel like crap.




The first step to my plan is to decide how many meals I will eat a day, and what those meals will look like.

Here is the first phase of my plan:

Breakfast.. 200 to 250 calories  Eat by 9:00 AM every day.. no matter what.. NON negotiable

Snack:  200 Calories  Between 11am and noon

Lunch:  350 Calories  Between 1 and 3pm

Dinner:  400 Calories  Between 6 and 7pm

Snack:  200 Calories  Between 8 and 9pm

This is what works for me.. It may not work for anyone else.. but this is what is realistic for me.  It gives me a buffer of 150 calories a day.

So The next installment will be all about Breakfast.. including some 250 calorie choices.

I am now off to eat that breakfast.