Month: December 2014

I think that defining my reasons for a change will help me stay motivated and on track.  Vaguely mumbling “well, it’s time to lose some weight!” to myself has not yet been useful or helpful so far.  So, in no particular order,  the things that I plan to keep in mind this coming year:

1 – I can’t sleep for crap.  I snore, I toss and turn and per my Fitbit, I wake up way more than I should. I get a good night maybe every 7-10 days.  This turns into a downward spiral because when I am tired, I crave carbs and sugar.

2 – Extra weight kind of hurts.  Things feel wrong, my knees throb and of course if clothes are too snug that feels awful.

3 – Oh, the clothes.  When my XL comfy shirts are getting tight, we have a problem.  Not to mention I want new clothes, but don’t want to buy new stuff in case I lose weight and waste money… it’s just a drama.

4 – General malaise and achiness. Not so much a weight thing, but if I gain it’s typically because I’m eating things that aren’t so good for me (or too much of anything). That makes me bloated and tired, plus I have lower energy from carrying around more pounds than I should.  I want to work out but I’m too tired – it’s a vicious cycle.

5 – Social discomfort.  I know, I know, I should feel at home in my skin no matter what. I don’t, though. I’m not one to worry much what others think but when I see my face in a picture and it doesn’t look like me, or I realize my clothes look awful or I look down and see a poochy stomach – I don’t feel comfortable at all.

So – my reasons may not be your reasons – you may read them as trivial or shallow. I don’t really care – I need to motivate myself with reasons that matter and you do, too.  I want to feel good, look good and sleep better. Tomorrow when I begin, I am going to try really hard to keep these things in mind when faced with food that doesn’t get me closer to my goals.  I have a menu planned out, the food shopped for and  a work out schedule mapped out but that will not do much good at all if I can’t keep my motivation in sight.

Or at least a working strategy for the month of January.

I’m an accountant/software consultant and January is typically my roughest month at work – worse than even March and April. If I can make a strategy that works this month – a month in which I could happily order a pizza every night and mainline chocolate – then it should be pretty reasonable for the other 11 months.

I tend somewhere between Paleo and Nourishing Traditions for my ideal template, although I have a tough time getting there.  I love the idea of mainly meat and veggies along with some cheese (duh), occasional legumes and sourdough and white potatoes/rice a couple times a week.  I’d like to avoid packaged/processed foods and most sugar and bread.  I do like my red wine, so that will stay. Sorry/not sorry.

I struggle with a lack of planning, so my downfall is that I totally space out and order take out after a rough day.  I am going to focus on planning my meals and making sure I have everything for the meals plus one or two emergency meals that fit within my template.  I’ll try to share my daily meals here starting  January 1 and also recap how well the plans worked.  I have been shopping on Friday but have decided Wednesday might work better going forward.

I’m going to log calories on My Fitness Pal, at least until I get into a groove with portions and servings.  I am aiming for about 1650 calories a day with macros of about 30 carb/30 protein/40 fat.

As for fitness – I have 2 loves that I have slacked on for the last 6 weeks. I am a level 2 green belt in Taekwondo and will head back to class with my kids starting Monday. I’d like to attend class 2x a week with an eye toward testing for level 3 green in February.  I love weight training too – I plan to hit the Y 2-3 times a week in January. For now I’ll do the machines which are better than nothing, and finish reading Starting Strength so I can move to barbell training within a month or two.

OK – that’s what I’ve got!  I think I’m happy with the plan, it’s specific and doable.  I have  my menu for the week starting Thursday mapped out and I’ll go shopping tomorrow. I have almost all the crap out of the house… OH! I did decide once a week I can have something totally yummy and unhealthy (like birthday cake, or leftover frozen peppermint cheesecake or…. )