Friday, January 27, 2012

238.0

well...

let's check in on my progress, shall we?
i recently posted my list of goals. kinda like resolutions, but not really.

my hubby went cold turkey, remember? no sweets, no fried foods. he has a bajillion times more willpower than i do. you can offer him something and without batting an eyelash or even a second's hesitation, he says NO. ugh...to be so strong.

i know my weaknesses. i know that if i don't allow myself a few things (in moderation) i will cheat. i will wait until i'm by myself and i will eat whatever i'm craving and pretend it didn't happen because no one was around to see it.

so, with that in mind, here's how i've been doing so far.

1. do not bring sweets into the house
this is my weakest area. i mentioned before that i'm lazy. haha. if i'm craving something sweet, and we don't have anything, the chances that i will head out to pick something up are about as good as the chances of me being struck by lightning will i'm claiming my 25 million dollar lottery prize. but...if i don't have something sweet every now and then, i kind of get cranky. so i've found a few YUMMY alternatives that i keep stocked at home. my kryptonite is ice cream. weight watchers chocolate dipped ice cream bars are UH-MAZING! and edy's triple chocolate no sugar added ice cream? honestly...not the best on it's own. but slice up some bananas on top, or make a chocolate banana shake with it? heaven!

2. limit food at night
i've been working really hard on this one. i am a night owl, so i'm generally up til close to midnight every night. (i know...that in itself, is something i need to work on...but small steps, people.) i've tried to be very observant of the time. if i get hungry after 9, i try to stick to a handful of pretzels, an apple, or, my current favorite snack...carrot chips with bleu cheese.

**i'm not a nutritionist. i'm no good at counting calories or carbs or grams of sugar, so i don't really know the health/benefits of any of the items i've listed in #1 or #2. what i do know is that they are vast improvements over my old standards.**

3. get active at least once a week
well. i'm not sure i can even bring myself to face you on this one. remember the "i'm lazy" statement? yeah. it's hard to get around that. after teaching all day long, and then coming home to 2 girls who have to do chores, work on homework, and fight with each other, i'm pretty freaking exhausted. let me give you an example. there was a news story on the other night about a study on weight loss. they found a correlation between the cold and the rate of your metabolism. the colder you get, the harder your body works to regulate your core temperature, boosting your metabolism and burning extra calories. they point of the story was to encourage people to get outside and walk or exercise in the winter-time. my thoughts were "oooh...i'll just turn the furnace down." haha! that's me...lazy mclazerson. what i'm trying to say is, i have failed in this area. i kind of knew it was bound to happen. i don't enjoy doing things i hate all by myself. and i don't really have anyone to do the things i hate with. so, i usually busy myself with other things...school work, research, blogging, emptying the dvr. you know...important stuff.


do know that i'm working on improving myself. i'm trying to make small changes. not dieting exactly, but making permanent adjustments to the way and things that i eat (right sarah t?). i can tell you in all sincerity that if you put my carrot chips & blue cheese next to a cheeseburger and fries, i'm almost always going to pick the first one. (ALMOST always...come on. i'm not a complete fool.)

i know it's a long process. i know nothing will happen overnight. i know my weaknesses....and i'm working to improve them.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

240.0

i'm baaaaaaaack...

i've been m.i.a. since march! what!?!?! you'd think that, in 10 months time, i would have been able to think up a really good excuse. lengthy illness. extended vacation. alien abduction.

but, nope. i've got nothin'. there is no excuse for my absence other than i'm. freaking. lazy.
we all know how resolutions go. you're gung ho for the first couple months, then you slowly start to fall back into old routines and habits.
so, after a few months, i slowly stopped making time for blog posts. i stopped being so overly concerned with what time i ate. if i was hungry, i ate something...but i didn't concern myself so much with what i was eating. heck, i was even eating when i wasn't hungry.

the closer it got to the holidays, the less i cared about doing the right thing. chocolate? this halloween candy isn't going to eat itself. seconds? of course...it's thanksgiving. ice cream? sure...it's almost christmas. what's worse? i rubbed off on the hubby and he joined me in my gluttony.

when we neared the last week of december, my hubby and i had a chat. we decided that we needed to change what we were doing. and, we needed to do it TOGETHER. thank god! i'm nothing if not an excellent planner. but i'm sucky on the follow-through if i don't feel like anyone's holding me accountable. i'm like an 8 year old kid. if no one sees me do it, it doesn't count. if i can get away with it, i will. yay, me, for being an adult. ^insert sarcasm^

our last week of december was comical. there was a lot of, "you better finish that box of chocolates. you only have 3 more days." a few, "since this is our last hurrah, let's get taco bell." we were ridiculous.

but, when january 1st rolled around, we opened the cabinets, cleared out the sweets. opened the freezer and threw out the ice cream (that one HURT). went to the grocery and bought fruits and veggies. my new snack of choice? pretzels.

my hubby is going cold turkey: no sweets, no fried foods.
but i'm not him, so we had to lay down some ground rules.

1. do not bring sweets into the house.
*remember how i'm an elementary student when it comes to food? if you tell me i CAN'T have it, i want it EVEN MORE. so, if i want ice cream, i must go get it (remember i'm also lazy) and eat it before i get home. this will not happen often. trust me! if i'm already home, it's VERY unlikely i will drag my lazy ass back out of the house.

2. limit food at night
*ok...so, we all get a little hungry a couple hours after dinner. this used to be the time i would grab my ice cream. (do you see a theme? ice cream is my WEAKNESS) the girls are finally in bed, i'm finally sitting down to relax...why not reward myself with a treat? now, my aim is to eat my last meal/snack as close to 9p.m. as possible. some pretzels, veggies...occasionally some fruit (gotta watch that sugar before bed)

3. get active at least once a week
*i know that sounds like nothing. but, i have to set realistic expectations for myself. if i feel like it's something i HAVE to do, i don't want to do it. if i feel like it's a chore, i will protest. they recently completed construction in our neighborhood, and we've been connected to a plat behind us. we are now able to actually walk around the block. i'd like to try this at least once a week. whatever it is, i need to have a period of activity once a week. i'd like this to increase as we progress through the year, but for now, it will be 1 more period of activity per week than i've had in the past.


i think that's good for now. the more i write down, the less i want to do. (geez...perhaps number 4 should be grow up.)

do me a favor, help me out. pop in every once in a while and say hi. check on me. yell at me if i haven't posted. let me know how your journey's going (if you're on this same crazy ride.) we all do better with the support of our friends and family.