October 1, 2009 By thea
Today is October 1st and things must change.
I’m struggling.
No. Wait. That’s not true.
strug·gle (\ˈstrə-gəl\)
1 : to make strenuous or violent efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition 2 : to proceed with difficulty or with great effort
Both of those definitions make use of the word “effort”.
ef·fort (\ˈe-fərt, -ˌfȯrt\)
1: conscious exertion of power : hard work
2: a serious attempt
I have not been struggling. You cannot have struggle without effort. I have not been efforting.
I just made that up.
I have been doing this “weight loss” thing a long time. And every once in a while I go through a rut. The ruts seem to be coming much more often lately. Which means I need to shake things up. I need to come up with a new game plan. There’s lots of things that need to be addressed so I am going to tackle them one by one.
- Am I still trying to lose or am I trying to maintain? It seems like a simple question, but I am stuck between the two mentalities. Also, I need to adjust my points accordingly (23 points vs. 27 points)
- Tracking – I have been tracking online, but I’m thinking that I need to keep a paper journal as well as the online tracking. There are times when I can’t get to the computer so hopefully keeping a paper journal in my purse will help me when I’m…say…staring at the candy selections in line at Target.
- Breakfast – I eat over 1/3 of my points at breakfast. My typical breakfast is 8.5 points. That’s a lot of points, but it’s the healthiest meal I eat all day (oatmeal, oil, fruit, dairy, coffee). I need to figure out how to reduce my breakfast, but still include oil.
- Food choices – I eat a lot of carbs and processed foods. I don’t really like to cook, so I tend to look for foods that can be heated up in the microwave or eaten straight out of the package. I like FAST. I need to prepare more food and eat a little “cleaner”. I took advantage of Christy’s links and ordered a few magazines to help me spruce things up.
- Desserts – Oh, desserts. I need to find low points desserts that actually satisfy me. And I REALLY need to stop ordering desserts every time we go out to eat.
- Eating out – I need to break up with chicken tenders and all things breaded. I’ve broken up with food before. I know I can do it. And I know, in time, I won’t even miss the food. (Who ever would’ve thought I would not miss donuts?)
- Activity – I have been so much better with working out, but I dismiss it much too easily. I have discovered that I am much more motivated when I have a goal (signing up for a 5k or completing a 30 day challenge for example) but finding new goals is what I need to investigate more.
- Rewards – I used to be so much better with this. Heather’s post today just reminded me that I need to set myself goals AND rewards. I’ve moved my personal progress page here and this time I’ve included rewards. In keeping with #2, I’ve also created a sticker chart for myself that I will hang right next to my son’s sticker chart. Everyone loves stickers!!
I need your feedback on this one! What are your go to meals? Do you have quick recipes you rely on for lunch? How do you choose fitness goals??