The year in year out resolution that probably most of us have made one time or another {other than organizing}, is to lose weight or at least to get more healthy! Am I right?
I have told you my weight loss story before. I was never overweight until after I had my first baby. I gained over 70 pounds - most of it was water, seriously - and even though I lost some of the weight, I then gained it back again after having my second baby and gained a total of 80 pounds. By the time I was 36 {and done having kids}, I was a good 40+ pounds overweight and needed to do something.
I had made {only in my own mind} a resolution to finally get that weight off. So, I organized my way to it. Three years later I can tell you that it still isn't easy. For me, maintaining my 40 pound-weightloss is still difficult - probably harder than losing the original weight!
Why is that? Well, I get complacent. I get lazy. I get tired of counting calories, dieting, and watching everything I eat! Last Christmas {Christmas 2010} I gained back 10 pounds! I FREAKED out, in my mind at least! I can tell you I've work nearly a whole year to try and lose that 10 pounds and it was harder than the 40 pounds I lost a few years ago! Why? Honestly, I don't know - I blame it on turning 40 this past year! I eat way less than I used to and I'm working out just as regularly. I've been told I haven't eaten enough to burn the calories by one source and another told me I was eating too many calories! Aack! What???
Honestly, I prayed and asked God to help me just have self control - regardless of whether I lost the weight since that seemed to be the real issue. What's funny is that I've been lactose intolerant for 15 years now, but all of the sudden I've become extremely sensitive to dairy products and now - well, now soy is a problem {my dairy substitute}. The good thing is that because of it, it has caused me such awful pain and misery whenever I had something with dairy or soy in it and completely taken the temptation that I had away to eat it again - knowing the consequences. That's right - no chocolate! I can have a tiny bit of DARK chocolate, but it has soy lecithin in it and I can only have a tiny bit and it's a little bitter! God has a sense of humor...but I'm actually thankful. By the way, I suddenly lost six pounds this fall!
Now comes my pep talk and some organizing to go along with it. If you are struggling with your weight, I probably don't have to tell you what to eat and how much and to exercise, right? You KNOW what you need to do - eat less, exercise more. So, I won't really get into that...but if you want to keep track of calories and keep accountable, I would suggest you use something like Weight Watchers or {for free} there are apps and websites available to help you out like FatSecret.com or Loseit.com.
I STILL walk my hill of death - 2 miles straight up the hill I live on - 4-5 days a week - plus another mile with the dog for a total of about 5 miles each day. Here are some of the things I have learned and maybe you could use it too.
1. Find an exercise you like or is easily do-able. If you like to bike, do zumba, go to the gym, run, or swimming.
2. Find a reliable partner, one that causes you both to be pushed harder to work out. Someone who isn't going to be flakey - if they are, drop them and find someone else {but do it nicely}.
3. Don't talk with your partner for most of your work out - my walking buddy and I NEVER talk on the way up the hill. First of all, if we can talk than we are not walking fast enough. Second, when we HAVE talked I can hardly breath and I'm REALLY tired.
4. Don't make excuses. Even though we have the occasional excuse to get out of exercising, we try not to skip it unless something BIG has come up. We also start right back up as soon as possible, not letting too much time go by.
5. Should you have a walking partner, make an agreement that if one of you is faster/slower than the other not to feel bad. We started out and I was a much faster walker than my partner. But, after a year of walking, she has now succeeded in keeping up with me - and because of that, she can see her success {plus she lost over 40 pounds, too}. And, it pushes me to want to walk even faster!
6. Eat right - just because you exercise, it doesn't give you the excuse to eat badly. You won't lose {or even maintain} your weight if you eat badly. Weight Watchers was really helpful for me to lose my 40 pounds. By having to pay to use it, it forced me to really be careful. If you go to WW meetings, that's even better to keep you accountable.
7. Wear the right clothing. Don't go out and buy a fancy outfit or anything, but make sure it's appropriate. The right shoes are a must for running and walking. I have many work out pants and tops, plus I have warmer clothing that I can layer, if necessary.
8. Push yourself. Make goals - I use an app on my Iphone {it's strapped to my arm when I walk, you can find one HERE} called Log Your Run {LYR} and it keeps track of distance and time and calories. I also did a half marathon as a goal and it was a GREAT motivator.
9. Keep accountable. With that same Iphone app I can publish my time on Facebook or Twitter. This is a great way to keep accountable, or have a friend you can text your daily walking/calorie counting to.
10. Play LOUD, upbeat music to keep your pace to. The only way I keep my fast pace is to walk to the beat or faster. I think it's the pianist in me - all those years with the metronome and I keep a pretty steady pace. The LYR app allows you to play your music THROUGH the app while walking.
You can go back over my past post about my whole weight loss story for more inspiration. Keep a daily record of what you're eating, keeping accountable to someone {reliable}, and exercise! I know self-control is a daily battle for me, and it's only by God's grace that I've seen a difference in my eating habits. But, I still struggle and I still need to be careful not to fall back into bad habits! Have you made a resolution to lose weight this year or get healthy? Share it here and inspire each other!
The Organized Resolutions Series:
Organized Resolutions: Weight Management
The Organized Resolutions Series:
Organized Resolutions: Weight Management
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