Weight Loss Tips #13: Scheduling and Consistency

I woke up today with the strangest memory.  I had this memory of going down to the Alabama River with my parents when I was a kid, sitting on the big steps and eating a huge Wendy's cheeseburger. (This is probably because my husband left Wendy's coupons in the kitchen for some unknown reason!)  My parents used to take the four of us down to the river on Sundays a lot.  It was one of the only times we would be allowed to have fast food and SODA!  We would picnic, watch the boats on the river, and then play on the long-since gone wooden playground near the Silos.  Some of my best memories are from those Sundays spent with my family. 

Of course the portion sizes back then, even at Wendy's, were smaller than they are today.  So my huge Wendy's cheeseburger was (maybe) an appropriate size for a seven or eight year old girl wearing turquoise overalls covered in butterflies.  Oh the 80's! 

Anyway--I'll get to the point of this blog, because apparently I just love to change subjects.  One of my co-workers yesterday said this to me, "I don't know how you do everything, Lauren."  That little statement got me thinking, because you know, I just love to spin the wheels in my brain. 

What does it take to lose weight?  It takes a REALISTIC schedule and CONSISTENCY!  I have a little bit of an obsessive compulsive personality, and when I started out I wanted to workout every single night.  I wanted to go to Taekwondo no matter what else was going on in my life.  This was not REALISTIC!!!  For one thing, I was missing out on my children's lives.  Another, I was not giving my body the time it needed to rest.

So, when you're starting a workout routine you need to ask yourself: How many days can I feasibly workout?  What times can I go?  When can I fit this into my schedule?  You need to do this and still make sure you have time for yourself, time for your spouse, time for your kids, and time to rest.  So, if the only times you have to work out are at 5 AM, then I suggest finding a morning Boot Camp, or finding a really good video that you know you'll stick to.  I, for one, really like a class because of the accountability factor, but classes are not for everyone and will not fit into everyone's lives as easy as they have into mine. 

And now for the big one: BE CONSISTENT!!!  Once you start eating well and exercising right make it a part of your life.  You know how they always say the key to disciplining a child is consistency.  Well the key to disciplining yourself is exactly the SAME.  Once you've committed to going to the gym three days a week: GO!  Stop making EXCUSES!!!  It will take weeks and weeks before you actually want to do it, so just drag yourself out of the house with the negative talk going in your head, until one day you just get in your car and drive there and realize this is now a part of your life. 

The same goes for eating well.  Yes, eating a big Wendy's burger every once in a while, will not derail you, but once you've changed the way you eat you need to try to stick with it.  Go to the grocery store and make the right food choices.  Read labels, and see if you're eating actual food or just STUFF with salt added.  Gravitate towards natural foods and try to eat whole foods more often.  Soon, you'll notice that instead of that candy bar for snack you'll want some carrots, a banana, or some nuts. 

 

If you missed last week's edition: HERE IT IS!

 

*Artwork found on Google

 

 



Weight Loss Tips 11: What to Eat and How to Keep Going

I'm exhausted this morning.  Darling Daughter crawled into bed with us some time in the middle of the night, and she thinks that her little 2 year old body should own the whole bed!  She sleeps on my head, on my pillow, on my stomach.  So much for her staying in her bed.  I really need to work on that after my upcoming road trips, because I'm pretty much out of town every weekend for the foreseeable future, and Darling Daughter will be Hubby's child.  Hopefully without me here, he can whip her into shape (not literally, because we rarely spank!). 

So this mornind I was laying in bed wondering what I was going to blog about.  I don't really have many more weight loss tips up my sleeves.  Yesterday, I randomly took photos of my breakfast and snacks to show you what healthy, clean eating looks like, so here they are:

 

For breakfast, I had a bowl of Oats with fresh cut up strawberries.  I buy the regular Old Fashioned Oats, and for sweetness I add honey.  Honey is a natural sugar, so your body processes it better than pure white sugar.  I cook my oatmeal with 2% milk for the calcium.  This is so tasty.  Then, I added a boiled egg for some protein to tide me over.  I was seriously stuffed after I ate this.  Oatmeal expands in your stomach, and it keeps you full for a longer time in the morning and less likely to snack. 

 

 

 

Snacking is not bad though if you're aware of what you're putting in your mouth.  Here are the snacks I brought to work yesterday.  If I have these, then I'm way less likely to go to that EVIL vending junk machine that is in our hallway!  My snacks consists of a bag of pistachios, an orange, a banana, and a homemade trail mix.  The trail mix will last me a few days, as that portion size is way too big to eat in one day.  It consists of mixed nuts, raisins, Chex mix, and a few chocolate and peanut butter chips.  The homemade trail mix is really my favorite snack.  I bring it to work almost every day. Nuts provide you protein and energy throughout the day, and they also make you less hungry. 

 

Now that you have some visual aids, here are a few tips for this week:

• Stay Consistent: If you've already committed to exercising and reducing your food intake, stay consistent.  This doesn't mean you can't splurge, but make the conscious decision to live your life in a healthy way every day. 
 
• Prepare, Prepare, Prepare: Planning out your meals and your snacks helps you avoid eating catastrophes.  Having pre-packaged snacks at work might help you avoid eating something that you shouldn't.  Having a plan is always a good thing!
 
• Incorporate Exercise in Your Life: Exercise can be so fun!  That's why I go to Taekwondo, because I enjoy doing it so much, and I also get the added benefit that it's good for me.  I went to a Latin Craze class earlier this week, which I loved but alas I have no more time or money in my life to join yet another exercise group!  You'll find once you incorporate exercise in your life, you'll miss it when you don't do it.  Exercise is great for your mental health too.
 
• Never Give Up: If you give up, you'll never know what you're capable of achieving! I've achieved so many things this year I never thought I could do, because I never gave up.  I can ran 3 miles now, where six months ago I couldn't even run 1!  I can do it, because I stuck to it. I trusted myself, I egged myself on, and I stopped the negative feed in my head, tuning only in to the positive. You can do it too!