As of January 6, 2013, I have started my new lifestyle. I'm not calling it a diet because a diet is a temporary change in food consumption. The changes I am making are to be permanent, mostly if I want to lose weight, keep it off and kick my addiction to sugar.
The third step of my quest: Setting Goals.
1. The first, and most important goal, is to become healthier. I am a severe asthmatic and I have a knee condition, both of which are strongly affected by my excessive weight. It would be nice to be able to breathe easier and not have achy knees all the time!
2. I need to eat more produce. I'm a very picky eater. I have a major issue with textures, which is why I don't eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I like most of the flavours, just not how the fruit or vegetable feels in my mouth. I do eat some veggies from time to time, but I hardly have any fruit. I'm going to start making fruit smoothies and have them for breakfast (a meal that I tend to skip). I am also going to try to have a fruit or vegetable with every meal.
3. Eat smaller, more sensible portions and foods and stop eating once comfortable. I have a very bad habit of continuing to eat something because it tastes so good. If I really like something, I will eat until I can hardly move or I feel ill. This is especially true of sweets (going back to eating multiple chocolate bars in one sitting). I have heard multiple things to help with feeling fuller, faster, without over eating. There are a few that I'd like to try. First, drinking a glass of water before every meal. This will help to fill the stomach up a bit before eating. Another is eating slower overall. It is proven that people who eat slower are slimmer because it takes some time for the brain to realize that the stomach is full. This is why people who eat quickly, including myself, often eat until they're uncomfortable because the brain hasn't had a chance to catch up with the stomach. To help eat slower, I've heard that you should chew each bite 10-12 times before swallowing and to put your fork or spoon down between each bite. Lastly, while eating you should ask yourself how full you are feeling on a scale of one to 10, where one is very hungry and 10 is uncomfortably full. A healthy number to stop at is six or seven, which is a comfortable full and will sustain you until you have your next snack or meal.
4. Stop eating after 8 pm. This is currently a big problem for me. It could be because I don't eat breakfast or it could be out of boredom, but regardless of the reason, it needs to stop. If I'm eating after 8 pm and I'm not physically active, all those calories are going to be stored as fat because my body doesn't have any reason to burn them off. So, if I don't eat late in the evening the problem is solved!
5. Exercise!! Currently, the only exercise I get is cleaning my house or going to grocery shopping (which I only do once every two weeks). At this time, any form of exercise will be a vast improvement. My current goal is to go for a walk at least three times a week and to use my stationary bike three times a week. Once I become comfortable with each of those exercises, I can increase the length and intensity. I'd also like to eventually do some other activities, once my body gets used to being active on a regular basis. I'm interested in taking a Zumba class; they look like they'd be a lot of fun. I'd also like to get back into indoor rock climbing.
6. Weight loss. My goal is to get down to at least 160 pounds. I feel that for my size and stature, this would be a comfortable weight. It may sound cliché, but I am big boned and I don't think I'd ever be able to make it down to anything less that 150-160 pounds. I would like to lose around a pound and a half a week, with losing at least 75 pounds by the end of the year.
I feel that these are achievable goals and that I will succeed. I just need to keep my chin up and keep focused. I know there will be challenges along the way, but I cannot get discouraged. I cannot quit. I will do what I have set out to do!
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