I have fallen off the wagon. And unfortunately it has taken me too long to really see and acknowledge I have. My eating habits through the holidays have been awful. I have fully enjoyed sweets and indulgent food and my waistline has definitely been showing it. But I have decided I am over it. I am over feeling yucky and gaining weight again, so I have come up with my plan to get back on track. And since it is the season when many people make resolutions to get healthy and lose weight, I thought I would share my plan in hopes it will help someone else too.
I am getting back to basics. It has been nearly 3 years since I started a big lifestyle change that helped me lose over 100 lbs. And I have been thinking about what I did then that got the ball rolling. People often ask if I used a program or some special diet and the answer is no. There is nothing wrong with using these, (except the crazy ones, if anyone tells you to only eat grapefruit run away from them!) they just are not for me. I started by going back to basics. Cleaner eating and more exercise. So that is where I am going to reside for now.
The picture on the left was me before I made my lifestyle change. The picture on the right is most recent…and yes it was in a Target dressing room!
Notice I said cleaner and not completely clean eating. Because seriously, if I can’t have a cookie every now I will turn into a cranky momma. I am realistic, but still challenging with my goals. I know that for me going to something like a raw vegan diet just would be too extreme for me. But using an 80/20 goal is more realistic. This means eating clean and healthy food 80% of the time and less so 20% of the time. This also allows for me slip up, but still be able to get back on track.
I know that a lot of my success in eating well was due to using a food journal. I have my phone with me often, so I like using the My Fitness Pal app. There are tons of free apps out there and you can always use just good ole paper and pen too. There is something about seeing exactly what you eat written that can help control it more. When you have to write that you ate 10 m&ms, it will really make you think about if you want 10 more.
As far as exercise I am definitely in a further along place than 3 years ago. In the beginning, just walking a mile or two a day was a huge improvement. And if that’s where you are, that is great! Get yourself going! Everyone has to start somewhere. For me now though I am doing quite a bit more. I am currently training for a half marathon, so I run/walk 3 times a weeks. My goal for that is to do 13 miles a week through January and then up it February. As of now I typically do 1 longer run (7-8 miles) and two shorter runs (3-5 miles). On top of running I know I need to work in muscle-building and toning, so my hubby and I will be doing T25. I am committed to 3 times a week, but will do as many as I feel like I can without going exercise crazy.
I am very excited to get back on track and get to feeling fit and fabulous again! Okay I still feel fabulous now, but will feel even more so with some adjustments.