Small steps :)

So I bit the metaphorical bullet and finally weighed in again. And I lost anouther 2.4 pounds! It's an extremely small step, but after everything, I was so excited to see some progress. I've eaten healthily two days in a row and have a plan for a delicious dinner I was invited to attend tonight. The numbers below are for yesterday, but I'm super excited and bouncing off the walls right now. Down to 222.4 pounds, which means I've lost 12.4 pounds and have 76.6 to go for this year.

Daily calorie goal: 1400
Actual calorie intake: 1473 (not too shabby; I even ate out at a restaurant!)

On a happy note, I have a couple of other friends working their tails off to lose weight for various reasons, and I'm so proud of how far they've come. Having positivity and support around when you're trying to make lifestyle changes makes all the difference in the world.

There's always tomorrow

Have you ever heard the song, "Tomorrow. Tomorrow. There's always tomorrow. It's only a day away!"? It's running through my head as I type this. I feel like it's the procrastinator's, and perpetual dieter's, theme song. It's really, really easy to say, "Well, I can always start tomorrow. Another serving won't hurt tonight."

WRONG!

As I know all too well, having done this so, so, so often, this means that healthy life choices just slip to the next day, week, month, and year, never today.

So today, make one healthier decision. You can't change everything at once, but you can start today. Not tomorrow. Mine is to steal an idea I saw about tracking via color coding on an old fashioned calendar "good" days, "over" days, and "not tracking" days for my calorie counting. I'm better when I have things laid out on paper for me.

Daily calorie goal: 1400
Actual calorie intake: 1293

The Work Lunch

Most of my struggle comes from when I have company over or eat out for work or a social function. When I control my environment, it makes things easier. I need to work on this type of control. I don't go to chain restaurants very often, which is a drawback when I'm trying to plot what I can eat and not lose control of my daily calorie intake. For example, today I have a work lunch and we're going to be eating Mexican food, not the most healthy option. I've plotted how to order my food to minimize oil and carbs (which add up pretty quickly). So I can get fajitas for under 600 calories, which is better than I usually do. Then I have a work dinner tonight. And no clue what's on the menu as it's at someone's house. I'm going in with the strategy of not eating the appetizers, drinking water, and small portions. We'll see if I succeed.

My second strategy is to make sure I work out, especially on the days that I know I'm going to work functions that involve food. I have some time between getting off work and going to the function tonight, so I'm going to use it to do a short routine.

No clue what my ultimate calorie intake will be. . . 

Daily activities

Just found an amazing site that lists a challenge to be completed over the entire day. Backonpointe.tumblr.com has some great routine suggestions and ones that are doable for almost any activity level. And the author is super positive and supportive of people coming from any fitness background (or lack thereof).

I was completely skeptical of the power of positive thinking when I started with a trainer a year ago. She was totally right. If you go with the mentality "I can do this. Look how far I've come" rather than focusing on how much farther you have to go, it's a pretty great motivator. Seriously. Try positive self talk during your next workout and see/feel the difference.

After all, I didn't gain this weight in a week or even a year; I can't expect to lose it so quickly, either.

Binge eating

I think I had a breakthrough today as to one of my issues. I just ate way too much unhealthy food, and it was set off by mindless eating and boredom. It happens only when I don't track my food for the day. Solution? I think so.

No clue what my daily calorie intake is, but I'm prepping food for the rest of the week now.