No. Calories Needed

I have been sick.  For the past week I have had a terrible cold.  I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say, I just haven’t felt much like blogging, working out, or doing much more than moving from bed to couch, and then couch to bed.

I feel much better today – and I’ve been doing a pretty decent job of staying on my eating plan.

I’m down about five pounds, but I don’t want to get my “official” weight until Monday.

Today is the first day I’ve felt like exercising – and I managed to walk 2 miles.  I didn’t really push myself, but it felt good to get out and get moving.

I’m praying that we’ll have decent weather soon.  These cold, wet, rainy, soggy, days are a drag.  Here’s to much milder rest-of-the-month.

I’ve been away from my main computer for the past two days, so no opportunity to write.

Tuesday and Wednesday were great.  I managed to stick to my eating-plan and avoided caffeine and sodas.

I managed to walk 2 miles, each day.  I have a young son and we spent much of Tuesday diagramming and running football “plays” in the backyard.  (Basically, I run out and he throws it as far as he can and then cheers when I catch it – or laughs when I don’t.)

Thursday was a bit of a struggle.  For some reason, I just never really got into gear.  Today, Friday, has been pretty good.  Like I said, I’ve been very, very, very busy, so it’s been hard to focus on weight loss.  There are times when work takes precedence, and these past two days, it has.  For the most part, I ate pretty healthy meals, but I did grab a bag of chips as a quick snack, on Thursday.

So far, the first 7 days have gone pretty darn well, considering I’ve stopped drinking liters of diet soda.  I’ve managed to eat lots of healthy, real food – and I’ve gotten some good exercise, each and every day.

As for the weigh in, I’m going to do that Monday morning.  Right now, I just want to focus on doing the right things – and I don’t want to get overly discouraged / encouraged by daily weigh ins.

Sunday was a great day.  I once again made it through the whole day without any soda – or caffeine.  My gym was closed, so I once again did my workout at home.  We have a treadmill, so I go in about a 30 minute walk / run.  As for eating, I did really well.  We did go out for supper, to celebrate a birthday with my friends, but at sensibly, had water instead of tea, and did just fine.

Monday was a little more difficult, mainly due to my schedule.  I was busy all day – in the car, at the office, back in the car, back to the office – so it was hard to eat on a decent schedule.  Out of habit, I grabbed a diet soda, drank about two swallows, and then realized what I was doing.  (It’s funny how, after just a few days, the stuff really doesn’t taste that great.)

It’s now Tuesday, and so far I’m having a great day.  I tried something a bit different – I had a larger-than-normal breakfast.  I still ate only clean, healthy foods, but I ate a couple hundred calories more at breakfast than I usually do.  My hope is, the added fuel will get me from breakfast to lunch, without that usual “I’m starving” moment around 11 am.  We shall see.

I hope your 2011 has started well and that you have a blessed and successful day.  Rock on!

I had a great day yesterday.

I avoided sodas, caffeine, and had 8 glasses of water.

Instead of staying up late, eating junk, I went to be at a reasonable time.  Throughout the day, I ate healthy, filling foods and avoided unnecessary junk.

My gym was closed (and it’s closed again today) so I made sure to get a bit of exercise here at home.  I’m looking forward to 6 Monday morning, when I can hit the gym.

Today, all has been going well.  I’ll be back Monday with a report for day 2 – and a weigh in.

January 1st.  It’s here and I’m excited.

I realize that it’s cliche to start (or in my case, re-start) a diet on January 1st, but I can’t help myself.

I’ve done my level best to set myself up for success.  Here’s what I’ve done -

1.  I’ve removed all of my “trigger” foods from the house and filled it with healthy, nutritious, real foods.

2.  I’ve set a reasonable goal for myself – more on that later.

3.  I’ve set up an off-line support network, consisting of a couple of close friends to whom I can be accountable and from whom I can receive encouragement.

4.  I’ve set a date for my first 5k – an unchangeable, unalterable, firm, fixed, set-in-stone, date.  On April 30th, 2011, I will run a 5k.

5.  I’ve decided to get over the fact that I’ve been blogging about “weight loss” since 2007, and yet I’m still overweight.  If this were easy, no one would write about it, read about it, or care about it.  This is my struggle.  I’ve been dealing with it for more than 15 years, so there’s no use pretending it doesn’t exist.  I can either stop blogging, or I can be honest and share.  Sharing works best for me, and so I shall.

6.  I’ve given up soda – even diet soda – and I will stick to water.

7.  I have re-joined the gym.  I should never have stopped going, because I feel great when I go and workout.  My new goal is to go every day, even if it’s just for a few laps in the pool.

8.  I have a specific, week-by-week workout plan.  I’ll blog more about that as I progress through the year.

9.  I bought new shoes, specifically for running.  It’s amazing how the proper shoes make running easier.

10.  I have removed the “clutter” of other things in my life, simplifying things, organizing things, optimizing things, and automating things so that I have the time (and energy) that I need to focus on weight loss and exercise.

There you have it.  Now for a few goals -

First, I want to run (not walk, not walk-run), but run a full 5k.  I WILL do so on April 30, 2011.

Second, I plan to lose 50 pounds in 2011.  That’s 1 pound a week, which is reasonable.

Third, I need to blog every day, without fail.

Fourth, I need to exercise, every day.

I have 365 days to reach my goal.  Here I go.