Weight Loss Plan

Ok... I don't have any "official" plan here, but I am trying to do several things to slowly make a change in my habits. I am not doing a "super fast" plan where I am going to drop a ton of weight in a hurry, but rather, trying to change some bad habits and become more aware of my health and try to make better decisions. I thought I'd share some of the things I am doing.

1. Drinking a ton of water. This sounds easy, but there were times yesterday when the thought of water made me feel sick. Drinking the "suggested" amount of water each day can really help you to lose weight! (8 cups a day is suggested) Our bodies store up water, which makes you weigh more, but if you start providing your body with enough water each day, it will let go of the stored water and just trust you to provide it with what it needs! Kind of cool. It is hard the first couple of days because you're constantly going to the bathroom, but that will stop soon and you'll get back into a "regular" schedule.

2. Counting calories. I don't want to get too overwhelmed with this one, but I'm watching it for now just to become more aware of what I'm eating. According to my research, I should have 1200-1400 calories a day if I want to lose some weight. I had a burger from Chili's last night that was a meat patty, swiss cheese and avocados on a wheat bun and it was 1520 calories.* Yeah. I picked that because I thought it might be a slightly healthier pick than some of the other things that sounded good. Now, ultimately, I want to be able to eat whatever I feel like, in moderation, and keep the fat off by working out and being more active, but it is nice to be more aware of what I am eating. I went to the store and loaded up on low calorie snacks to eat throughout the day, which leads to my next point...

3. Small snacks throughout the day. I have breakfast, late morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack (maybe 2) and dinner. Eating snacks throughout the day helps boost your metabolism and helps burn more calories! I have sliced cheddar cheese and wheat crackers, baby dill pickles, low fat yogurt, cottage cheese, olives, fruit, applesauce, pretzels, etc. I know there are a lot of different kinds of "100 calorie packs" at the store with different snacks, too.

4. Exercising. This is the tough one for me. I absolutely hate working out. I love playing sports, games, competitions, you name it. But I absolutely despise walking on a treadmill or lifting weights or whatever. It is so boring to me. Not to mention, I have so much trouble with my knees and back that a lot of workouts become very painful for me and make me sore for days (not the good kind of sore). So, as you can see, working out has always been the place where my "weight loss" hits the wall. I started doing some research on exercises that were low impact on the back and knees and found several things. I still have to go to the workout room to use the stationary bike which is pretty boring, but I guess I can make it work, and that is very low impact on my knees. I also got an exercise ball. I couldn't imagine many things to do with that ball that would be helpful but I have found tons of things! It is TOUGH but so far I haven't had any pain in my knees or back as a result of those exercises.

5. Keep moving. This one kind of goes along with the last one, in a way. According to this website I burn approximately 1620 calories in a day just by sitting, breathing, doing normal things. There are some EASY things you can do to burn a few extra calories throughout the day. For example, standing burns more calories than sitting. Walk a little more, clean the house, stand up and stretch occasionally. EASY THINGS. I am the worst about sitting down in front of the tv or computer and just camping out there until I have to get up and do something. The worst. I'm trying to change that by getting up every few minutes (if I must watch a tv show or be on the computer, lol) and playing with the dog, or walking around for a little bit or just doing something. I'm sure Matt would say that just cleaning the apartment every day would suffice. :)

6. My Fitness Pal. I'm using this website to keep a food and exercise log, keep track of my weight and calories consumed and burned yada yada. There is also an app for your iphone (or itouch in my case) you can use. It seemed like way too much work to keep track of all of that at first, but I think I'm going to try it! I've done it so far today and it has been pretty neat. Check it out if you want!

So that is what I'm doing now. I don't expect major results overnight, but hopefully these new habits will result in a healthier me! :)

*Chili's provides nutritional information for all of their menu items on their website. Check it out - I bet it will surprise you!