As the month closes out, to date I've lost 11.8 lbs. Now this is just a fraction of weight in terms of my ultimate goal but it's progress that I'm certainly excited about. I'm typically one of those people who is really focused on exercising and not eating as strictly as I should OR I'm not working out a lot and on some type of "diet." But I know that healthy weightloss requires both exercise and good eating habits. I'm not going to lie, I love food! I'm a serious foodie! LOL, but I know that I have to focus on making better, healthier food choices 99% of the time and enjoy a bit of "cheating" only about 1% of the time. And because weightloss is 80/20 (food/exercise), I know that if I don't get that in check I will never reach my goal, especially since I've tried almost every diet out there. I've done Veggie Protein shakes, Weight Watchers, Atkins/South Beach, Herbalife, Slimfast, and prescription diet pills -- and with all of them I've had success. But I've always gotten to a point where I got comfortable with the fact that the weight was coming off and resorted back to old, bad habits. So, I never reached my overall goal. This time I wanted things to be different and that would only come as a result of a lifestyle change. So, I got some information from a nutritionist who said to start eating only protein, vegetables, and fruit -- no carbs (bread, rice, potatoes, pasta), no sugar, no alcohol, no dairy -- essentially a low fat, low carb diet. So far I've stuck to the no carbs or sugar guidelines but I have had some alcohol and added in small amounts of cheese. The nutritionist also stated that I should focus on light cardio during this time but not to add in any strenuous workouts until I've reached my target weight. So, the last 2 weeks I've added in some low impact cardio about 3-4 times a week. I've also increased my water intake. Previously, I'd already been a serious water drinker, no soda, no coffee, occassional tea, getting in about 8-10 cups per day. But now I've increased my intake to 14-16 cups per day. Also, once I hit my target weight, I plan to increase the insensity of my workouts and I will also slowly start to add back carbs. The nutritionist stated that when adding back the carbs, you should only add one type of carb per week so that you can see the effect it has on your body. But I do realize though that simple carbs need to play a very minor role in my diet going forward. I typically ate whole grain pasta and brown rice but my downfall has always been bread. I'd try to eat as much whole grain breads as possible but I still loved refined white breads. So, my goal will be to eat very little bread, focus on whole grain products, sweet potatoes in place of white potatoes, and much smaller portions of any carb. Overall, I feel good and I'm looking better physically, and my goal is insight! So, I'll make sure to keep you all posted with before and after pics!
Now that I've told you about one of my goals for the year -- What's your goal for the year? Have you outlined a plan to reach it? Do you have a target date for meeting your goal? Have you made progress against your goal? If you're not making any strides, let's get things in gear and get focused!! One month down and 11 more to go......... :-)
Until Next Time,
KHurly Girl
