Dieting, exercising, and losing weight are not easy for me. I need to lose a total of 85 pounds to get into a healthy weight range for my 5'3" frame. It's important to me to make changes I can live with and take my time reaching my goals if it means success as opposed to falling off the wagon like I've done previously. Here are the list of small changes I've made but for me they are major victories:
- started working out (I am starting with 5 minutes of cardio/day until I can build up) and did so 4 days so far this week
- drinking propel and green tea in place of soda
- fidgeting when I am sitting (for instance, bouncing legs up and down right now while sitting at the computer; doing leg lifts while watching tv)
- substituting normal binge foods (oreos, dairy queen) with lower calorie options like chocolate teddy grahams and popsicle fudge pops
- being extra careful about portions when eating unhealthier food like pizza (2-3 slizes DOES fill me up; I don't need to eat 1/2 a pizza!)
- eating more slowly so I fill up during my meal and eat less
- doing SOMETHING active instead of sitting on my duff like last night when my husband and I went antiquing instead of sitting in front of the computer all night
I believe these small victories are extremely important to my long-term success. What are your small victories that you're uber proud of?
-Making sure I get atleast 7-8 hours of sleep per night so that I feel rested and am more likely to want to go work out the next morning, rather then be lazy and tired all day
-Replacing the chocolate/candies/cookies I used to eat in the afternoon while at my desk with fresh veggies
-Joining a morning bootcamp style class in order to get my metabolism running first thing in the morning
-Not drinking my calories when I am thirsty, instead drinking water
Like above, cutting out drinking almost all calories was really a victory for me. I'm a fan of the flavored drinks, but even something like vitamin water can be over 200 calories. O_O!
Forcing myself to eat differently than my boyfriend (whom I live with) has also been difficult, because I hate to cook two meals, but rewarding.
I'd like to accomplish your last one - doing SOMETHING instead of NOTHING - but that's a lot easier said than done, haha. But you motivate me to work on it!
ahh . . . I like this idea of small victories:
1. keeping lots of fruit on hand - washed and ready to eat
2. improving my strength and stamina - little by little (more time walking, heavier weights at gym, etc) ~~I NEVER exercised or belonged to a gym before CC.
3. saying "no" easily to dessert when it is offered
4. celebrating pounds lost - w/ something other than food!!
And those small victories add up. I've lost almost 43 pounds since March 3rd. And I had been overweight for at least 15 years. At 45, if I can do it, you can do it.
It's funny that you posted this today because yesterday I wrote in my journal about baby steps. I was feeling overwhelmed at the pace of my weight loss even though it is exactly what I should be losing. 1 pound at a time is all it takes. My idea of small victories:
1) staying motivated after success with the first few pounds - it's so easy to slip back into bad habits.
2) realizing that salad bar I go to at lunch is packed full of things that will kill my calorie count for the day -- make smart choices
3) clothes that are a little loose or being able to finally zip that skirt I couldn't a month ago
keeping up with excercise routines even when road blocks cause me to have to move my gym time around.....
eating breakfast every morning!!!
walking during my lunch breaks....
pushing foward even after discouraging weigh ins!!!
Small Victories...what a wonderful thing to celebrate!
Today I am celebrating that I got back on the treadmill for the first time in almost a month!
I also have a few BIG victories that I hit today...I've lost 30lbs and my skinny jeans fit for the first time since BEFORE I had my 3 kids.
Hooray for all of us!
What joyous posts!! Keep 'em coming everybody.
I have been wearing baggy clothes for years. T shirts that are big so that they cover my hips-I hate hate my hips and butt. I wore something the day before yesterday that FIT me. And people noticed! And people complimented me! So I am celebrating that for the first time in I-can't-remember-when I wore something that fit me and didn't feel like a blimp!
Eat lots of high fiber high protein food and make sure to eat regularly. It's hard at first to keep up all those habits but you get used to it rather quickly. I was above 200 pounds in january and now I'm 156. It took about three weeks for my body to cope with the significantly reduced caloric intake, but yeah the body adapts. Life gets easier if you can pull through those first few tough days.
My small victory today was going to the state fair and having no problems and feeling very comfortable going on all the rides!! I ate a little more than I planned to, but had a great day!!
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