Takin’ a second, breakin’ it down

Good morning, everyone!

First of all, I’d just like to say a big thank-you to all of you for your words of encouragement last week after I whined & cried over not losing an ounce the week before.

Y’all were right.  Bad weeks happen, and are usually followed by positive results the next week, as long as you stick to your plan. 

Good news.  I dropped 4 pounds last week.  I’m at 15 pounds total lost over four weeks, and half-way to my goal of losing 30 pounds by my 30th birthday on July 28th!  At this rate, I might even surpass that goal… eeeek!!

The other day, my Beachbody Coach Jared posted this on his Facebook group:

As I went through it, thinking about my progress over the past month, I was pleasantly surprised that I have pretty much followed all of these tips & suggestions, without even really realizing it.

Let’s break it down, shall we?

1. START NOW by recommitting today – I did this on January 7th, 2013.  I was one week into the New Year, with Christmas fading fast, and my spare tire growing by the day.  I spent over a week preparing – researching the TurboFire program and absorbing healthy diet tips, purging my home of junk food, and just gearing myself up for the new mindset.  It would have been easy to grant myself one more week of reprieve, and enjoy the chips & cookies & restaurant indulgences for seven more days before starting the TurboFire Challenge Group on January 14th.  But I didn’t wait.  I couldn’t wait.  I knew the time was right, so I jumped right in.  There’s no need to wait for a specific day or week or month.  START NOW.
2. DRINK WATER like it’s your job -  Dudes, I so do this.  I am the master of drinking water like it’s my job.  In fact, when I’m at work, I make sure I drink a glass of water every hour.  That way I know when I’ve left my desk for the day, I already have my 8 glasses down, and everything else is just bonus.  So, yeah.  Water is my job.  It totally helps that water is my drink of choice, anyways.  I drink gallons of it, and I don’t need Crystal Light or anything to jazz it up.  Just give it to me cold, straight up.  Love it.
3. PLAN each meal – I’m getting better at this.  I wouldn’t say I have a set plan for the week or anything, but I already know I have one meal taken care of with Shakeology, so that helps.  I usually know the day before what I’ll be eating the following day and I stick to it.
4. EAT – don’t make up for overeating by NOT eating -  This one is a little tricky for me.  Especially in the wake of our Superbowl Snackfest on Sunday.  Yesterday, my inclination was to starve myself, knowing I’d gone way over my calorie count on Sunday.  I didn’t let myself do that.  I had my Shake for breakfast, leftover Superbowl snacks at Mom’s for lunch (but only a small portion), a salad for supper, and a dish of plain non-fat Greek yogurt with kiwi & honey for dessert.  I stayed within my calorie allowance for the day, rather than starving myself to make up for the previous day’s indulgences.
5. REVISIT your food journal and repeat a good week – Journaling is a key to my weight-loss success.  I’ve been recording each day what I eat & drink, as well as what exercising I’ve done, both on paper in my TurboFire Tracker Journal, and on-line on MyFitnessPal.com.  It keeps me mindful, and helps me stay on-track.  I revisit it all the time.
6. REMIND yourself how far you’ve come -  This one was big for me last week, when I was feeling down about not having lost anything the whole week before.  I kept reminding myself of how much better I was feeling compared to a month ago, how much more energy I was bringing to the workouts each day, how much more comfortable my clothes were feeling… There were successes to focus on, despite the unchanging number on the scale.
7. MOVE – get your sweat on -  Surprisingly, I can tell you without a doubt in my heart that I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS!  I’m a self-professed couch potato, so the fact that I have not missed one work-out on the TurboFire schedule is kind of a miracle.  It’s a 6-day intense schedule, and at the beginning, I seriously doubted I’d be able to stick to it.  Granted, being on Winter Hours and having Mondays & Fridays off has given me the extra time to ensure that I get my workout in each day.  It might be a bit of a struggle once I’m back to work full-time, and all of the busy-ness of Spring & Summer activities begin.  But my mantra thus far has been:  There are 24 hours in a day, you can find the time!!!  I’m not giving myself the option of skipping a day.
8. DON’T let a bad week turn into a bad month -  Being only one month in to my program, I haven’t really had the opportunity to break this rule yet.  I’ve had a pretty good first month.  But it is something I will need to keep in mind.  I’m the kind of girl who can easily talk myself into turning a bad day into a bad week…and maybe even a bad week into a bad month.  “Well.  I already had McDonalds for lunch, I might as well have 4 pieces of pizza tonight.  … Well.  I ate like crap yesterday, what’s one more day?  Sure, I’ll have a large popcorn. AND Peanut M&M’s  …  Hell, this whole week has been a write-off, why not have an appetizer, a huge meal, and then a dessert?  AND chips & dip later?”…  Dudes, this comes straight from my sad little brain.  I need to be careful.
9. VEGETABLES are your friends – Ugh.  I’m not a veggie fan, kids.  I love many fruits, but when it comes to veggies, it’s a struggle.  One of the “goals” I set for myself when I started this healthy lifestyle change was “LEARN TO LOVE SALAD”.  I’m not a salad eater.  When I eat out, I ALWAYS pick fries instead of salad.   I have been making myself eat salads lately, and starting to appreciate them more.  I won’t call it “love” just yet, but I’m working on it.  I’ve had successes – one day last week I had a veggie fajita, and was shocked at how good it was without the meat.  I’ve had failures – out for a friend’s birthday dinner on Saturday night, I faltered and opted for fries instead of salad with my chicken quesadilla, and came dangerously close to going over my calorie allocation for the day because of it.  It’s a work in progress.  I’m not ready to call the vegetables my friends just yet, but I’m getting better.
10. REPEAT this tomorrow -  I will!!! :)

So, anyone else out there still working away on your New Year’s resolutions or weight-loss goals?  How are you doing?  Are you having success?

Hang in there, guys!  If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past month is that there are a lot of people out there working & sweating hard, too.  You are not alone!  Go get ‘em! :)

Linking up today with Impulsive Addict & Shawn for Talk To Us Tuesday!!