Rewards

A couple posts ago, I mentioned rewards. For many of us (myself included), we have a skewed opinion of a reward. In the past when I did really well eating healthy all day and exercising that day, I would reward myself. More often than not, it was in the form of food. And because I was rewarding myself for being good, it was always in the form of something really bad for me.

By using sweets (cause that's my weakness) for a reward, I was eliminating all the healthy eating and exercising I had done for the day. Now, I am not advocating that you should never not eat things that you really enjoy, in my case that is chocolate in same shape or form. But what I am saying is that make it worth it. Don't settle for okay, go for totally AWESOME!!!! And don't do it everyday. Maybe cut it down to once a week. Really look at the dessert or treat for what it is and then decide if it is worth it.

Ever since I started this blog, I've adjusted how I see food. At times, it's almost sad when I look at things I used to indulge in. I have a goal and indulging in just okay sweets is going to prevent me from achieving that goal. Why let something that is just okay get in the way of a better, healthier me? Now when I indulge, it has to be something that is worth the calories.

Which brings me back to the concept of rewards. If you are going to use food, maybe have it be ONE Hershey's kiss versus the whole serving or 10 M&M's instead of a handful. For me, I have decided that food no longer needs to be my reward. Mine may be a pedicure. It may be 30 minutes of quiet time. It could be a new lotion. Rewards don't need to be eaten (although humans are really in to instantaneous satisfaction), nor do they need to cost money. It could be a bubble bath. Whatever you choose to be your reward, do it so that it feels like a reward and not something you feel entitled to because you had a good day. Because in my case, my previous rewards were counteracting my achievements to the point that the scale was going up instead of down.

Meal planning

I am a huge believer in the need to plan out my meals a week at a time. Not only does it make it easier (and healthier) to decide what we are having, but it also cuts down on my grocery bill.

Plus, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Why? Because grabbing something from the drive-thru is so much easier than going grocery shopping, thawing stuff, preparing it, etc. But it is definitely NOT healthier.

I am not a fan of eating out. Mainly because I tend to stray from eating healthy when I go to a restaurant. It's a treat and I always overindulge. Plus, it's almost impossible to guesstimate the calories in a dish. Cases in point: Last week I ate out in Austin, had dinner in Denton with my sister, and prepared stuff for my hubby and his friends for the Super Bowl. When I weighed myself for the week, I had gained 0.2 pounds. Ok, now that may not seem huge. But those three meals negated all the REALLY healthy eating I had done all week. Talk about a let down. All that hard work in lean meat, LOTS of fruits and veggies, and whole grains all went down the drain.

For those reasons, I prefer to cook my own meals. This brings me back to the purpose of today's blog....meal planning.

I try to only go shopping once a week. If I have to go again, it is usually for milk for my son. So, depending on what day I can go grocery shopping, I sit down the night before and plan out my meals. I also use a handy-dandy checklist that hangs on my fridge and I can jot down things we need throughout the week.

Don't judge my handwriting, but that is what we are having for the week. Grocery shopping typically takes place for me on Saturdays. Wednesday is usually leftover day because I have class that night and hubby will need to fend for himself. I also prepare enough to have for lunches the next day. (Eliminates the need/desire to eat out.) The page numbers are out of this month's Clean Eating magazine, which is AWESOME. It is the one subscription I get. Loaded with healthy recipes and tips for cutting out refined products and sugar from your diet. (And the hamburgers....they're turkey burgers.)

Get to stepping

Part of being healthy is being active. Have you ever wondered if you moved enough during the day? Ideally, the average human should log about 10,000 steps each day. In the United States, people average less than 5,000.

To keep track of the amount of steps you take each day, I would highly recommend getting a pedometer. They are about $5 for a cheapo-deapo one. Attach it to your hip and get to stepping. Even if you don't hit 10,000, strive to get more steps in than you did the previous day. The point is: if you're moving, you are burning more calories than sitting on the couch.

Stop being a couch potato. Today is also the day to step on Trusty Rusty (your scale) and track your progress.

Now is the Time. This is the Year.

Post by Jamie Wood

I am not healthy. I am not what I want to be. I am unhappy with my appearance and it makes me less of who I should be. Nobody wants to admit this.

Now is the time. This is the year.

I am a wife, mom of two crazy little boys, an entrepreneur, a friend, a sister, a daughter and I work a 40 hour/week job. Busy is a word you could use to describe me. Fat is also a word you could use. Sure, there are people who are bigger than me, unhealthier than me. Truth is, I used to use that as an excuse. I am not the fattest, I am not the biggest size in the store, I am still able to walk and jog and play with my kids. But now, that is not enough. I deserve better. I deserve my best.

Now is the time. This is the year.

I had my first son 6 years ago. I gained 50 pounds when I was pregnant with him. I lost 20 of that before getting pregnant with my second son 2 ½ years later. Add those 20 plus 10 more and I am 60 pounds heavier than I was before having kids. That was another excuse. This body carried and gave birth to two strapping boys. Sure, it did. That is a fact. But it didn’t need the extra tonnage to do so. In fact, I developed gestational diabetes while pregnant with my second son. I was told to lose weight and stay healthy after having him to lessen my chances of developing diabetes later in life. Have I done that? No.

Now is the time. This is the year.

I have made some big changes since beginning this journey. It is week three for me. Three weeks without my daily Dr. Pepper. Three weeks of counting calories. Three weeks of snacking on grapes and carrots and healthy stuff instead of chocolate, chips and other bad things. I have been good. But you know what? Good is not good enough. I can do better. In order to be where I want to be, I need to do great. I replaced Dr. Pepper with sweet tea. Is it a better choice? Yes. Is it the best choice? No.

Now is the time. This is the year.

My wish is that each and every one of us who reads this blog and makes this commitment can look back one year from now and know that they have done their very best. Not just good...their very best. Anything less than the best is sabotage. It is called self-sabotage. And I am good at that.

But this is the year I get good at becoming the me I know I can be.

Baby steps

As I've stated before, this is a journey. It's not about making all the changes at once. That's a recipe for failure because it seems impossible. The journey is about baby steps. Make changes a little bit at a time. Gradually, these baby steps will add up to HUGE steps.

For little ways to add in exercise, here is a website that gives 65 ways to incorporate exercise without making drastic changes: http://allwomenstalk.com/7-fastest-ways-to-lose-weight/23/

Another thing to adjust is how we see a serving size. I think an overflowing bowl of cereal is one serving. Oh, how I wish that were true. Unfortunately when I measure out ONE serving of cereal, I am slapped upside the head that my "bowl" is about four or five servings. Talk about utter disappointment. So while eating certain cereals are healthy breakfast choices, eating five servings and counting it as one is going to make a mockery of my calorie counting.

For things that are not easily measured, here is a handy reference for serving sizes:

No excuses

How many times have you said "I can't" versus "I can?" How often have you put the hard stuff off until the next day or said "I'll do it tomorrow?"

There comes a point in each of our lives when we have to say "No more excuses!" Why? Because excuses are a way of accepting, justifying, and embracing bad behavior. Until you are truly committed to becoming healthier, you are going to fail. It is only when we stop justifying our bad behavior and truly start working toward our goals that we will begin to see results.

Now before you say, "Oh it's easy for her," I will beg to differ. It's not easy for me. It's taken me more than 10 years to say "No more excuses." That's right. I'm done making excuses. (That was one of my New Year's resolutions.) No more justifying my bad behavior. No more putting it off until tomorrow. If I don't start now, then I probably wouldn't start tomorrow or the next day. Finally, I am committed (and so far, this is NOT to an institution).

If you really want to see results, you have to make the choice. Yes, I may have been eating fairly healthy before but I had TONS of room for improvement. I LOVE to bake. But I have not allowed myself to do so since starting this journey. Why???? Because what I love to bake is cookies, cakes, desserts, chocolate, anything loaded with sugar and butter. I would then eat about half the dough in the process. Eat another half of the baked item and then send the rest to work with my husband. What did I have to show for it? A glutton of excess calories that headed straight to my keister and a sugar high followed by an incredible crash that made me sluggish and CRANKY.

Since I started my journey, I have been told I have it easy and didn't have to do much. I would argue that. Here are things that I have given up:

- Starbuck's - no more sugary, chocolately, whip-cream topped treats for my weekly (if not daily consumption)
- Candy - no mas
- Chocolate - no mas. Dark chocolate is healthy in small doses, but mine weren't small, nor were they dark. Give me milk chocolate combined with peanut butter or caramel and I am one happy camper.
- No more baking
- No more cookies, cakes, cupcakes, doughnuts, etc.
- No more refined bread (And I LOVE bread)
- No more chips
- No fried food
- Forcing myself to exercise each day, even when I'm tired and don't want to.

These are just a few changes I have made. I know that I can make excuses forever. But wishing for something will NEVER allow me to achieve my dream.

I have finally accepted the reality that not only do I need to lose weight, but I need to get in shape. It's a daily struggle for all of us...even my itty-bitty sister. Fortunately, it's simple as long as we are committed to our goal.

Lead me not into temptation

Eating sensibly and healthy is not always feasible. It’s also not bad to indulge in “off-limit” items every now and then.

Case in point – On Monday, I attended a dinner thrown in honor of our doctoral cohort. I started the day with my usual protein shake, had a salad with grilled chicken for lunch, and a banana for a snack. Then we got to Austin and the steakhouse where the reception was held. From there, healthy eating went out the door. But for all the temptation before me, I refrained from going hog wild.

I sampled many of the appetizers, but none to excess. I chose to skip the wine/alcohol…mainly because I don’t drink. Dinner included was a four-course meal. I started with the Caesar salad, but didn’t eat all of it nor any of the croutons. I took small helpings of the butter-drenched green beans and cheese-topped, butter-soaked potatoes. I had the filet mignon, which is a SMALL steak.

Then…I had turtle pie for dessert. It was a chocolate pie, topped with walnuts (think pecan pie), and drizzled with homemade caramel syrup. I couldn’t wait. I haven’t had dessert or chocolate (yes, it is its own food category) the whole month of January. I was drooling in anticipation.

Finally, the pie arrived and looked scrumptious on the plate. I took my first bite and the overriding thought was, “That’s a LOT of sugar.” I was so bummed, not enough to prevent myself from eating quite a bit of it. But honestly, I could have stopped with several bites and been fine. In my past life, I would have scarfed down the entire slice and seriously considered licking the plate. Now, it was more of a disappointment than an indulgence.

But all of this brings me to my point: If you eat healthy 90% of the time, the other 10% won’t hurt you. I knew I would be having a big, calorie-loaded meal that night so I tried to counter it with a healthy breakfast and lunch. Then, during the meal, I carefully selected what I would have. I had appetizers, but not many. I took small portions of the unhealthy sides at dinner. I chose the smallest cut of steak and I didn’t finish my dessert. I also passed on the alcohol and bread.

Temptation isn’t a bad thing and we’ll all face it at some point. But look at it from this angle when faced with a similar situation: What do I want the most and what can I pass on? (90-10) I don’t drink, so that one was a no-brainer. And I didn’t need the bread with the meal since I had appetizers. I wasn’t going to skip dessert and I thought it was a win because I didn’t inhale the entire slice.

Personally, I considered the meal delicious and a form of reward (I’ll discuss rewards in another post) for eating well all month. Even better, I lost weight for the week.

As long as we don’t eat like this on a regular basis, giving in to temptation every now and again is NOT a bad thing. To me, it helps prevent me from binging when I do indulge in not-so-healthy food choices.

Now….back on the healthy eating bandwagon.