Sunday, January 2, 2011

A Fresh Canvas

To me, the New Year always seems like a fresh canvas must seem to an artist....

...a spot where ANYTHING can happen...it's just up to YOU, the artist to make that first swipe of the brush and see where it leads you...

I knew a few things would happen right away with my fresh canvas. First of all, my 2010 canvas' final masterpiece featured the loss of 70 pounds. So, with the new canvas begins the journey to lose an additional 30. The first step in this journey for ME is to put the Body Bugg back on, create a new program, and get back to what WORKS for ME. And as such, on January 1 I charged the Bugg back up, created the new program, and put it back on my left arm. I didn't log food on the 1st. I like to take baby steps! (Plus, we were having ham and beans, and I just didn't want to go there!) But today, once I had eaten breakfast (which, of course, was carefully MEASURED) I logged into the site and entered my food.

Step one of my 2011 canvas complete...

But, logging one meal isn't the finished product. Now I have to plan meals again, and choose what I'm going to eat based on how many calories I want to spend for that meal. Probably sounds like a pain, right? Well, it is, a bit, but once you get used to it, it's really not bad at all. And, I can tell you for SURE...the pain and inconvenience of logging food is NOTHING compared to the pain and inconvenience of lugging around an extra 70 pounds. FOR SURE.

And in the spirit of baby steps, I am changing one thing a week (or so). I followed this thought process last year, and will do do again. So, this week, I am changing my water consumption. That's right, I'm going to drink 8 glasses a day every day this week. Once the week is over (in my experience) it's become more of a habit than a chore, and I am a firm believer that water consumption is a HUGE help in weight loss. I have my bottle of smart water...it's a 20 oz. bottle. I drank the initial bottle and have filled it from the fridge once. So, I'm well on my way. Now, I know that the recommendation is 64 ounces, so drinking 8 of these bottles is MORE than enough. I'm aiming for 5 bottles full...that's 100 oz. and that's good for me.

Environmentalists, do not despair! I open ONE bottle per day and refill it. Yeah, I know I should use a washable bottle and all that, but I'm all about baby steps, remember? So I put ONE bottle per day into the trash. It could be 5, so I'm making a baby step there! Work with me....

Readers (if there are any of you out there) I challenge you to get back to basics, whatever that is for you. If you don't know what works for you yet, figure it out! There are tons of great weight loss "assistants" out there...these things will assist you in succeeding. You can do it. Change ONE thing this week...cut your soda consumption in half...go for 3 walks for 30 minutes each....stop eating fast food....just DO SOMETHING! Trust me when I say that these small changes will add up to BIG RESULTS in the end. If one a week is too much, change one thing every two weeks...you can do it!

~Lori~

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Lori: I am going to faithfully follow your blog as my inspiration. I've set some fitness goals too and I don't have a buddy to share with.

Brenda

Jen said...

Hi Lori- glad to find your blog! I am currently 252 lbs and just starting my "journey". I got the BodyBugg a couple days ago and I am getting better about measuring my food. Its a real pain! I am loving the BodyBugg so far- it really shows how sedentary I was/am. I have joined the gym and I am hoping to get moving and start losing. I weigh in on Fridays.

Question- I set my goal as my goal weight. Should I start by setting smaller more achievable goals?

Eternal Lizdom said...

Did you read my post yesterday? Same subject! I'm getting back on track, full force. I have to- I've got a half marathon to train for!

Heather said...

Lori,

You can do this. I love the empty canvas and painting it with what works for oneself. I to reset me goals for 2011 and am working one step at a time.

Here is to losing the last dreaded pounds. Mine should have been 35 but I gained 8 the last month. So here is to losing 43 lbs with 64lbs gone to date.

Unknown said...

Brenda...welcome, and THANKS for following! I am excited to inspire! You guys keep me accountable. Try the Body Bugg message board...lots of support there and you may find someone with similar "stats" as you to partner up with for motivation.

Jen...welcome and THANKS for following ALSO! Yes, measuring IS a pain, but it will become habit if you stick with it and amazingly enough, after you do it for a while you'll be surprised how accurate you can "eyeball" a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (or whatever!). I DO think you should set your goals smaller, but that is what would work for ME! I need smaller goals that I hit and then change things up. So, for me, I would probably set up a program to lose maybe 20 pounds and work THAT program. When you hit THAT goal, set up another program. That's what I did and it was very effective for me. Any more questions...ask away!

Liz...5K, 10K, half...girl, you inspire me!

Heather...once again, welcome and THANKS for following. I am TOTALLY digging having followers AND COMMENTS! I feel ya girl...I was down to 195, and sadly added about 8-10 to that over the holidays. BUT...new canvas...new year...not gonna beat myself up, just gonna fix it!

Here's to "fixing it" together ladies!