I am an all or nothing kind of girl. Right or wrong. Pass or fail. Win or lose.
NO IN BETWEEN.
This can be a good thing. It's how God made me. I can usually see right through a facade. I can usually hear about a situation or decision that needs to be made and pinpoint what needs to happen (the exception is when it is my own situation- ha!).
The downside is I get fired up over anything I see as wrong. It can be something minor and I get downright angry as if someone's life depended on it! Another problem with this is I have perfectionist tendencies and when I see myself as failing at something I just quit. If I can't do it right, I'd rather not do it at all. I frustrate myself to no end.
This has manifested itself in my weight-loss approach. When I slip up once, I just give up. I know it isn't logical but I'm just being honest here.
So I have decided that instead of going on a complete health overhaul all at once (which I would fail and quit AGAIN), this time I have made a list of small changes that I can implement slowly over time and build on. This is not a new concept. I have seen friends use this same approach. One amazing friend, named Clara, has lost 100 lbs! Check out her blog here.
Here is my list I came up with so far:
Increase Water intake
Park further away
Play actively
Move more
Cut out sweet tea/soda
Cut out after dinner snacking
Less Internet time
Stretch daily
Weigh in weekly
Portion control
Cook at home
Less eating out at restaurants
Track food/calories
Healthy snacks
Healthy breakfast
Healthy lunch
Healthy dinner
30 minutes of cardio/day
60 minutes of cardio/day
Get 5 servings of fruits and vegetables
My plan is to focus on one or two of these changes each week. When I get consistent at them, then I add on another one.
What other changes would you add to my list?
I'll ask Lee for ideas. He's in a weight loss study, and has lot about 20 lbs in the past ten weeks. The group he is in is actually called the "small changes" group, so this made me laugh. The researchers said that the small changes group is usually more successful at sustained weight loss than the large changes one. Praying for you!
ReplyDeleteI have so many of the same problems! lol. I write about weightloss on my blog each Wednesday and have written about some of the very same topics. Today, it's how my weightloss is also a spiritual journey.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am an all-or-nothing person. I find it so difficult to do things in moderation, but I am trying to get there. Blessings to you!
All I know is that once you've done something for 21 days, it's supposed to become a habit. We need to drink half our body weight in ounces of water a day (I weigh 230, so I need to drink 115 oz of water a day for a healthy body). Cutting out the sweet tea and soda will do wonders for you, if you find you still need the tea, try Snapple's diet teas- they're a little expensive, so you'll just want them for a treat! Your walks will be great- take J & N out with you, just walk around the block once after dinner, then work your way up. It's good family time, too!
ReplyDeletePray for strength and willpower to keep it up and believe that you can do it. BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN DO IT. (and find a good endocrinologist and get your thyroid and insulin levels checked, those have MAJOR consequences when they're out of whack and it's WAY easy to fix. But you have to go to an endocrinologist, not a GP, because they don't test correctly for these problems.)
LOVE YOU.