My diet starts....never!

There is a woman I work with, she is a dear friend, who has a phrase that she is known for, "My diet starts today!" It always falls on a Monday.  Don't wait until Monday, start now, and don't go on a diet...make lifestyle changes.  I started on a Wednesday, I met with a nurse through my work wellness program.
Today is, however, Monday and I'll let you know this....She once again started her diet, I started this blog, and I`m hoping she we will stick with  it.  Don't start a diet, start a lifestyle change, and do it now.  It doesn't matter if its midweek or mid day, just start making healthier lifestyle choices, you owe it to yourself!

Let me tell you more about me, and my history.  I have never been fit.  I didn't have a baby and gain weight, didn't play sports and succumb to an injury, I was born overweight and have always stayed that way. But I don't have to stay obese, I can change my habits, and I have!

Okay the facts: I have 125 lbs to lose, yes it's a lot, but I'm going to do it 10 lbs at a time.  I'm going to celebrate every time I move into an other weight bracket.  Beginning weight, do you really want to know? ugh, this is too real, my starting point on December 31st 2015 I weighed in at 292 lbs.  I know on the cusp of 300, thank God I started now!

I'm 11 days into this journey and I'm ecstatic to report that I'm down 6.6 lbs.  I know that this is a lot of water weight and I can't expect these numbers to continue like this, but its nice to see the scale going down. I attribute the first 2 weeks of  success to to a combination of things, but I think logging food is a huge deal.  I'll go into the app I use to log food next time.

And so it began....

Time and time again I have started to try to lose weight and I fall right back into hold habits.  I will be the first to admit, this is on me.  I did this to myself, and I sabotage myself.  I started slowly.  Since January 1, 2016 I made little promises, no eating out for lunch, I will bring mine, move twice a week, meal prep for the week, no excuses.  Let's take a look at these goals a little closer.

• Pack my own lunch/no eating out for lunch: Looking back I was eating out or ordering in at work 3-5 days a week.  This was pretty much out of laziness.  I didn't pack a lunch, forgot it, didn't want leftovers etc.  This can't happen anymore, it's killing me, physically and financially it's just irresponsible.
• What if I forget my packed lunch: In my desk I now keep packets of oatmeal, nuts and I bring fruit like banana and apples on Monday so I have snacks too.
• Invites to order lunch: I'm bigger than that, I can say no politely.  My coworkers also know my mission and are trying to support me.  Half the time they don't even ask me anymore, and I know it's because they are helping me by not tempting me.
• Meal Prep: This goes hand in hand with bringing my lunches.  On Sunday (because it's convenient) I prep some food for the week.  I make a couple turkey burgers, brown rice, quinoa, cut vegetables, make soups, crockpot meals, bake chicken breasts that are seasoned differently.  These items I pack into portioned out meals in plastic containers for the week and stack in the fridge.
• Make extra servings: I'm only one in my household but I still make 5-6 servings of soups and crockpot meals.  I package 2 for the week, and freeze the other 3.  No excuse for ordering dinner or grabbing fast food on the way home. I have a quick dinner in the freezer anytime!
• Keeping a variety of flavors keeps me for getting bored with leftovers.  Trying different spices has been fun too.
• Move twice a week: This is where I started, I'm up to 3-4 times a week.
• I bought a pedal machine thingy (technical I know) for under my desk at work, but my knees were hitting the underside of the desk (ouch!) so I brought it home.  Now I pedal away while watching my TV shows!
• It's super cold today, but I have made a commitment to join a walk/jog group.  It starts January 23rd.  This keeps me accountable because its a group. 
• I can't afford a gym membership right now.  No Excuses! I curl liter bottles of water, squat with gallons of milk, and it's ok, because its doing something.  Something is better than nothing!

This year is my year and 2016 is going to be when I tackle this issue, I'm sick of being unhealthy, out of breath and overweight.  The weight is over, time to get healthy in 2016!