Plan of Action

OK, school is back in session, house guests are gone, party is on Saturday - should be good to go on Monday. Time to come up with a plan of action.

Step 1: State Goals

1. Plan weekly meals
2. Exercise 5x/week
3. Eat 5-7 servings of fruits & vegetables per day
4. Drink at least 64 ounces of water each day

Step 2: Envision Challenges to Meeting Goals

1. Finding time to plan
2. Two challenges:
• Being too tired to go to the gym
• Injury keeping me from exercising
3. Two challenges:
• Not having fruits and vegetables around to eat
• Just plain forgetting!
4. Two challenges:
• Not having water around
  
• Just plain forgetting!

Step 3: Coming Up with Solutions to Challenges

1. Schedule it in my calendar and do a little at a time
2. Two solutions:
• Go to bed earlier
• Try different exercises (swim if foot hurts)
3. Two solutions:
• Keep fruits & veggies in house at all times
• Every time I eat, eat a fruit or veggie & put in meal plan
4. Two solutions:
• Carry a container of water with me wherever I go
• Every time I go to the bathroom, I have to finish & refill my water
  

Let's Get This Party Started!

Well, with the kids going back to school soon, it's time to put my upcoming free time to good use. See, I've got a problem. I LOVE food. And I mean LOVE. As a result, I have 30+ extra pounds that have piled up on me over the years. As I've gotten older, the pounds just keep coming on. I'm solidly "in my 40's" now, and it just keeps getting harder and harder to stay in shape. Just another thing that sucks about getting older. I'm sure someone could qualify me as an emotional eater, a binge eater, a boredom eater, and whatever other terms they have developed. But the real truth is simply that I'm just a food lover - I really enjoy the taste of food, the act of eating, etc. I love healthy foods, unhealthy foods, and everything in between.
I used to be able to at least balance things with exercise. Then I developed plantar fasciitis in my foot in March of this year. I have not worked out since. I've had 2 cortisone shots, physical therapy, and months of rest. Oh, and I've had custom orthotics for years (high arches). It feels a lot better now, so I'm hoping to start back up on the exercise when the kids are back in school. I used to be a runner - that's out of the picture now. I'm trying to come up with exercise options that will put less abuse on my foot. So far I'm trying to get psyched up for spinning, water workouts/swimming and yoga. Not my previously chosen types of workouts, but it appears to be time to change.
I've been lucky enough this summer to go on lots and lots of vacations. The bad part of that is the additional 15 pounds I've put on! Vacation means free eating to me - free to eat whatever I want. And I usually want all the "bad for you" stuff: french fries, chips & dip, candy, ice cream, etc. And don't even start with the drinking. I'm not a big soda drinker, but I LOVE beer, wine & margaritas! I stick with water most of the time, but I do love having a different drink at night. I'm also a social person and love to eat and drink with friends - any excuse works for me!
Well, the end of summer is here - kids are back to school part time on 8/26, full time on 9/7, so I can get back in a routine. I am a Virgo, so I do like routines! I will try to plan my meals for the week, including wiggle room for eating out, etc. And I will get back to exercise - assuming my foot will allow it. The basic proposition for losing weight - burn more calories than you take in - is a seemingly easy one on paper. It's the implementation that is tough for me. The sticking with it. I start thinking/dreaming of other things I want to eat. Then I grab any excuse to go off my plan. This blog is supposed to help me focus and give me some sort of liability - I need to succeed as best I can, without beating myself up for mistakes, and without falling completely off track.