But -- and it's a big but -- I have begun to make peace with food, definitely a first for me. I also know that soon the scale will plateau, which is when I usually give up and go back to my old eating habits. How to keep motivated is key.
What follows are my reasons for losing weight, which are now posted on a sticky on my home screen. Constant reinforcement.
Here are my goals, which I am calling the big picture:
1. I want to get healthy.
2. I want my blood pressure to go down.
3. I want to exercise daily, because on days when I do exercise, it is easier to stay on an eating plan.
4. I want to eat a huge salad of greens and veggies before lunch and dinner, which will make me full.
5. I want to pay attention to my body. When it tells me I am full, I must stop eating. Just to make sure I am listening, I printed this visual button out -- three times. One for my wallet, one for my fridge, one for my pantry.
Five goals is a start, and together should be enough to keep me going. Notice that I did not include the number of pounds I want to lose, because I honestly don't know. When I get there, I know my body will tell me enough.
And although it is seductive to lose weight quickly, that is not my goal. Five pounds a month is fine with me. Add it up: By my birthday in April, that would be 30 pounds gone, plus the 6 pounds I just lost. I'll drink to that.
I have also decided that each day I will set one goal, which I consider my baby-step goal. For example, today I plan on drinking half my weight in water, which is easy to do in warm weather, not so easy now that the days have gotten damp, rainy and cold.
Tomorrow I am traveling, which means no time for the gym. But when I get to my destination, I will either convince my daughter to take a walk or hit her treadmill. I need to get my 10K steps in tomorrow.
Big-picture goals and the day's mini goal. It's a plan. And I always work best if I make a to-do list.
Good for you. You're getting there.
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