Diet Starts Monday!

Starting Monday, this is the place to be for my weight loss and general well being updates. I'll do the first weigh in Monday morning. I did consider posting a "before" picture here, but then reconsidered because I have a number of coworkers that are Facebook friends, and I'd rather they not see a picture of me in a sports bra and shorts. Especially right now.

I do this whole "fed up with my weight" routine at least once a year, but this time I want to make it stick: and that's why I created this blog. Every morning I'll post with my food and exercise diary from the day before, as well as any specific goals and general observations. Putting it in writing for the world to see should help me to stick with it, no?

I've set some basic goals already. First of all, I'd very much like to get down to 120 pounds. I am 5'2'', so I feel that is a fair weight for my stature. Will I eventually say "fuck it" and move that goal up to 125? Probably. But not anytime soon.

Every week, on Sunday night, I'm going to detail my diet and exercise goals for the week, and my reward if I meet those goals. I find that I respond best to presents, so I'm going to buy them for myself when I'm good. Yes, I like bribes. Who doesn't?

For the big deal moments, I'm going to seriously reward myself. Right now, I've decided that when I get back down to 130, I'll let myself get a personal trainer (probably broken up into two 30 minute sessions a week or something...the actual frequency will depend on the cost and my discretionary income at that time). And for the big prize, I will be putting $100 into a special savings account every time I get a paycheck until I hit 120 (and keep it there for two weeks). Once I can do that, I will use that money for a bunch of new clothes and/or alterations to old favorites. Robbing myself of $200/month should also be a pretty good motivator to actually lose this weight.

As you may know, January through April are rough on me at work - I'm there 60 hours a week, and am often on the road. This will cause me to have some questionable food and exercise goals some weeks. What can you do. I can't torture myself over things I can't really control. What I can do is bring my own lunch and dinner to the office when I'm in town to keep it healthy. Blake got me an awesome Crock-Pot for Christmas, and that will be assisting me. I'm going to make some kind of veggie-ful soup on weekends to bring to work as a lunch or dinner side dish. This week? Butternut squash. Delish.

Also, I am quitting my current gym this week because it is EXPENSIVE. A new gym is opening next week two blocks from the house that is less than half the price and is 24 hours that I'm planning to join. I think morning workouts will be easiest for me, so that will help. Also, I have just about every exercise related game in existence for my Wii, so on days that I can't (or don't feel like) getting to the gym, I can use those. Don't worry. I'll be updating you all on their respective usefulness periodically.

That's about all you need to know right now. See you Sunday for my first weekly goals writeup, and Monday for my first weigh-in (hopefully some of the holiday pudge will rid itself by then).

Happy New Year!
~Jen