Day Two

I have decided to begin a diet and exercise program for the 28th time.  I believe that the first time I started was 1984, when I had "blossomed" to 165 pounds after the births of my children.  I was determined not to be fat.  Well, so much for that thought and for those 28 attempts.  I am now 58, and actually when I tipped the scale on January 1, 2012 at 235 pounds, I decided that it was amazing I had made it to that last birthday.  I'm not sure how someone who has totally ignored the food pyramid for at least 30 years has survived.  It seems to underscore the resilience of the human race.  No matter how much we abuse ourselves, we still bounce back for more.

I am determined to do something about my state of obesity.  It seems that by calling it what it is helps.  I am bordering on being morbidly obese.  That means that this could kill me, right?  Morbid is such a life-altering word, isn't it?  So, yesterday, I decided to do something about this.  My plan is to get through one day at a time for the next 365 days by exercising and eating healthier foods.  Why did I start on January 2 rather than the 1st?  (It's leap year!)

Each day I plan to post a little about my successes and probable failures.  Today I will focus on a success.  I made it through yesterday sticking to my plan.  I exercised for an hour, I ate three meals and two snacks.  (Yes, you can tell yourself that a carton of key lime pie yogurt is a snack, and that if you try really hard to imagine it as a piece of key lime pie, you actually can't do that.) I started drinking more water, and I started a food journal.  My God!  I'm overwhelming myself just reading about how much I did in one day.

To get through those 24 hours, I realized that I would need to break the day into segments.  The day became 3 segments of 8 hours.  The first 8 were OK.  I worked out, ate breakfast...by the way, that should have been in the opposite order, because I felt like I was going to pass out as I worked out, ate a light lunch and 8 hours were gone!  Snap!  The next 8 hours were a trial.  Ordinarily, I will spend my afternoons with a book and around 4 pm, I'll add a glass of wine to the "activity."  While reading, there is always time for a few snacks, more wine, a few more snacks, etc.  Yesterday, I read, went for a 20 minute walk, then read more, drank three glasses of ice water (in a wine glass!), made a remarkably healthy salad for dinner, and read more.  By 9 pm, I was craving just a little snack and maybe just a small glass of wine, but because I had made a promise to myself to get through a day by changing, I did.  Finally I had an epiphany!  I needed to do this by myself and for myself.  I'm the one who matters here.  I'm the one who's morbidly obese!  The final 8 hours were a breeze.  I went to bed.

And here I am, already 8 hours into day two.  I've eaten a healthy breakfast with whole grains and protein...not a big fan of those grains, but maybe they'll grow on me.  I've worked out for 70 minutes and I just got back from a 30-minute walk.  Now to help me through the next 8 hours, I'm blogging and then I'm off to the store to do some shopping for some healthy meals that I plan to organize and start preparing. 

I think I can do this.  I wish that I would have had the sense to do this 28 years ago when I only needed to lose 30 pounds, rather than 100, but as they say, hindsight is always 20-20.  Wish me luck, and please feel free to join me in this 365 day quest to make it one day at a time!  I'd love to hear from you with suggestions and encouragement.

Here's my tip of the day:  Seriously consider dividing your day into segments.  I think the 8-hour plan is good, but if you don't sleep 8 hours a night, try 6-hour segments.