Instead: IT STARTED TODAY.
I'd be lying if I said I was super stoked. No one wants to have to work at losing weight. But I'm here. And I'm trying to be positive as possible about it. And I've already learned some things!
1) The different container size system I am on? I'd been doing it wrong! Instead of thinking about what I want to eat and trying to then force that into the containers that exist in my world, I should instead be earmarking, ahead of time, what each container is for. NOVEL! So it becomes a "fun" thinking game of logicing out what goes where at what time when, instead of waiting for hunger to strike and going, "Shit, I don't have any carbs left for the day."
Yes, I've just described color coded meal planning. But reframing it not as "ugh meal planning for a week! That's impossible and not how I want to spend my time!" and instead as, my nerdy board gaming husband would look at it, asset allocation over a period of days, it becomes far less daunting and feels less tedious. Go figure! I think this is why my coach asked me what my "go-to" meals are. During the work week I know I can do greek yogurt in the morning, and berries in the afternoon. On the weekend, I know spinach and scrambled eggs and a bit of cheese will make me happy without looking at a menu and having ALL THE OPTIONS and then making bad choices. So asset allocation as opposed to meal planning and the whole damn thing took on a new tilt. (I wish I'd bought that on sale star wars notebook I saw to do this in.)
2) The second thing I learned is about recalibrating my hunger. In the past, I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. There was no set time. This was particularly true in the morning. I know everyone will tell you "breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" (which is likely false, btw) but it's not when I'm "hungry". But what is hunger? If we think of it as a need for food, waiting until I felt that need means I then devour things because I am past the point of logical hunger (which I talked about in the last post).
3) Don't reward yourself with things that counteract your goal. Again, this SEEMS like it's self explanatory. I've heard it at weight watchers before when I did that. "Have a nice cup of tea! Go get your nails done!" But how often do you want to instead devour a cheeseburger after your week or two of "clean" living? More often than not, at least for me. Then it was, again, reframed! Lifehacker stated: give yourself a tool to reach the next level. The article that tidbit came from is here and led me to Nerd Fitness. My husband will tell you I'm not a nerd because I think Sauron and Sauromon are the same thing (I don't, actually, but the alliteration annoys me) but Nerd Fitness sounds kind of awesome. And the idea of leveling up and giving myself more tools at each stage sounds awesome. I've been eyeing some of those awesome strappy sports bras and the go "wah wah, I'm too fat for those. When I lose some weight" or "I already have a ton of underused workout clothes, I can't rationalize strappy sports bras." But what if it's a reward? You worked out ten times in 14 days? Put $20 in aside for that. So I'm going to pull out one of my many (many many many) empty journals and set myself some prize levels along with my color coded asset allocation.
I also signed up for the Nerd Fitness newsletter so I'll let you know how that goes. But I think the big thing here is: I've read it all. I get the principles. Hell, we ALL get the principles. (Eat less! Exercise more!) What is needed now is putting those into practice to reach results in a way that still makes living this life sustainable and FUN. While also being kind and generous to ourselves when we do slip up. Phew. That's a LOT to try and balance. It's day 1 and I'm more optimistic now than I was when I woke up. So let's see how this goes.
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