The Start of My Weight Loss Journey
It was January 2, 2004 when I returned from New York and vowed that I would not live a life of desperation, aches, and pains because I was so over weight. I started the journey and have been on it ever since. Not only has it been an interesting journey but one that changed my life. I lost over 100 pounds and have been working to keep it off.
The Importance of Daily Accountability
Keeping it off is just as much work as it was to get it off. Everyday I work to change my habits to support a leaner life style. A few weeks ago I wrote about a new tool that I was using to track my food, exercise and sleep. It is called the Jawbone UP . Now when I take a bite of something I know that I am going to have to record it in my new tool.
I have been eating healthy foods for a long time so that is not as much of a challenge as the quantity and not taking samples that are offered to me at stores when I shop. I just got back from buying some bread this morning and while I was there they offered me a sample of some fresh baked scones or cookies. Neither was a good choice. I chose the cinnamon scone as they looked like they had fewer calories. WRONG, I could tell when I took a bite they were loaded with sugar. I decided that I would wrap them up and feed them to the ducks. Then I thought about that again and said to myself, I am sure this is not the food that the ducks at the park should eat. I stopped at the nearest garbage can and tossed them. My normal habit would have been to eat it and say, “Oh well!” When you add all the “Oh wells” up it adds up quickly and soon the pounds begin to come back on.
For the past two weeks I have been recording everything that I eat. WOW, it sure adds up fast and I have to be so careful not to eat food that is not on my plan. My new tool is just like a bank. If I record everything that I eat, it will give me a running total of what I still have to spend in calories at the end of the day. I can assure you it adds up faster on the calculator than it does in my head when I am eating recklessly.
The other night I went to a party. I wanted to be able to have some calories to spend at the party so I had an orange and of a low fat cottage cheese serving for dinner and then waited until I got to the party and looked for the healthy foods. I had to be very careful not to over eat even though I had planned to eat a little while there.
Why Weight Loss Is a National Challenge
I know that over half of the people in America struggle with weight. That is not a surprise when you stop and think of the food that does not cost a lot but is loaded with calories and tastes great. Slowly I think that I am seeing the big picture. Eat what is healthy; calculate the calories in a computer tool and set goals that support your healthy life style. Just like your bank account, you need to be accountable for your actions as it is so easy to over spend your calories.
