Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Well, my sis started SparkPeople about 9 months ago and told me about it about 5 months ago. I signed up so I could see her SparkPage and then deleted every motivational email that got sent to me from the website. Bleah. Just not ready.
As the new year arrived, I decided to do some form of exercise everyday for my resolution - even gentle stretching - just some movement. I got going on that and then started wondering just how much food fuel I need and about how much I'm taking in. I've never tracked my diet before - I tend to get excited about something for a month or so then give it up. Searching the web for a calorie calculator, I remembered SparkPeople and came back over here to figure out how much I was eating.
So.... I've been tracking my calories for five days now and find that it isn't too hard to stay inside the 1200-1600 range (as long as I get nowhere NEAR a tub of ice cream).
The most obvious benefit so far is that I've been much more conscious and motivated to eat more fruits and veggies and fewer starchy snacks. That's really huge and helping me stay in the calorie range in a big way.
The fitness tracking is also helping me stay honest. I really do get motivated by checking off that little box or entering my times.
I'm still struggling with sugar cravings and drinking enough water and eating a full eight fruits & veggies (and I LOVE lots of different fruits and veggies!).
I have a coupon to get 3 free months at a local gym I've been checking out. It expires tomorrow. So I need to go in there and start a real weight lifting program.
Around the beginning of the year I was 145 lbs and I'm now 140 lbs. It's been decades since I weighed myself. I finally threw away the scale because if the number was "good" I'd eat in celebration and if the number was "bad" I'd eat in frustration. But my sis (again) left a scale here after her last visit and it has quietly called to me every morning. So far I'm not eating in celebration, so maybe that old habit faded away over the last 20 years or so!
Here's to determination, perseverance, and intestinal fortitude.
