Jumping in with both feet.

Hi guys!

I looked back at the old site I used to log my food before MFP this morning; I started online logging on January 22, 2004. My, what a long strange trip it has been! If I remember correctly, Nolan was going on deployment for several months and I wanted to look HOT when he got home. Long story short…. I lost 8, gained 7 back and he came back that summer to basically the same person. Oh well… better luck next time! Over the years I have learned a lot, both from my successes and my mistakes. Here are a few tips I picked up along the way.

                You went to Vegas for the weekend… ate too much drank too much, and didn’t work-out. So now it is Monday morning and you are regretful. What do you do?  Wake up vowing to eat nothing till Wednesday right? WRONG! I don’t know how many YEARS I did this over and over…and over again. It doesn’t work. So now when I gain 5 pounds in two days I start Monday out with a solid workout and a healthy filling breakfast. It is the absolute BEST way to jumpstart your week!

If you are hungry eat! Losing 10, 20, 50 or 100lbs isn’t about being hungry. It’s about making small changes over time to see big results. If you are hungry take a look at your recent history, are you low on calories for the day? Was your morning derailed by too many carbs and not enough lean proteins to fill you up? If you are hungry and it isn’t time to eat, try a snack of at least 150 calories with a glass of water and see how it works. Hunger is one of the BEST signs of fat loss. Your body being hungry means it is waking up and you are on your way to better energy and metabolism. So don’t fight it, nourish it and be happy for it.

Learn how to grocery shop. I love Wal-Mart, it’s cheap, and I get my “shopping mall” fix that I can’t normally fill in Sheridan. But it is seriously the worst place on earth to be inspired to eat and cook healthy. So I do my best to make my grocery list while watching the Food Network (and preferably not anything with Guy, Paula, or the Man vs. Food dude.) Everyone with a job and a life is short on time, but the best way to succeed in improving your eating is to have healthy and APPEALING options in the house. Make fruits, veggies, and lean proteins like yogurt or hummus your go to snacks. I still haven’t broken Nolan from “saving” the berries in the fridge. Would it be nice if raspberries came in gallon packs and not those goofy little mini trays?

There is a reason runners get runner’s knee and tennis players get tennis elbow. Let’s face it, most of us aren’t 20 anymore. We all get aches and pains and that is part of aging. But when does pain become an injury? If you have a pain in your butt, back, feet, shoulders  or just about anywhere else that sticks around for a few weeks, GET IT CHECKED OUT! The longer you ignore it, the longer and more expensive it becomes to get rid of it. Start with google, list your symptoms and see what you can find out. It often just takes a few balancing stretches to get yourself back in line.  If that doesn’t work, see your doc. I can give you input on what I think it is, but I am not a doctor and I have no business diagnosing or treating your ailments. It is so much better to get it solved and move on to a pain free life!

Treat yourself the way you treat others. We are our own worst critics, can you imagine if we held others to the standards we try to hold for ourselves? I don’t think we would have many friends! So, today is the day to start loving yourself the way your husband, wife, kids and friends do. Celebrate your strengths and they will multiply!