Back on Track

I've been in Telluride for one week. I LOVE IT! All the hassle, stress and uncertainty paid off for this job. (Read more about it at Girl in the Green Jacket). For the next few weeks I have Mondays off because of furlough during the off-season. Today I committed my day off to getting my fitness and eating back on track (and finding a place to live.)

When I was in Durango I found out that Moleskine makes wellness journals. Not only am I obsessed with my Moleskine calendar and notebooks, but I was looking for something to keep track of my eating, fitness and motivation. I found it at Maria's and went through it today and really plotted out my refocusing efforts on wellness and whole living.

I've realized that there's more to being a certain size and weight. Although I have a weight loss goal in mind, my overall goal is to live a more whole and balanced lifestyle. Telluride's the perfect place to establish such a lifestyle, and I can start any habit I want here since I'm changing so much in my life already.

So in the spirit of starting fresh, tomorrow starts a new diet. I really hate to use the word diet because this plan doesn't tell me what to eat, how much and when...but for lack of a better word I'll use it.

So tomorrow I will start the Mayo Clinic Diet. In order to do it right, you need two weeks without temptations to adopt the different eating habits and now is the best time to start it.

So the main gist is to adopt 5 healthy habits, break 5 habits and adopt 5 more bonus habits.

The 5 habits to adopt are:

• Eat fruits and veggies (4 or more vegetables and 3 or more servings of fruits)-something I've been trying to do already.
  

• Eat a healthy breakfast (but not too much)-breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, I just need to incorporate more fruit and whole grain into my meals.
  

• Eat whole grains-I'm a sucker for sourdough bread, but I can stick to whole grains for two weeks.
  

• Eat healthy fats only-this includes nuts, olive oil, avocados. Nuts and dried cranberries make for an excellent mid-afternoon snack and would help me stick to two of those rules.
  

• MOVE! -30 minutes or more 7 days a week even if it's only walking.

The 5 habits to break are:

• Don't watch TV while you're eating dinner (on that note watch only as much TV as you exercised)-This is easier said than done when I'm in a big condo by myself, but I am going to try to do more core and mat work as I'm watching TV.
  

• No added sugar (only what's naturally found in fruit)-does Chocolate count as fruit?
  

• No snacks-only fruit or vegetables for snack food.
  

• Moderate meat and low fat dairy (stick to 3 oz of meat a day)-this will be difficult because I enjoy my protein from lean meat and you all know how I feel about cheese. But for two weeks and a promised 6-10 lbs weight loss, I'll give it a shot.
• No eating at restaurants-A no brainer for me currently because restaurants here are either closed for the off-season, or I can't afford to go out until I start getting paid at the new job.

There are 5 bonus habits that they encourage readers to adopt as well. Keep a food and activity record (piece of cake with my new wellness journal that has a section for tracking daily diet and fitness), walk or exercise 60 minutes a day (you can also use a pedometer and try to increase steps by 1,000 step increments until you get to 10,000 steps per day. Eat 'real food' and write down your daily goals. The last two I won't adhere to fully because I'll already be eating real food with the other 10 habits and and I operate better with weekly goals over daily goals.

So yeah, there's my new plan. I'm still 16 pounds away from my original weight loss goal I set when I started Ideal Protein. The Mayo Clinic book says I can lose 6-10 pounds in two weeks just by following those habits. Worth a shot right? It'd get me that much closer to my total weight loss goal....but in the mean time, it'll make me feel much healthier and better about myself for getting back into it rather than giving up and eating whatever I want. I still have Holly's wedding as my weight loss motivation.

Words to live by

I was going through my drafts and realized that I saved this, but never posted it. I found it from the living section on the Huffington Post.

In order to permanently lose weight, you want to:

1. Focus Inward: This is for you and only for you. Not for an event, not for other people.

2. Change Your Identity: You are now a person who takes care of yourself. You eat 'right,' you shake your booty, and you love yourself.

3. Have More: Healthy living is not about restricting yourself; it's not about what you can't eat. It's about having more healthy foods, more fun, more love, more creativity, more life!

I've been working out. Not as much as I'd like, but still more than I was. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week since I joined the gym. I'll be going to a total body conditioning class tomorrow. I expect it to KICK MY ASS. My co-worker goes to it, so knowing that she's expecting me tomorrow is really good motivation to get my ass out of bed in the morning and go. It's at 8 a.m. I'm setting three alarms. I am ready to feel the burn.

In Transition....

The past month has been a roller coaster when it comes to any sort of routine, workout or diet.

First off, it was my birthday. I put any semblance of the Ideal Protein diet on hold for two weeks and gained three pounds. Very frustrating considering it took me three weeks to lose a mere three pounds, but totally worth it because I ate what I wanted and enjoyed myself.

Just as I was finding the motivation to get back into my routine, I received the fantastic news that I got a job in Telluride and quickly had to pack my belongings and move to Durango within a few days.

I've been home for a little over a week now, and have been able to maintain my weight (not gaining weight, but fluctuating within a three pound range) by trying to eat well and working out at least 5 times a week. I'm still 20 pounds away from the goal weight I set for myself when I started Ideal Protein. But I'm enjoying myself and having fun.

It will be so much easier when I am moved into a place in Telluride and can get back onto a regimented eating and diet plan. I can't do Ideal Protein because it's too expensive and there isn't a 'dealer' in Telluride, but I'm thinking of buying the Mayo Clinic Diet book and following that. It focuses more on changing eating habits instead of instructing readers to eat certain amounts of certain foods and certain times of the day. The Mayo Clinic is a reputable health organization (or whatever it does...) and I thinks it's totally worth it to give the diet a shot.

If I wanted to be hard on myself I could beat myself up for eating the eggs Benedict I had for breakfast (with a mimosa) but I'm not going to do that. I had a lovely morning with my best friend and I wouldn't exchange that for anything (not even the calories in Hollandaise sauce).

Every article I read anywhere about weight loss, fitness and dieting emphasizes the concept of self-love. It's not healthy to base my happiness or self-worth on how much I weigh. Granted, that's much easier said, than done in some cases, but I'm trying really, really hard to love myself the way I am right now. Today. (Although I don't love the massive sunburn I have on my entire back from sitting in a hot tub for far too long yesterday.)


And with that I will try to muster up enough energy (the sunburn is making me feverish) to do some yoga and practice some self love.