one step at a time....

First things first: I just lost another two lbs! I am officially on the get right path! At 186lbs, I am close to where I was when I first moved out to DC. I've been losing about 1 lb per week, which is fantastic because I abhor diets. I don't believe in going on diets or doing temporary fixes for two main reasons:

1. Once you start to eat "regular" again, you gain the weight back!

2. I refuse to deprive myself and be hungry.

I am living proof that there is another way. I have a few friends who are losing weight (or wanting to), and while I'm not AT my goal, I can confidently share that my experience is no accident. I have been deliberately changing the way I think about food.

My secret? One step at a time. I am not trying to stop eating fried food, exercise 5 times a week, no carbs, lean meats, no sweets, etc. I have to live and enjoy my life.

Step 1: WATER. With [very] few exceptions, that's all I drink. I didn't have my first non-water drink for 6 weeks, and since then have only had limited interaction with those carbonated or juice alternatives. A friend of mine doesn't like water...so here are some tips to transition to it:

- crystal light (or some other target/walmart/store sugar free drink mix brand): its not kool-aid, but can definitely be helpful when weaning yourself off of pop or juice. overtime, you won't even need to "juice it up"

- lemons, limes, oranges, cucumbers, etc. no one said that water had to be boring. i'm not talking about flavored water, but throwing a few pieces of citrus fruit (or spa veggies!) in the water can help give it a bit of flavor. i promise it'll taste delish! find the thing that works for you!

What doesn't work? Vitamin Water. If you actually check the sugar and calorie content, its not much better than pop. If you're gonna drink it, you might as well enjoy a Pepsi (maybe that's just me :) ).

Step 2: Gotta step up my gym game...I'll check in to share how that goes. I have to get to the gym at least 3 times per week. I started off strong and have been slacking off since my big Convention 4 weeks ago. I'm back on it. Hopefully I'll lose at a rate of 1.5 to 2 lbs. I can't wait to get out of the 180's. The 190's went by so quickly.

That's it. I'm not going to go crazy on anything else...YET.