Diet and Excercise are here to stay!

I'm back ya'll! (and those are not my feet by the way!)

I hope you all have had a wonderful beginning to 2011! I have had an awesome month and a half myself. Has it really only been that long? Crazy!

Well, as you may know I had set out to do many things this year. Heck, I have set out every year to do many new things, but I am here to testify that change can happen! This time I have kept many resolutions and even added more.

There are a several areas of my life that I have begun to alter for the better already this year. I will only talk of one of them today:

Diet and Excercise:

I have never been one for Diet. I have never really been on a diet to lose weight in my life. I have gradually become overweight and while good intentions have abounded, three pregnancies in 5 years have enabled me to let time and lbs get the best of me. The worst thing about it is that I didn't gain very much with my last pregnancy (a year ago) but that after my youngest was born, I proceeded to eat (and drink chocolate milk) like there was no tommorrow. Claiming that nursing was making me more hungry and thirsty, I sort of gave myself permission to be a glutton. I lost all self-control. I gained 20 more lbs than I had weighed before my pregnancy.

Now is the time to take control. Last month something in my brain finally clicked. Before that point, I was not able to say no to food. After that click... I have been able to totally embrace the concept of MODERATION!!! Woohoo!

I think I had been preparing myself during the holidays, that it would be my last time of eating freely. Then last month when I suddenly fell victim to an evil stomach bug that is going around, I actually decided to make the bad into a good by using those three days of fasting as a jumping off point for my new way of eating. (after all, my stomach had shrunk!)

In the past month, I have lost 6 lbs. I know what you are thinking. "Big Whoop, 6 lbs" But really, this is just the begining, because instead of doing something temporary, I have begun a long lasting new habit. I chose a sustainable method of losing weight. This is no crash diet. I have decided certain things in my mind and I am willing to follow through. There just comes a time in your life when you want to make your dreams come true. I dream often of being thin and healthy. I want to be able to look at photos of my and my kids without cringing.

Yes, that is my dream. Family photos where I look good!

What is my method of losing weight?

Just in case you were wondering. I am simply counting calories. Each day my goal is to eat only enough calories to properly sustain the ideal weight for a woman my height. I make sure to eat small snacks and meals throughout the day so that my body doesn't think I am starving (the body will hold on to that stored fat if you seem to be in a starvation mode). I gave up cokes. (a big deal for me) and occasionally substitute tea made with honey instead of sugar.

I am suplimenting my weight loss with an exercise program. I am using a video game on my Xbox Kinect to do daily workouts and now have begun to ride my bike again as I used to do... I ride about 4 miles a few times a week. I have also begun to take vitamins also, to help my body run properly.

I have lost some weight, but I have gained something too!

With these new habits I feel better. I feel great! I have more energy (not less) and I have more stamina and strength. I already play more actively with my kids. I don't need caffiene to stay awake. I sleep like a baby when it is finally time to hit the sack. I get more done (even though I take time to excercise I am able to exert more energy when chores are being done)

You may scoff. You may say that this is a temporary spell. I hope not. I feel confident that I have turned an important corner in my life that will ever be for the benefit of me and my family. If you too are trying to get started on a new way of eating and living, I encourage you... You can do it!!! We can do it! Don't worry if it takes a year or two years, or 5 or 10. The important thing is that we are taking steps in the right direction and no longer in the wrong direction. Keep it up! We will get there!