Start-It's better than the alternative

Starting is the hardest part-you know the steps required to meet the goal and it seems impossible!  You want instant satisfaction!!  Well guess what-that does NOT happen.

Here are my suggestions for you to start today:

1. REMOVE food that you KNOW you cannot have around.  You can't start this game with the score 28-0 at the beginning.  Be fair to yourself, give yourself a chance, be HONEST-I for example CANNOT have cookies in my house.  My kids just have to learn to accept that Oreos will not be a part of their life either-and really-aren't we both better off for that.
2. Log into Myfitnesspal and create your profile.  Be realistic...don't put in losing more than 1.5 to 2 pounds a week and make exercise at least 30 mins a day.  This way if you work out more on other days you can build in a rest day. **Getting starting in this can be frustrating-you have to look up all the food you are eating and figure out quantities etc.  If you have a smart phone you can scan the bar codes of your items.  I eat a lot of the same stuff so after a week of entries your items will all be in your "recent" tab and will be easy to enter.**
3. Dust off the measuring cups/spoons you used to make all your amazing holiday cookies and maybe buy a second set at Target this week-they are going to need to be accessible at all times.  Invest in a scale that you can measure your proteins on.  Your fist may be bigger than another person's and 4 ounces can turn into 6 ounces easily.  Measure Measure Measure-you are probably not sure what a cup of cereal looks like-it's a lot smaller than you think!
4. Buy a Nalgen while at Target too and DRINK WATER-Lots of water!  I try to drink three 32 oz Nalgens a day.  Also try to finish them by 7pm so you are not up ALL night going to the bathroom.
5. Get up and get moving.  You do not need to run or head to the gym like a crazy person.  Work out DVDs are awesome and walking the neighborhood can get you sweating!  Remember you are working towards something-it will not be easy at the start-but each day you keep this in your routine it will get easier!
6. Enter in your food even when you KNOW it's bad.  You will surprise yourself that when you are tracking your intake-your little cheats are more controlled and probably will not be the end of your day.
7. Keep positive and tell a friend.  Accountability is a huge part of this and if there is one other person to help you up when you fall off track you are more likely to have success.
8. Give yourself a mental break.  Stop beating yourself up and and start lifting yourself up.  It's hard and you really don't "want" to do it.  You really just want the end result.  Realize today that this is a process and you are in control and you can do it!

What my food intake looks like-
For the past 365 days I probably have had Wegmans Weight Control Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal 340 days.  I can handle having the same thing day in and day out.  It fills me up-tastes delicious and my body can start the day energized with it!  I am pretty similar in my lunch as well.  Turkey roll ups with tomato, kale mix, onion and avocado.  Take note of things at the grocery-you can get some roll ups for 80 calories vs. 200.  120 is equal to a half a cup of slow churned ice cream which I would MUCH rather have than a 200 calorie wrap!  Dinner is usually salad, protein and a small carbohydrate.  I am a big dessert person so I make sure I have calories every night for that!  I will post another entry that will have my first week of MFP back on January 27th 2014.  It only consisted of 4 work out sessions at ~35 minutes of running at 10 minute miles.

This whole process is about sacrifice and this for that.  I keep saying-choose you-another part of that is just making sure you are added to the list.  So many things have to get done in a single day let alone a week that even though you are saying you are choosing you-you are not on the list of things to complete!  If it helps-literally write yourself into the schedule-you do it for everyone else-why not you!

Below is a year comparison to when I started this journey last January.  Seeing the picture side by side really blows my mind-and I feel so very strong and secure today and seem to forget those feelings I had last January.  

Embrace the suck and choose you today!!