Winning by Losing

I am reading 'Winning by Losing' by Jillian Michaels and I am pulling bits and pieces out to focus on.  One of them is making goals, long-term, short-term, monthly, weekly and daily goals.  So here goes my weekly goals.

1) Drink 96 oz. of water daily and consistently all week.
2) Track my calories every day, no cheating and no taste tests.  Sometimes my taste end up being a few bites and that over the entire day add up quickly.
3) No Diet Coke week!  I splurged way too much this week.  I need a Diet Coke fast.
4) Work-out 3 or more times this week.
5) Go to the beginner's yoga class at the YMCA next Saturday!  I even bought a mat at Wal-Mart to make myself go.

Next week I will start focusing on strength training!  I loathe strength training, UGH!  How do you get in your strength training and how the heck do you make it not so dreadful?  I just know that when my weight is off, I don't want to be all flabby.

For September, my goal is to lose a total of 8 pounds.  This equates to 2 pounds a week, which is quite a bit but if I work hard and get super serious, I can do it.

Here are some other things I pulled out of the book today:

• "At the end of the day, sometimes life just sucks in ways that cannot be reasoned with or rationalized.  The key is to learn how to take care of and pamper yourself in ways that are life-affirming, not self-destructive."  It's so weird to me that eating healthy goes hand in hand with other things in your life like being organized, having a clean home and the desire to keep within a budget.  Well, that is what it is with me.  When I exercise, I want to come home and have a clean house.  When I exercise, it motivated me to get my financials together.  You get the idea.

So when I feel like being lazy which puts me in a nasty feeling mood, what else can I do that makes me feel good afterwards?  I can take a bubble bath for some one on one time with me.  Or get my puppy and go on a really long walk.  My main problem with food is boredom, so I need to look towards an activity or something that makes me feel good rather than the refrigerator.  I am committed to asking myself if I am truly hungry before I step foot in the kitchen hunting something to make me feel "good" when really, it only makes me feel crappy after I eat it.  I also have some projects that I will start working on soon for Christmas time, so for the sake of needing to have a list of "go-to" items, I will start on them early!  I will work on a big LIST of things to do, so I go for that instead of the kitchen.  Here are also some tips from her book for those "mindless" eaters out there.

• "Don't eat while standing up, in the car, or when you're on the go or you don't have time to have a proper meal."  The one that stands out to me is the not eating while standing up.  I constantly do this!  I'm going to apply this so I don't find myself taste testing (which generally ends up being 2 to 3 heaping bites of whatever it is that's in front of me) everything and can focus on a healthy meal while relaxing at the dinner table.  I can't say I won't eat when on the run, I have my snacks during those times at work.. or when I'm on the go, but I don't have issues with over eating at those times.
• "Brush your teeth."  How simple is that!  When I'm done with dinner, I will brush my teeth.  "Food never seems quite as appealing when you have toothpaste mouth."
• If I feel like fussing in the kitchen at nighttime, I will "Try making yourself a cup of hot tea; the warm liquis in your stomach can help you feel satiated."

Another thing she talks about is evaluating the people surrounding you and how they help or hender your efforts.  I have to say I am so extremely thankful for those surrounding me, they go out of their way to help me.  My boyfriend cooks a lot and he always makes me something healthy.  He even makes my stuff separately if what he and our daughter are having is too high in calories.  My momma is encouraging by providing healthy options too.  She typically cooks healthy anyway, but for example: she's come over here a couple of times with Hungry Girl cocktails in tow!  I'm impressed with both of them and their encouragement.  And for those that don't have that support system; she suggests to sit down and talk with those that are important to you that seem to sabotage with or without knowing it.  I encourage everybody to do this, because I don't know what I'd do without mine.

I recommend this book so far.  So far, it's encouraging and has pointed out things that help remind me that making small changes make big differences.