Today was Day #1 for this health challenge that I am doing!! Don’t worry, I won’t update you every day on here . . that could get a little boring! But, I’ll share a few things with you here and there!
In 2002 I did a high protein, no/low carb diet and lost 20 pounds in one month. I was ecstatic! My attempts since then have been less than exciting. Like, generally I gain weight. After some research, here’s why:
1) I don’t sleep as much as I did in 2002. In 2002 I was newly married. I had a 40 hour a week job, with a little overtime here and there; and I was going to school at night to finish my degree. I had a lot less obligations than I do now!
2) I had a 40 hour a week job. That meant, I left my home to go to work. So I only snacked on what I had with me. And I didn’t leave the building at lunch time. It was easier to be strict. In my attempts since then, I work from home. I have a whole kitchen within easy reach and when I go to appointments, I have the whole world of fast food within easy reach. It’s not completely that I ate worse foods in my more recent attempts; it was that I ate a lot more of it!
3) So with the eating more food, I didn’t count anything. I was eating protein and not carbs, so I was good, right? Wrong. I probably ate a bazillion calories and grams of protein!
4) And truly, I probably exercised more in 2002. I lived by a lake and I took long 5 mile walks with my dog around the lake. I could get up early and work-out in the living room without worrying about noise or shaking the house. The hubster would have already been awake, so it didn’t matter. Now a days if I get too loud, I’ve woken up 5 other people.
Since 2002 I have learned more about nutrition. I have been following some healthy eating sites for months now, for encouragement in this preparing to be ready to take the plunge! A friend has recently lost 50 pounds eating a Keto diet; so that is awesome inspiration!
So today, Day 1, I slept 8.5 hours last night. I’ve eaten 931 calories – I wasn’t trying to be this low. I just wasn’t super hungry today. I did eat 62 carbs – my goal is 20. I had corn on the cob that I wasn’t ready to give up on. I was supposed to eat it yesterday! Oh well. I had 55 grams of fat – this should be significantly higher for my chosen way of eating. And I had 54 grams of protein – also should be higher, but I was closer to the goal. I did go on a 20 minute bike ride in the pre-storm weather with a wicked wind. I would have sung “Against the Wind” if I had enough breath for that! And I did about 10 minutes of toning exercises. Oh, oh, and I drank 12 cups of water!
I would call Day 1 somewhat of a success. I have a few recipes here that I’ve saved for when I jumped in these goals. I’ve gotta start cooking and baking those!
Day 2’s challenge will be sleep. I didn’t get near enough done this weekend and I will be staying up late. This will not be good tomorrow morning. So I will try very hard to get a nap in tomorrow. I knew that sleep would be the biggest challenge here. But I can do it!
Tonight I am thankful for a good Day One! We still have pie in the fridge; I didn’t touch it. We still have ice cream in the freezer; I didn’t touch it. The kids drank Soda Stream; I didn’t drink any. I almost didn’t exercise because it was getting later and the sky didn’t look good; but I went any way! Today is a win!
Bug's Bright Side 