This past December, I spent more time than I ever have thinking through my priorities for 2018, manifesting my 5 year vision, and brainstorming business generating ideas. I'm still not done- you should see the amount of flip chart paper all over my bedroom. But the first thing to pop on my list of priorities was my health.
After years of fluctuating in weight - losing 75, gaining 60, repeat - I've decided that anything extreme, or where I feel restricted, is not the route for me. I have prided myself of being really good at weight loss competitions because when I get serious I've always been able to drop weight quickly. We used to do a "Biggest Winner" competition at my corporate job (yes, the PC version of Biggest Loser) and my team was always in top or winning. I also did Optifast in 2015. If you've done it let me know! It is NOT easy, but I managed to stay on it for maybe 6 months and I lost a good 80 pounds. Gained it back of course. I always do the "hey I did a great job, let's celebrate with a day/weekend/week/month of eating whatever I want." Makes perfect sense.......
Photo above is me with about a 90-100 lb difference.
So my approach now, is to find ways to eat in a balanced and SUSTAINABLE way that doesn't require any additional attention like counting macros or weighing my food. I don't want to be suffering through dressing-free salads and cold baby carrots every day of my life - I love food way too much. I'm also busy and have a lot going on and don't want to let an obstacle like finding time to COOK AND CLEAN get in my way.
With that my first vow/priority is to cut back on eating out/ordering in. No ordering in when I'm by myself, and only eating out socially 2-3 times a week. I don't know if you understand but this is HUGE for me. My life the past X months was a sad abyss of hoping the same delivery person doesn't work for more than one of the food apps I have.
My second vow was to experiment with a meal delivery service. What could be easier than having ready-to-heat meals - that aren't covered in a layer of ice - at the ready. This is something I'd thought about for a while and when I realized the savings versus eating out, I was sold. More on my delivery service venture in a future post :)
My third vow was to get myself to the gym at least 3 times a week. Ideally 5-6, but I just need sustainable progress here. Nothing too overwhelming.
And lastly, I want to start hiking again! Not real hiking, just LA hiking. Once a month, inviting friends and acquaintances from various circles to meet up at a local spot - accomplishing a workout and some networking all at once. Seems easy enough....
My actual GOAL? Yes, to lose weight and get stronger - not because I don't like my body or because I can't book work at my size - but because I've been feeling like TOTAL crap for months and with as much as I want to accomplish this year, I want to be ready for any and everything. No more losing 75 pounds or hoping to fit in a size 14 by X date. I just want to feel healthy and be confident.
There you have it - my health stream of consciousness lol. Best of luck to anyone that reads this with your own journey this year. Let me know if you're doing any of the same things or anything vastly different. Always curious :)
#stayready2018