SO....I have decided to have a goal to lose 30 pounds by the end of 2014. If I lose more, woohoo! But I feel like 30 is a do-able goal. I intend to do this in a few ways:
- Smaller portions. I received Giada deLaurentiis' Feel Good Food for Christmas this year, and it is full of healthy foods and is her first cookbook with the calories, carbs, etc. listed. Based on this, and knowing that each recipe feeds either 4 or 6 people, I should be able to divide most of the recipes into recipes for 1 or 2 people. Also, I need to learn to measure! Growing up in a Southern home, measurements were never precise, unless we were baking, so I have probably been consuming way too much sodium and calories. Here is one recipe I can't wait to try:
(click on the image to go to the recipe)
- Better foods. I love red meat. In fact, I had half of a steak for dinner last night! But I also know that I shouldn't eat it all the time. I need to treat it like a special occasion food. I also need to learn to like chicken. I know there are lots of delicious healthy ways to prepare it, but honestly, it's a texture thing for me. Publix knows what it's doing with that mojo seasoning but I need to look at the label to see what all is in it before I commit myself to buying a chicken once a week to live off of. I have always loved vegetables. Broccoli is my favorite. But I also love spinach, artichokes, mushrooms, leeks, tomatoes, asparagus, and different lettuces. I'm not a big fan of carrots or peas, but those are full of sugar anyway, right? Ryan LOVES corn so I'll have to figure out a healthy way to incorporate that. Whole grains. I love rice so much that when I was little, my parents called me Rice Rice Baby because I grew up when Vanilla Ice was relevant. I also enjoy pasta because of how easy and versatile it is. However, as I'm typing this, I'm realizing that I don't eat it nearly as much as I used to. And even now, I already use whole grain pasta or the kind that's made from veggies. Quinoa is a recent favorite and Giada uses it a lot in her cookbook, so I am looking forward to learning more about its versatility. Switching to brown rice from white rice will be a little harder. It actually went pretty well with my black-eyed peas and collard greens today!
- Exercise. I am actually a pretty athletic person. And I'm a perfectionist. Which means that last year, when I was working with a personal trainer, I was kicking so much butt and lifting so much weight that I tore my meniscus. Ouch. That really set me back. Like so far back that I haven't worked out since September. I've been too afraid of hurting myself again, or worse. Which is why I'm easing back into it. I did a Run or Dye 5k with a friend a few weeks ago, which was great. We walked the whole thing but still made great time. My shin splints came back a little, but it may just be time for new shoes. Because of my knee injury, I am not going to go back to lifting weights and high-endurance exercises yet. I am going to ease back into working out with a mixture of Yoga for Weight Loss and Pilates. I have enough muscles, I need to burn the fat, and Pilates can work up a sweat if you're doing the right exercises. Back in Atlanta, there was a class at the gym I used to go to called Pilates Sculpt that I LOVED, so I hope to find some sort of workout similar to that. So I plan to do that to tone and sculpt and walk for my cardio.
All my equipment to help me on this weight-loss journey in the new year.
All endorsements are made by me, not Giada (or Publix, Gaiam, Run or Dye, Lotus, or Champion), she does not know who I am. Although she did reply to one of my tweets once! The only photograph by me is of my workout SWAG.
Sounds like a really thoughtful and reasonable plan! You can do it!
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