I want to break bad habits and replace them with something better. I need to lose a lot of weight. I need to have a consistent exercise plan. I need to eat well all the time, not just occasionally.
I want to grow old but healthy. I want to watch my kids suffer at the hands of THEIR teenagers.
And here's where YOU come in!
I'll choose one suggestion and get to work.
Every 3-4 weeks I'll let you know how it went, then ask for another one. This way each good suggestion will become a new habit, and I'll just BUILD my way to better health.
Are in you? Ok, then, let's heal Mnmom!
11 comments:
Just a short while ago, I wrote in my journal... about having to make some changes. You would think after being hospitalized last year and having lost some weight, I might have stuck to it, but no.
I hear you and I am rooting for you. At this point, I'm not sure what I can offer, having done so poorly myself, but I send you my good thoughts. I know that when I have made changes, they have been slow. If I had to suggest something from here, it would not be an act or a food, but rather the nexus of patience and persistence.
And that goes for both of us.
(I love your humility and honesty, what gifts.)
Glad to see you're on the mend! I would offer the suggestion of stretching-I'm working on this too right now- life changes for me are inspiring some personal improvement...I find that I need to work on my flexibility because it helps with any other activities I do- there are some good yoga dvds that offer a good starting point- AM/PM yoga is one and it's by Gaiam-
The other suggestion I have is to check out the Veganist lady- can't remember her name but if you google Veganist she'll pop up- she's pretty and blonde and you can't miss her. She offers some help in rethinking your diet and maybe easing into a vegan diet- I am also considering going back on this - I did it earlier this year and I did feel better but life got in the way and I stressed out and ate McDonald's and that was all she wrote...
I'll make some changes with you- we can even get together and walk or something...
hey- why am I up so damn early? And what the heck am I doing sitting on my fanny...I should be doing some yoga!
later
I feel like Fran--if I had the answers about improving habits, I'd be using them more effectively on myself! (sigh.) However, I will say that starting to drink a Green Monster every day (for me, it's my breakfast) has vastly improved my nutrition b/c it gives me 3 servings of fruits/veggies in one glass. And my skin has looked great since starting to do it over a year ago. But a lot of folks are scared of them b/c they involve lots of raw spinach.
The truth is, they don't taste at all like spinach, even though they're bright green. They taste like vanilla and banana. (You can use other ingreds. if you don't like those flavors.)
Basic recipe: blend in blender 1 cup vanilla soy milk, 1/2 banana, 2 generous cups raw spinach leaves (as-is, no need to trim). Turns out frothy and bright green. Tastes sweet but not spinachy.
B/c I use it for a meal, I add 1 scoop of all-natural chocolate-flavored protein powder. You could add a spoonful of peanut butter, or some berries, or both. You can use rice milk, almond milk, or another flavor of soy milk. It's very flexible. But bottom line is it gives you 2 servings of GREENS every single day. Which is HUGE in terms of vitamins and antioxidants (and fiber).
This way even if I eat like crap the rest of the day, I've already eaten more fruit/veggie servings than most Americans eat in an entire day.
Getting a pedometer that displays calories burned helped me a lot. When you can see that you only burned 400 calories on your walk, it's harder to justify that celebratory second beer and a slice.
I have started keeping track of what I shove in my face on MyFitnessPal.com - my thought was to see what I was eating and go from there...I work superhard at it during the week and cut myself some slack on the weekends. I don't think I can go back to controlling what I eat every.single.day it made me a crazy person who only talked about "points" - ugh.
Start with one healthy change - JUST ONE - For me it was no more soda pop - when that became easy, I went on to butter, etc., etc. - you get the idea - It was much kinder then trying to make drastic changes I couldn't stick to. This way I felt successful and that feeling of success inspired me to keep going.
I have read that it takes 3 weeks to develop a routine or habit. I really believe that you just have to suck it up until then. I have never been much into exercise but about 3 years ago I started regularly exercising because of health issues and it has made such a difference.
I bought a treadmill on craigslist a few years ago and used it until it died. At that point, it was cheaper to join a local gym. I started lifting weights for the first time in my life. I'd be happy to show you if you like. First of all, though, you'd have to be okay with me in my "do-rag" bandana, no make-up and drenched with sweat like no other peri-menopausal woman you know. You can go for a trial week for free. My health insurance covers all but $20/month. It's totally worth it.
Good luck and feel better SOON!
Give up those cigars.
I love the photo of the ole' lady smoking. But you're right, we've got to do better. We ain't gone be able to live forever... and we gotta think about our long term health. We wanna be here to see our grandkids have grandkids.
I started doing better three months ago. Decided to eat more fruits and veggies, incorporate SOME walking and less fatty foods. It's been a big struggle for me cause I like doing what I wanna do and eating what I wanna eat. But I look at that five year old kid of mine and KNOW that I want to see his kids at five and his kids' kids' at five. So I make the sacrifice.
Now, what's gone really piss me off is when I do all this healthy eating and living and get struck by lightning or hit by a truck and go home to glory (thin as a rail). Wish I knew how I was going out. Cause if God's gone take me early in a car crash, I can go head and have that fried chicken for lunch.
I am with Lisa--I love my Fitness Pal on my iPhone but if you don't have a Smart Phone just keeping a handwritten food journal works wonders. It keeps you accountable & you can actually see everything you put in your mouth. And I have found that if I have to actually journal that I ate a bag of Cheetos, I will not eat them! I also try not to go above 1200 calories per day.
SO sorry to hear about your kidney stone. I have had several of them, luckily small ones that still hurt like hell but at least they kind of crumble and pass without too much problem. I hear you about trying to be healthier and lose weight, eat better etc. I was trying to do that for awhile but I have totally backslidden! My tip is yes, eat more fruits and vegetables. That way you aren't eating something else that's bad. The trick is always having the requisite fruits and veggies available in the house. Cut up fruit ahead of time and keep it in the fridge so it's easy to grab it and put on your cereal. Add some real fruit to plain yogurt instead of buying sugary fruity yogurts. Keep those little clementines on hand and pop them when you feel like eating a snack. No seeds make them much better than regular oranges. As for adding veggies, you can buy those little peeled carrots to have on hand and maybe some lowfat dip to dip them in for a snack. Also the idea of drinking your vegetables as suggested by Shannon is a good one too. If you don't want to make the smoothie yourself, buy low sodium V8 and drink some of that to get more vegetables. I also have started using spaghetti squash instead of pasta. I make a sauce with real peppers, onions and tomatoes and a little jarred tomato sauce, and pour it over the steamed spaghetti squash which really does have the texture of spaghetti. Your whole dinner is then veggies. You can add tuna or chicken to the sauce if you want. Now, someone make me go do these things - I've gotten lazy and haven't had the fruits in the house and have fallen off the wagon!
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