Hi everyone,
I'm new to Diet Bet and I'm really excited to get started. I've gradually lost ten pounds over the past year but I'm ready to make the final push and lose ten more to reach my goal weight. I'm generally very healthy - I exercise 4-5 times a week, practice yoga frequently, and eat a pretty "clean" diet. My main problems are:
- No accountability - none of my friends in New York are really interested in fitness and no one really notices whether or not I make it to my workout or eat well. If anything, well-meaning friends encourage me to do unhealthy things - it's always "come on, one more drink, on me!" or "what a stressful week, let's get burgers and fries." I end up doing things I wouldn't normally do on my own.
- I binge eat occasionally - I don't keep junk food in the house, but we have it at work. I also have a really great bodega between my apartment and the subway that is the bane of my existence. If that thing didn't exist, I'd be 20 pounds lighter - they have all my favorite treats, are open 24/7, and are just too easy to stop into on the way home after I work late or am out late.
- Eating after drinking. I'm not a heavy drinker at all, but after a glass of wine or two my willpower is low and I get the "what the hell, eat everything" mentality. Drinks have enough calories as is - I keep my drinks light and low sugar with vodka sodas, scotch or red wine, but they add up over itme. Living in NYC, there's always something going on, always an event with open bar or a birthday party or happy hour with coworkers. This pattern needs to stop.
- Not enough sleep. I usually get 6-7 hours which isn't terrible, but does leave me with cravings and sluggishness mid-afternoon, making the office snack closet look really good - and we are well-stocked with snacks there. Whenever I sleep 8 or 9 hours, I feel AMAZING, it's such a huge difference in my mood and energy levels for the day. This needs to be a priority.
I'm excited because I think this program is going to be great for holding myself accountable - I'm on a tight budget and hate throwing away money, so even the $30 is an incentive. I also work well with some structure - having a timeline and specific goals to meet is really ideal, so I can monitor progress and not just set it aside when I get busy. I've also read that having some sense of a group or community is really conducive to achieving goals.
My main focus for the next four weeks:
- Continue with strength training every other day, HIIT 3-4 times, and yoga 3 times a week. I've been doing this for a couple months and feel amazing - I love getting stronger and seeing and feeling the results. I just want to get rid of this last layer of fat covering up my new muscles. I'm also planning on going to yoga teacher training, so it's great having a bigger goal that's not just "lose weight" - I want to get strong and fit so I can do better at yoga and be able to do a handstand.
- Get a lot of sleep. First priority, actually. I'm going to try to go to bed at 10 every week night, no matter what. In the past, even if I'm not eating perfectly or making it to the gym, I still lost weight just getting a lot of sleep and not killing myself with overexercising. I'm going to listen to my body, not overdo it at the gym and get plenty of rest.
- No drinking. I did this for January, I can do it again. Alcohol is high in calories and not the kind you burn off easily - three nights of drinking per week probably add up to 1000-1500 extra calories a week. And then there's the eating while tipsy, which is really the killer. I do better with going cold turkey than just moderating - if I say I'll drink once or twice a week, then every drinking situation becomes a question of, is tonight the night? I waste energy deliberating over it, and then might overdo it and drink more times than I planned. For me, it's easier to just say no and not think about it. Sparkling water with lemon and kombucha, here I come...
- Eat healthy. I have a good system in place already that I'm really going to enforce - no processed food, no sugar except for berries, no grains, no gluten, no dairy. I'm following the Clean diet from Alexander Junger's book "Clean". It's a good time to try that out and really recalibrate my system and get my microbiome in order.
- Food journal here everyday. I'll write down what activity I had and what I ate - no counting calories! That really takes the joy out of eating, documenting it and feeling guilty over it on MyFitnessPal - "How many calories do I have left today?" I lost weight much more easily after I stopped doing that. I also read and highly recommend "The Calorie Myth" by Jonathon Bailor - not all calories are equal, it's not simple math! Instead, I'm focusing on quality and real food.
Looking forward to Day 1 tomorrow!