Katie: Week 2

Well, one week down!  I am happy to report that things are going well so far.

Current weight: 161 pounds
Last week's weight: 170 pounds
Total weight loss: 9 pounds!

Pictures every other week, remember?

Now for a little re-cap on how my rules are going so far...

My rules:
1. No Sweets!
Absolutely NO sugar sweets/junk/desserts/candy/etc. for three months (i.e. until April 1, 2010).  At that point I'll reassess and see if I can allow myself small things here and there or if I need to keep up the no sweets rule.  I will allow myself the occasional healthy dessert, but it will count as a processed snack (see below).


I have held strong so far, despite really wanting ice cream (among other things) all week.  Although I had a dream last night that I ate a bunch of Skittles and some chocolate pie on accident.  Does that count?

2. No Fast Food!
No fast food or eating out.  Period.  And if on the off chance I'm stranded somewhere or something and I have to get fast food I will order the healthiest thing.

No fast food consumption here!

3. Healthy Meals and Snacks!
Eat three healthy meals each day along with 2-4 healthy snacks, with no more than one processed snack (100 calorie packs, etc.) per day. 

Well, I'm actually having to eat more snacks than I thought I would in order to get the right balance of healthy foods that I need in my diet (and to get the calories I need to be healthy while breastfeeding my four month old), but I feel good about that, especially since I have been eating such healthy, yummy things!


4. Fresh Foods!
Trade out cravings/impulses to eat granola bars and other processed snacks with fresh fruits and veggies.

Apples are my new best friend.  I really do have one a day. (More than that would set me over on my fruits, of course.)  Oh, and I have rediscovered my love of cooked Brussels sprouts.  (Thanks Lisa!)


5. Keep Track!
Write down everything I eat in my food journal (a little notebook I can carry around and keep with me).

My little notebook is my second new best friend.  I think writing everything down in that little notebook is the key to my plan.  Without it everything would fall apart.  If you're trying to lose weight, I recommend this as an excellent starting point.
 


6. Exercise 30 Minutes!
Exercise in some way for at least 30 minutes every day and write down what I did to exercise in my food journal.

I've done pretty well, I think.  I did miss two days (not including Sunday since I don't plan to exercise on Sundays), but I think that's pretty typical in getting started.  I'll do better this week.
 


7. Drink 80 Fluid Ounces!
Drink at least 80 fluid ounces of water every day and write down how much I drank in my food journal.

It's been about half and half on being over or under.  I think the only day I hit exactly 80 fluid ounces of water was on the first day.  In general, as long as I'm close I feel fine about this, especially after talking the whole thing over with my daughter's doctor yesterday and having him tell me that 80 fluid ounces was "great, more than enough."  
 


8. Balance Food Intake!
Enter the foods I eat each day into the Menu Planner on MyPyramid in order to make sure I'm getting a good balance of the foods I need.

My third best friend.  I'm getting better at knowing what to eat each day to have a healthy, balanced diet, but for the times when I'm just not sure where I'm at it's so nice to be able to enter in all the things I've eaten and then see where I still have room to eat more.  Of course it's always an approximation, but it's still really helpful for me.  And I like writing down my totals at the end of the day.  It helps me keep in mind what I usually eat enough (or too much) of and what I should focus more on.  I really recommend doing this.
 


9. Stay Active!
No sitting at the computer/TV for more than an hour (or one movie) at a time.

Success!

10. Get out!
Get out of the house at least once a day!

While I'll admit that some days it was only as far as half a flight down my stairwell (Come on, it was snowing!  Give me a break!), I have in fact gotten out of the house at least once a day.  


Well, I guess that's about all I have to say for this week.  If anyone is interested in how I'm keeping my food journal or needs help with the MyPyramid Menu Planner or anything else, just let me know.  Likewise, if you have a healthy recipe you'd like to share, please e-mail it to me (with a picture of the meal if possible) at kathleenann08(at)gmail(dot)com.  Or if you have a topic you'd like to write a guest post about, please let me know.  Thanks everybody!