the march of progress
okay, a REAL JOURNAL POST. How novel!
Basically instead of screwing around with New Year's resolutions, I've waited until spring to really get my ass in gear. The new schedule helps a LOT. Having three day weekends means I can get a bunch done and still have one whole day to totally slack off if I want to. Hourlong lunches mean I can do a little more than just run home and nuke something (also being able to eat at home is awesome in and of itself). Also: daylight after my shift. Amazing. And how about this weather, huh?
So anyway what I've been doing of late is planning my meals for the week and then going shopping on Monday or Tuesday and prepping a week's worth of whatever (pasta sauce, burgers, etc). And making little changes to cut out calories (carrot sticks instead of fries with the burgers, switching to penne instead of spaghetti because a single serving looks/feels more filing).
AND. I've been making a lot of use out of the Calorie Counter app for Android. It scans barcodes! It searches for restaurant info! It calculates calories burned from exercise! Having constant numerical feedback with a minimum of fuss is a huge help. Also been using MyTracks to measure my rambling walks and calculate distance and speed (three miles? seriously? dang.)
Going to spend the next week and a half or so breaking in these new running shoes and getting used to actually exercising again before getting into the Couch to 5K regimen (already have THAT app, too). I'll see about using the apartment complex's treadmill (dunno how much traffic those get these days) - failing that, I'll amble up to work and use the one there.
I got into some really terrible habits over the last 6 months that really undid a lot of the progress I'd been making, but now that I can actually, like, function, and have something closer to normal-people hours and have free time that I don't feel like spending on my ass... I'm just really tired of being fat. And having a messy apartment. But mostly the fat bit. I'm still nowhere near my heaviest, thank god (that was in... 05? 06? the dark times of Panera), but I'm still creeping into some unpleasant territory.
So first we work on quantity and variety and a bit of quality - honestly I will probably still eat crap on occasion, but I will endeavor to eat LESS crap. I made the permanent switch to diet soda ages ago and I'm trying really hard to drink more water and obviously I'm going to be as conscious as I can reasonably be when buying stuff. After a while I'll probably make some other tweaks - cutting caffeine down, eliminating HFCS, stuff like that.
But right now I have my carrot sticks and apple slices and 85% lean ground beef burgers cooked on the Foreman grill, and maybe next week I'll have homemade teriyaki stir fry and some rice (portioned into bento boxes from back when I brought lunches to work and ate there). Or maybe sloppy joes, because I haven't had those in YEARS and calorically speaking they're not that awful. Maybe both!
My strategy, such as it is, is to try and concentrate on how sticking to things makes me feel totally awesome while not trying to make/let myself feel like an ass when I slip up. Slipping up and falling off are two totally different things.
Seriously, I know it's still super-early in the game but I'm really feeling good about these changes I'm making. And I'm blathering on about it anywhere because I want it on the record so I can keep myself accountable, because that's important.
Anyhow. To bed to bed. Work is yet again super-early in the morning. (I work from 5:51-4:51 Wednesday through Saturday. It's really not as bad as it sounds.)
Basically instead of screwing around with New Year's resolutions, I've waited until spring to really get my ass in gear. The new schedule helps a LOT. Having three day weekends means I can get a bunch done and still have one whole day to totally slack off if I want to. Hourlong lunches mean I can do a little more than just run home and nuke something (also being able to eat at home is awesome in and of itself). Also: daylight after my shift. Amazing. And how about this weather, huh?
So anyway what I've been doing of late is planning my meals for the week and then going shopping on Monday or Tuesday and prepping a week's worth of whatever (pasta sauce, burgers, etc). And making little changes to cut out calories (carrot sticks instead of fries with the burgers, switching to penne instead of spaghetti because a single serving looks/feels more filing).
AND. I've been making a lot of use out of the Calorie Counter app for Android. It scans barcodes! It searches for restaurant info! It calculates calories burned from exercise! Having constant numerical feedback with a minimum of fuss is a huge help. Also been using MyTracks to measure my rambling walks and calculate distance and speed (three miles? seriously? dang.)
Going to spend the next week and a half or so breaking in these new running shoes and getting used to actually exercising again before getting into the Couch to 5K regimen (already have THAT app, too). I'll see about using the apartment complex's treadmill (dunno how much traffic those get these days) - failing that, I'll amble up to work and use the one there.
I got into some really terrible habits over the last 6 months that really undid a lot of the progress I'd been making, but now that I can actually, like, function, and have something closer to normal-people hours and have free time that I don't feel like spending on my ass... I'm just really tired of being fat. And having a messy apartment. But mostly the fat bit. I'm still nowhere near my heaviest, thank god (that was in... 05? 06? the dark times of Panera), but I'm still creeping into some unpleasant territory.
So first we work on quantity and variety and a bit of quality - honestly I will probably still eat crap on occasion, but I will endeavor to eat LESS crap. I made the permanent switch to diet soda ages ago and I'm trying really hard to drink more water and obviously I'm going to be as conscious as I can reasonably be when buying stuff. After a while I'll probably make some other tweaks - cutting caffeine down, eliminating HFCS, stuff like that.
But right now I have my carrot sticks and apple slices and 85% lean ground beef burgers cooked on the Foreman grill, and maybe next week I'll have homemade teriyaki stir fry and some rice (portioned into bento boxes from back when I brought lunches to work and ate there). Or maybe sloppy joes, because I haven't had those in YEARS and calorically speaking they're not that awful. Maybe both!
My strategy, such as it is, is to try and concentrate on how sticking to things makes me feel totally awesome while not trying to make/let myself feel like an ass when I slip up. Slipping up and falling off are two totally different things.
Seriously, I know it's still super-early in the game but I'm really feeling good about these changes I'm making. And I'm blathering on about it anywhere because I want it on the record so I can keep myself accountable, because that's important.
Anyhow. To bed to bed. Work is yet again super-early in the morning. (I work from 5:51-4:51 Wednesday through Saturday. It's really not as bad as it sounds.)