YOU turn

If there's one thing I learned in Dr. Oz's YOU on a Diet, it's that nobody's perfect. No diet is perfect. Sometimes you stray or go off-track, but there's always a route back to the road you were on.

A few weeks ago, I decided to make a YOU turn after a dress fitting that went horribly. I haven't gained a lot of weight, but I was making excuses for the little extra pudge I saw hanging out in my mid-section and most definitely my face. I decided to re-assess and re-evaluate my eating and fitness habits. Life is a series of causes and effects. One red flag for me was eating out at lunch. When I eat out at lunchtime, I don't go to the gym at lunchtime. I prefer lunch workouts because I have no real excuse not to go. I'm still full of energy at that time of day unlike after work when I'm hungry and tired. So I set a goal of getting to the gym at least 4/5 days a week. This ensures that I'm also eating my planned lunches 4/5 days a week.

I also made a few more minor adjustments to my diet. I cut out night snacking completely. The only thing I allow myself after dinner on weeknights is broccoli which can hardly be called a snack food. Additionally, this means that I'm cutting back on baking because it's too much temptation at the moment. I have also cracked down on my water consumption (or lack thereof!). Hydration is key in weight management. Often we confuse thirst with hunger and eat instead of drink. I've been downing 64+ oz every day and it feels great.

Another thing I've re-introduced was logging my food. I stopped because I thought I was getting to be pretty good at estimating calories etc. I've started back up consistently at PeerTrainer and have also been using the LoseIt App on my iPhone (I love it! The little graphs are so very encouraging!).

It's been a little over two weeks since my restart and I've already dropped over five pounds of what I can only assume is water weight. My pants are fitting me better. I can see my cheekbones again. I look forward to stepping on the scale in the morning. It's a good feeling that I forgot about.

I turned 24 last week, and would love to reach my goal of 140 lbs by my 25th birthday. I can definitely do this if I just keep working at it. I'll be sure to keep this blog updated.