Mixed Bag Of Rant

It might be a modern day miracle, but I actually lost 1.5 lbs this week. I think the ladies at WeightWatchers thought I was insane because I was so happy about it, but when you have lost an OUNCE (actually just gaining and losing the same freaking .5 lbs for the past 3 months) heck yeah I’m going to be excited about the scale finally going down.

But that isn’t what I want to talk about today.

I have had several people tell me they are inspired by my weight loss journey. Yes, I’m still 40+ lbs from my lifetime goal; however, 17 lbs has made a huge difference in how I look and people have started taking notice and have been inspired to do the same.

First, let me say, I am proud of these people for having the desire to say they want to lose weight. There is a “but” to that statement. BUT SAYING IT ISN’T ENOUGH! I have been listening to these same people say these things for going on years now, yet not truly doing anything about it. Making this commitment to losing weight has been one of the most honest and difficult things I have ever had to do. It has taken more than just words. It has been hard work especially with temptation lurking at every turn. Illness creeping in to take away my motivation. But I have stuck with it.

I really want to be able to help these people who have stepped forward and said they want to lose weight. I have been blunt and even a little rude about what they need to do because frankly, I’m getting a little tired of repeating myself. So here are the tips that I have given the inspired to hopefully help them get started on their way:

1) TRACK TRACK TRACK. I don’t care what method you use to track how much you are eating, but it has been medically proven time and time again that if you are keeping a food journal, you are more likely to lose the weight. I obviously use WeightWatchers, but but there are many tools out there such as www.sparkpeople.com and countless apps on the smartphones. I have also tried MyDailyPlate.com and found it to be useful. I’ll be the first to say that tracking kind of sucks, but it really does work. If I’m not tracking, I always (ALWAYS) eat more than I think I do and thus, gain weight.

2) No more soda (at least not the regular kind) but don’t cover up that by just replacing it with diet either. I drink just one Diet Coke a day with my lunch. That’s it. I also have just one cup of coffee in the morning. Regular sodas are totally wasted calories and offer no nutritional benefits AT ALL.

3) If you haven’t been exercising, don’t overdo it by trying to do too much out of the gate. When I started WeightWatchers meetings in January, I only was doing 20 minutes on the treadmill and some weights 3-5 days a week. I would sometimes do EA Sports Active in the evening or Dance Central which was really more just like fun and games. You don’t need to exercise for an hour a day to reap the benefits from the start. Build up some endurance and strength otherwise you are going to really hate working out and probably quit. I really endorse the Couch to 5K running program- it really built up my endurance, was challenging, but not complete torture either.

4) If you aren’t weighing in with a trainer or at a place like WeightWatchers, find someone to hold you accountable. Having buddies who are in the game too make all the difference in the world. It is insanely hard to self-motivate which is why I have been unsuccessful up until now.

5) Go public. Want to really hold yourself accountable? Tell the world what you’re up to. Post your progress on Twitter or Facebook. Start a blog. I have found it to be probably THE most useful tool in my journey thus far. It is humbling and I have found that I have so much support from SO many people out there.

Listen, I know it is hard to get started, but if you want to do it, DO IT. Don’t tell me in one breath that you want to lose weight then turn around and eat the rest of your kid’s chicken nuggets and help yourself to a double serving of potato salad- that doesn’t scream motivated to me. Don’t say you’ll start tomorrow. Just get started, TODAY. DO IT! If I can, so can you!

Please be sure to have a healthy, happy and SAFE 4th of July weekend!