Small Changes

I did a post similar to this a while ago and got quite a few emails on it, so here is an update and more ideas:

Little Changes that Add up:
1. no more coffee creamer (instead I use 1 tbsp half&half and sugar free Torani)

2. no red meat..... Fish and chicken.  Fish and chicken.  Egg whites.  Fish and Chicken.  Almonds.  MmmHmmm, good stuff!

3. Green tea (about 24 oz a day) instead of diet soda

4. I track my calories the night BEFORE I consume them.  I do it old school with pen, paper and a little calorie counting book I found.  This goes hand in hand with meal/food preparation.  Cut up your veggies and put them in snack sized bags when you buy them.  If you put them in the crisper, chances are you won't see them again until you're throwing them away (or maybe that's just me).

5. I have 3 breakfast choices, that's it.  Either I have: A. green smoothie (2 oranges, 2 c spinach, 1 c. yogurt blended together), B. Fage greek yogurt & piece of fresh fruit or C. 2 eggs scrambled with loads of fresh veggies (green onions, green pepper, red pepper, mushrooms, frozen corn)

6. No eating after 8pm.  Sometimes I stay up until 1am reading a book or doing random nothings around the house, if I feel hungry - I make a cup of hot herbal tea.  It helps relax me and I go to bed, no eating!

7. No booze in January.  :)  I am going to continue this through February, maybe even March.  I am pretty sure I was an alcoholic before this little challenge, for real.  Scary.

8. I do not keep crap in my house.  Before I 'got it', on any given day - you could find chips, cheese dip, cake mixes, brownie mixes, ice cream, white bread, pasta and all kinds of random stuff in my pantry and fridge.  That is SO not the case anymore.  My pantry is so minimal - some marinara sauces, lots of canned kidney beans, some canned pineapple and canned pumpkin.  Every once in a while if I find a good sale, I buy some Progresso light soups to have on hand for lazy dinners or quick lunches.  I eat a lot of the same foods over and over.  Food isn't a pleasure or the center of my world anymore - it's fuel to do the OTHER stuff in life, like.... living.  Eat something to sustain you then move on with your real life.

9. I write in a journal - a lot.  I write about my feelings, about my goals, about where I see myself in five years.  I might just jot down an inspirational quote.  If I had a bad day or cry over something, I put those tears into words instead of calories... I process it, then move on. 

10. Oranges.  Sounds strange, but they're kind of saving my life....  If I am boredom eating, I just eat an orange and get over it.  As I'm peeling it, I imagine myself peeling layers of myself away.  Layers of hidden emotions, layers of insecurities, layers of fat, layers of old oversized clothes, layers of negative energy that I have internalized.....  It's tactile, you use your hands to get to the fruit.  I don't know if this would work for anyone, it's this weird psych thing I've designed for myself - but it works!  I also get a shitload of Vitamin C.  I have had 1 little sinus infection all winter and that was after visiting someone in the ER.  I got sick more last summer than I have this winter. Everyone in my office was sick and my whole family was sick all Christmas break.  Not this girl.  Oranges are my best friend, I have a bowl of them on my desk and bought 10 pounds of them yesterday because they were on super sale!  :)  

Let me tell you about the no booze challenge for January.  I did some reading about how alcohol hinders weight loss and body transformation, and it's not just because of empty calories.  To sum up the articles, alcohol leads to belly fat because of how it's metabolized, etc..  I hate my fat stomach, everything else seems to be getting smaller after these 62 pounds lost - but this belly is just ridiculous.  I have not drank at all in January and with the 8 pounds I've lost this mount - I have lost 4 inches off my waist.  I check it every week because this year I am keeping measurements.  I am amazed.  I didn't realize that would be possible with just 8 pounds, but I KNOW a big part of that is not drinking alcohol.  Goal jeans ALMOST look perfect - just you wait!  ;)