Baby Steps

Baby steps seems to be the way to go. My willpower has been zapped, and a major issue facing me right now is not helping. The last thing I want to do is think about food. I don't want to plan my meals and I don't want to think about how the food feels in my stomach. I don't want to feel hungry, I don't want to feel full, and I don't want to be burping it up later (I have GERD, so this is far to common for me). I just want to eat so my life is sustained so I can have the energy to deal with other things.

So, with that said, a huge change in diet is just not going to happen right now. South Beach is just that - a huge change, for me at least. Not that I'm knocking it. It's a great diet and a very healthy lifestyle of eating. I just can't commit to it or stick to it right now. Besides, being the kind of person who always feels queasy eating eggs unless I can chase them with toast, I just don't see how I'm gonna be able to get through Phase 1 without going crazy or getting really sick. So I'll just wash it down with high fiber toast instead - like Oroweat's new Double Fiber Bread. I've always liked the Oroweat breads, and this new one has 6 grams of fiber per slice. That's freaking awesome, and I'll eat it, which is even better.

So, my focus right now is making small changes I can live with. Swap white bread for a yummy high fiber bread. I swapped out my morning granola bar too, to one that has more fiber and less sugar and still tastes good. Instead of heavy sugary snacks, I bought some Hershey's Special Dark Sticks - only 60 calories. For a confirmed chocoholic with no intentions of ever giving it up, this is just enough to keep me sane and keep the rest of the population alive. Sometimes I dip them in peanut butter. I also bought some Triscuits, which have a really decent amount of fiber in them. I'm trying to keep my carb choices to things that have more fiber than sugar, and things that have at least 2g of fiber per 100 calories. (I'm not advertising here, I just want to give a clear picture of what I'm eating and how I'm coming to choose these things.)

I'm horrible at preparing foods to take to work every day, so I need to make choices that fit in with that grab-n-go desire. I figure if I work with what works for me, I'll be more apt to stick with it. I've been eating the Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, and Smart Ones meals for my lunch at work for years. They aren't the best choices, but considering my lifestyle they work for me. I see no need to change that. The rest of my meals and snacks really need to revolve around pantry foods, because I'm horrible at fresh foods. If I don't eat them on the spot, they end up spoiling. I've just always been that way, so I need to go with the flow to make this work.

My biggest single stumbling block in my quest to lose weight is exercise. I've never been athletic, never wanted to play sports, and never had a taste for physical activity. So getting motivated to go is hard. So is having enough energy at the end of my workday. I know they say that working out in the morning is better, but I'm at work at 7am, and I am so NOT a morning person, so let's not go there. Lunch isn't a good time to go either since I hate the thought of rushing to Curves and rushing back to the office. No, after work is best, especially since it's on the way home. I just got to go. I mentioned in a previous post that when I first moved to Vegas I lost weight by going to Curves and actually eating out more than usual, so I know that 90% of my success is tied to the workouts. I just gotta go.