Healthy Weight Loss In The New Year
Summary Of The First Month
The first month on my new healthier eating plan started out on a good solid foundation, one in which I’d planned well for, and ended on a bit of a shakier note. It was a challenging experience.
As I began, I discovered the challenges of exercising with degenerative discs and joints. In addition, I faced obstacles regarding my size. I spent the month working from 15 minutes a day on the exercise bike, up to 25 minutes a day. Starting out very slow, I kept my limitations in mind so as not to injure myself. However, no matter how careful I was, I did have some physical set backs within the month.
I discovered the discomfort of the bike seat and bought one larger in hopes I could continue my exercise in a more comfortable fashion. I bought the Schwinn No Pressure Comfort Seat. The website made it look as big as a tractor seat and I had a good laugh at the prospect of exercising with such a thing. As it turned out, it wasn’t very big at all. I suppose if you have a smallish behind, you’d be able to get by with this just fine, but for us folks with more junk in the trunk, this seat was no more comfortable than the first one. I felt disappointed.
I got off to a good start diet wise. I adjusted my calories to a comfortable level that would produce results. I’m addicted to keeping a close eye on the bathroom scale so I weighed daily. I told myself that regardless of what the number on that scale said each day, I wouldn’t fret or get discouraged if I showed a one-pound weight loss at the end of the week. I plugged along slowly and by the end of the month I’d lost five pounds. One more than I was striving for. Woo-Hoo!
Regardless of my determination and the planning I’d made before hand, I ran into temptations throughout the month. I allowed myself some treats and promised to not feel guilty. I was sure to include the calories as part of my daily number. I learned not to eat anything that I couldn’t realistically figure the calorie count on. I wanted to stay within the limit I’d set for myself.
During week three, the bad disc in my lower back began to cause me a lot of pain. I took one day off from exercising to heal, then two, then three. I felt defeated for a few days, but hung onto my determination anyhow. I was not going to let a couple days set me back the entire month.
As the end of the month rolled around, I reached my goal of one pound a week for the first month of my journey. So on to the second month. February looms over me like a dark cloud. A dark chocolate cloud in the shape of a heart with the words, “Be My Valentine” etched across the top. How does that song by Gloria Gaynor go? You know the one…….” I will survive, hey hey!”
Artistic Expressions 