Week one over this year already so it's time to check in. Still going strong? I am. I spent this week focusing on nutrition. I started using "My Fitness Pal" about two weeks ago. The first step to fixing a problem is to know exactly what the problem is in the first place.
I tracked my nutrition for a week, eating my normal diet without changing anything and found that I was eating more than DOUBLE my recommended caloric intake. Now, I realize that the recommended number is not exact, but it is a wonderful guide and double is way past the realm of acceptable. I also learned that what I was getting from all those calories was all wrong as well. A VAST majority of what I was eating were sugars and carbohydrates. These two nutritional components are mainly stored as fat for emergency reserves if you're not active enough to burn them off. From the rough calculation, I was on track to be over 230 lbs in 5 weeks. A gain of almost 10 pounds by the middle of February?!?
So, New Years Day, I changed it up. I started paying more attention to what I ate. I figure, if I cut down the calories going in, then the calories I have to burn up aren't as high and I can start building a strong foundation to be successful at this. I use the calorie goal as more of a guide than an absolute must. If I'm within 10% of my goal of 1750 calories a day then I should start to see some results....
AND I DID!! This week, I went from 221 when I first posted, to 215.5 as I'm typing now! 5.5 pounds in the first week?! I never would have expected results like that just from changing diet. I did run three days this week but no more than 3 miles on any given day. I truly believe that a proper diet is the staple to being successful.
Results like this aren't going to happen each week. There's going to be off days, in fact I went over a couple days this week by a few hundred calories. The point is, we don't need to eat grilled boneless, skinless, chicken breast and steamed broccoli for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. We don't need to work out 7 days a week for hours at a time. The best thing to do, is take a look at what is going wrong right now, focus on that, and fix it. I even drank a couple beers this weekend... shhhhh.... I'm not perfect. It would be nice, but none of us are. Develop healthy habits and when you have a "cheat" day, understand that the next day you have to kick it in high gear and make up for it.
This was a good week for me and I hope it was for you too. I know a lot of people have already given up and a lot more are struggling with whatever their goals are. Keep pushing on and stay focused on your goal. If you have given up, start over. Don't wait until next year to start again! The first couple of months are going to be the hardest. After that, it's all habit. After that, what you used to do will be foreign and the habits you have developed will make this year the best of your life!
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