Thoughts on a Saturday night

I’m feeling pretty good this week.   Highly motivated and positive.

I am eating pretty much what I normally eat.  I’m still cooking the same family meals.  I’m still having “unhealthy” treats.  But there’s a difference.  I’m serving and eating a lot more vegetables with our evening meal.  I’m having the occasional salad for lunch instead of a sandwich, or a wrap heaped with salad.  When it comes to treats – biscuits or chocolate etc – I’m having only small amounts.  And generally once a day, rather than 2 or 3 biscuits for morning tea, some teacake for afternoon tea and chocolate after dinner.  (And yes, that’s really how I was used to eating.)

I’m enjoying exercising.  At the moment I’m just sticking to my stationary cycling and this week managed 5 x 30 minute workouts averaging 24 km/hr.  While I’m doing that I am generally watching a dvd.  My partner and kids were away this week for a couple of days (it’s school holidays at the moment and they took an overnight camping trip).  So I managed a workout before work on Friday.  I can imagine, however, that it would be difficult to fit this in when I also had to get the kids ready for work, so I think I’ll be sticking to my plan of Saturday – Wednesday workouts.

My clothes are starting to become loose.  Things that were a bit of a squeeze to get into before are now fitting easily.  I feel like I’m losing a bit of my paunch.  I’m looking forward to taking a photo this week so I can start comparing.  It will be a good motivator to start tracking my progress visually.

I seem to have made it through the first danger zone.  In the past, I’d lost motivation by about 10 days into my “new, healthy lifestyle”.  Not so this time.  At the moment, I just feel stronger.  I feel inspired to try some new, healthy meals.  For some reason this week I developed a strong desire to try bircher muesli, so I’m off to buy some apple juice tomorrow to make up a batch.

I’m thinking of planning some rewards for my efforts.  My new lifestyle is about having fun, after all.  Today while I was out with the kids, we were browsing in the Wii games section of our local Target and I spotted Just Dance 2.  We have Just Dance already and have had a great time with it.  The new one has some songs on it that sound really, really fun.  Like, you know, the sort of thing a 40-year-old should be dancing to.  I resisted the urge to buy it then and there in Target, but I’m now thinking of making it my 95 or 90 kg reward.

I’m also looking forward to selling the clothes I’ve shrunk out of on eBay.  Earlier this year when I was job hunting, I bought a few pieces of businesswear, and most of it has been barely worn.  Really only to a few interviews, and most of it has been too formal for actual workwear.  Someone else might as well benefit by getting a discounted business suit or two.