A couple of weeks ago, I stepped on the bathroom scale. And then I sat down and stared at my feet for a long time. I wasn’t exactly shocked at the number I saw that morning, but I wasn’t happy. I knew it was time for me to get serious about weight loss and my health. Since then, I’ve been making small, incremental changes, but I’m starting to see results. I thought maybe my own journey could help others who are in a similar place. If you’re interested, read on. If not, go check out some of my other posts on sewing, quilting or life. 🙂

My First Challenge

My first week, I chose only one challenge. Lose It! is a wonderful tool for tracking calories. I’ve used it before, so I dusted it off and set about logging all of my food, every day. At first, I was spotty. But logging what I did opened my eyes to some things. I was eating too many fast food meals for lunch. I was easily led astray by my son who often wanted to eat out at dinner. And my breakfast routine pretty much sucks. I began to formulate a plan, which focuses more on my health than the scale number, really.

The Second Challenge

This one was pretty much a no-brainer after the first week of logging. First of all, I realized I needed to stop eating fast food at lunch. So instead of fast food last week, I took my lunch every day. I won’t lie; I took the easy way out and purchased a bunch of frozen Lean Cuisines. They aren’t very tasty, and frankly the calorie count is a little low for me right now. I could have supplemented them with salads and/or vegetables. But instead, I chose to include a small serving of green olives, fruit snacks, and a Little Debbie fig bar (don’t judge me!). Frankly, I’m not sure if the Lean Cuisines are better for my health than the fast food, but they are certainly lower calorie.

The good news – I lost weight with just this one basic change. About 2.6 lbs, actually.

The bad news – I was hungry pretty much all the time. It just was not enough food. And the sodium is pretty high in those frozen dinners.

The Third Challenge

Well, this is the third week. My challenge this week is to build on what I did last week. This week, I’m making my own frozen meals. As I type this, there is a pork butt in one crock pot, spaghetti sauce in another. And later, I plan to cook a chicken in my Instant Pot, a pot of rice and some pasta.

Yesterday, at the grocery store, I loaded up on frozen vegetables. Chris can’t eat a lot of vegetables because a couple of years ago, he underwent gastric sleeve surgery. He isn’t able to digest a lot of vegetables easily, so he doesn’t eat many of them these days. When I buy fresh vegetables, I can’t eat them fast enough to avoid them going bad, particularly in the summer. And I can portion out the frozen vegetables in to containers and take them to work with me.

So this week’s challenge is to prep as many meals as I can. In addition to lunches, I’m also going to prepare some things for dinners for myself and Chris. We work opposing shifts, so Chris is eating dinner at about the time I’m getting up and going to work. I’m looking for some good healthy dinner ideas for myself, as well as some things that he can heat in the microwave. I’ve promised him some individual meat loaf cups he can heat in the microwave, so that’s on the plan for today. For myself, I’m thinking about using some of the chicken I’ll be cooking later for chicken tacos, maybe a stir fry. And there’s the ever popular chicken and mixed greens. I will also be making up some taco meat, so I can do taco salad, tacos and other things.

Future Challenges

My future challenges will include exercising, changing up my breakfast routine, and looking for snack alternatives. And of course, there’s the challenge of getting through special occasions and holidays. Sounds like fun. OK, not so much.

Maybe I’ll Share …

Some of the recipes I find that I like that work with my eating plan. Keep in mind that I’m not doing anything special here. I’m not following Keto, Paleo, Weight Watchers, Atkins, Vegetarian or any other specific diet. I’m just watching what I eat, and looking to lose weight. I’m not particularly worried about things like fats, carbs, or any of that. That said, I AM trying to get away from a high carb diet, and I’m trying to keep a more balanced approach. That means, for me, higher protein and lower carbs. Keep in mind, though, when I tracked my food the first week (which was pretty typical for me), my carb intake was around 60%. And they weren’t complex carbs; it was purely trash.

Health

I’ve been on blood pressure medication for several years now. Back in the “old days” my BP would not have been high enough to warrant meds, but these days … While I’m not thrilled with how I look, I am even less thrilled with the idea of having to add more medications to my regime because of my weight. Already, I have to take a magnesium supplement for muscle issues unrelated to weight. I’d like to ditch the BP medicines, too.

One of the things I need to eat more often is fish. Despite the worries and warnings about mercury, my doctor assures me that eating fish a couple of times a week is actually quite good for my health. I love salmon, which is high in Omega 3, potassium and B vitamins. I could use all three of those in my life. 🙂

So … if you’re interested in following along with my weight loss, check back frequently. There may even be charts, graphs and recipes down the road! 😉