thats never a bad idea!

Today has been a good day so far. I have done the treadmill for 1 hour and had a salad w/turkey and cheese for lunch. Drinking more water and having less of a craving for snacks all the time. Tonight I will have baked cod, brown rice, steamed veggies and a small salad. 5 more days and I will have a week down, then I will get serious.

Im 24 days into my program and all is going well, my motivation is high, im eating healthy and exercising. I am starting to see progress and feeling better. Yesterday I did the treadmill for 1 hr and shoveled snow for 30 min, looks like today will be the same. I need to be careful with the weekend comng up.

Todays thoughts: Signs of progress!

1. I feel better.
2. Not as tired all the time.
3. Feel as if I have more energy.
4. My clothes are not as tight.
5. Dont require huge portions to feel full.
6. Cravings for snacks all the time has deminished.
7. Dont feel the need to drink pop- water tasting good.
8. Scale says I weigh less.
9. Measurement around waist is smaller.
10. Effort to continue program has decreased, becoming routine.
11. Sleeping better.
12. Have not take Tums since starting program(was 2 nightly).

All in all it has been well worth it for the benifits I have gained. With that im off to another healthy day.........

I will have another healty eating day! I will exercise! I will drink alot of water! Today is saturday and weekends are a little harder for me but with a little planning it should be no problem. Yesterday I had a big salad with turkey and cheese for lunch and a chicken and shrimp stir-fry for dinner. Later for a snack I shared a turkey/monteray jack/cilantro quesadilla with my wife. I weighed myself this morning and it said I was down exactly 21 lbs and I still have 3 more days to complete my first month so that is a good thing. The sun is shining and its time to get living.

Ok its sunday and I have done 1 hour on the treadmill and had a big salad for lunch. We have prepaired a healthy menu for the week, will go shopping then get a 6" sub + sunchips for dinner. For my second month on my program in addition to the treadmill, I want to start a weightlifting program that I will do 3 days a week(m/w/f). I am still very motivated and wish i could push the ff button and jump ahead a few months but I know it will come to me eventually.

Today has been good, 1 hour on the treadmill and a salad for lunch. The plan is to have baked cod w/red potatoes and salad for dinner. Hopefully I will have a chance to do more treadmill tonight or walk the dog. Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since starting and I will weigh in on Wednesday morning though I already know im a loser.....er......Winner.

Wahoo today is the end of my first month(4 weeks) of my program and I will weigh in tomorrow. Yesterday I did really good on my exercising, 1 hour treadmill and 1 hour walking the dog. Today I will have a salad for lunch with turkey and cheese and for dinner grilled chicken fajitas. I look forward to this next month to see what I can acomplish.

Thought for today: Reflections on last month.

At the beginning it was challanging, hunger pangs and tiredness of doing exercise, wanting instant results and not being thrilled with drinking water, I was'nt sure how this was going to go. But I had done my planning and had all the "tools" to get the job done, also my desire and motivation to be in better health kept me going. After the first week I began to feel better, I had my eating under control and was no longer hungry all the time, the treadmill became easier and I had more energy. I no longer felt the need to nap in the afternoon. Pounds dropped. Well 1 month has gone by and there is no turning back now, I am excited for the changes that are ahead of me. 2008 is going to be awesome, 2008 wil be........... the Return of the King!

YaY, I made it to 4 weeks!!!! So far I have lost 22.8 lbs, went from 367.8 to 345 and am very excited over the progress over the last month. I did the treadmill for 1 hour and had my salad for lunch with a pork chop and veggies coming up for diner, so I feel I have done well. I still need to concentrate on drinking more water. Well it continues.............

Last day of the month and im glad thats behind me. Febuary will be an awesome month for me with healthy eating and exercise. I plan on adding a weight lifting program that I will do 3+ times a week and also increase the amount of walking on the treadmill. Usually I walk 1 hour in the morning and now I will ad 30 min at night. I will keep my eating the same for now with a salad for lunch(with turkey and cheese), for dinner chicken 3x a week, fish 2x and beef/pork 2x per week all with veggies and salad. Also I will continue to drink water as I have found myself actually liking it, haha. In January I lost 23.8 lbs but prob 7-10lbs was water weight, so in Feburary my goal is to lose 15 more lbs. I will make it!

The total loss for January is............... 25.4 lbs!! Yay, that is such an amazing acomplishment for me and I am so motivated and eager to see what Feburary brings my way. Today I will start a weight lifting program, starting slow with lighter weights and building up as I go. I will try for a m/w/f routine and also will try to add an additional 30 min a night to the treadmill. My eating has been excellent- only healthy foods and will continue to stay that way! Today will be another healthy day.

Today is turning out to be awesome, I walked on the treadmill for 1 hour at 2.1 mph and am about to have my salad with turkey for lunch. I will make a turkey chili for dinner and drink lots of water. I will prob see a movie today but instead of popcorn I will eat sunflower seeds and instead of a diet pop ill drink water. Yesterday was the first day of my weightlifting and my arms/shoulders are tired, did only 2 sets and it took 20 min, its a start. My knees got really sore when doing squats so I quit doing those, mabey i will just ease into it. I unfortunatly weigh myself every morning and today it said im down 26.6 lbs, so soon I will be down 30lbs and that is exciting!

Yesterday was superbowl sunday and I made a few exceptions.... I had 2 slices of bread(sooo good) with dinner and a big slice of chocolate silk pie for dessert. I dont feel bad or a bit of remorse because I had planned ahead for it. I walked on the treadmill for 1 hour, lifted weights for 17 min and had a small salad for lunch. After my big dinner and dessert I walked another 30 min on the treadmill. Today is going to be awesome as well. Treadmill, salad for lunch, homemade chicken soup for dinner and hopefully another 30 min treadmill after. The scale says 339.8 as of this morning so I am down 28 lbs since starting, YAY!!! My motivation is high and I will only accept success, I will do this, there is no turning back........forward to a better life!

Thought for today: Making exceptions.....

I have been hampered in many previous diets because of my defeatest attitude. When I would slip up and eat things that i shouldn't, I would be depressed saying "I ruined my diet", I would beat myself up mentally over it and think that I destroyed all the progress that I made and just continue eating unhealthy throwing my program out the door. Well now I know better, once and a while I will make exceptions, however it will be planned and I will compensate for it with eating lighter on other meals and adding a little exercise. There will be no feeling bad! My program is still there, the progress that I made is still there and I am happier knowing I can have some of the foods I love(that are not so healthy for me). Making exceptions does not have to be a bad thing, in fact it is a good thing. As someone else said in the forums "just because you dropped one egg on the floor doesnt mean the rest of the dozen is bad". You clean it up and keep going!

that's the right attitude that will lead to long term success... good job

Thank you maleficient, you are part of my inspiration, congrats on all your success! I am taking it day by day and setting goals in 10 lb increments.

Ok it is friday with the weekend coming up, I must be careful of what I eat and continue doing the treadmill. For the past few days I have had a mini plateau and have stayed around 340, so what I need to do is kick it up a notch and do the treadmill every night as well. I had a salad with turkey and cheese for lunch and will have a taco salad for dinner. The battle continues.