Thursday, May 26, 2011

Planning

Well friends, I did pretty darn good at last week's challenge! While trying to think up my meals so I didn't miss any, I remembered to the days when I actually set a weekly menu so I didn't have to think about it. Seeing as I'm going to my parent's house this weekend and really, really, really don't want to gain weight I'm going to make this week's challenge about planning.

Most diet/exercise programs are more successful if you think ahead to what you're going to eat and when you're going to exercise... If we leave it to the last minute, more than likely our decision will not be as healthy. So, right this very minute, get out a paper and pen and start planning. Plan when your meals will be, when you'll exercise and then fill in the blanks with what you'll eat and what kind of exercise you'll do.

When I started menu planning, I was a bit overwhelmed until I read a suggestion by Dr. Oz. He said to keep most of your meals the same and have one meal a day that you change (so you don't get bored). Instead of eating the same breakfast, lunch, and snacks everyday and changing dinner, I will alternate which meal I'm switching up each day. This suggestion also makes preparing easier... when you prepare a meal(s), just make enough for what you need that week. Obviously, this plan is a little more difficult for those of you with families, but just having a menu of any sort will help save you money at the grocery store, stress at dinner time, and will help to keep you from ordering pizza because you couldn't think of what to have.

After you have 4 weeks worth of menus, you'll have an entire month that you can recycle... How great is that?!!! Have fun with your planning :)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Slacker!

Well my friends, it's time for me to stop being a slacker!!! I'm getting married 8 weeks from Friday and I've not been sticking to my plan(s)!!! My main issue? I'm skipping meals and waiting 'til night time to eat and then it all goes to pot from there. So this weeks challenge is to not skip any meals... I'm going to set a rigid schedule, meaning I'll have exact times I have to eat each meal (of coarse this may have to vary depending on the day) and I can't skip any meals. If a meal is a little late I'll just adjust my schedule likewise. Wish me luck!

We all have to remember that skipping meals only does our bodies harm. So try to set a schedule this week and stick to it. If you have any future ideas about challenges, please feel free to give me suggestions... I know that my struggles are not necessarily everyone else's and vice versa.

Any and all support is welcome :)

Have a great week!!!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

You've got a friend!

So I've been a little busy lately and forgot that I had a blog, until I received an awesome message from a friend telling me they were following it... Yay!!!

This week I'm going to talk about support systems. We all need them, whether we think we do or not. This is part of the reason I created this blog.

How many of us are much better about doing things if we're accountable to someone, or have the support of a good friend(s)? I know I am! Whether your goal is about losing, maintaining, or gaining weight, it's a good idea to have people to support you on your health journey. Hopefully those you live with support you... if not, it makes the journey much harder (but still possible). Find a friend to email your successes and/or struggles with, it makes a huge difference!

I'm going to send out a selfish little plea (esp. to those in the Boise/Meridian/Kuna area). I belong to a little chapter of TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) and I absolutely love my chapter. I'm actually the assistant leader of this chapter, which is one of the reasons I'm sending out this plea. We need you!!! We only have 12 members and about 8 come on a semi-regular basis. I happen to know that if we get some "new blood", everyone will get excited and therefore more motivated. We meet Tuesday nights... weigh-in is from 6-6:30 and the meeting generally lasts until about 7 or 7:30 at the latest. It's a non-profit group, so basically we have monthly dues of $3.00 to help cover rent and there's a yearly membership fee of $28. There's no set diet plan... our focus is on better health and we often do little contests for motivation. Anyone can teach the lessons, so if teaching motivates you, you'd love it! Please give this some consideration... TOPS has been around for a really long time and a lot of success stories have come from it. I feel that TOPS needs more younger generation members to help keep it alive. There are other chapters available if mine doesn't work for you. We meet at Silver Sage Baptist church located at 5858 S. Maple Grove (almost to Lake Hazel). If you live in the Boise area and want to carpool with me, I'm totally open to that as well. If you're not interested, please pass the word along to others that may be. I can be contacted on here, or on facebook, or at jerushka@hotmail.com with any further questions.

Remember, we all need support in our journey. I know I need all the support I can get. Thanks for letting me have my selfish plea. Whatever support system you want, make sure to find it this week... be accountable to someone :)