With the flip of the calendar and having spent nearly two deep-fried weeks visiting family in the South, I made the decision to finally take some action about my resolve to get healthier by dropping weight. Ten days of jambalaya, Christmas cookies, and no workouts will put you in that frame of mind.
After doing some praying, pondering and research, I decided to try the Weight Watchers online plan. I have done the program in the past and for me my least favorite part was attending the meetings, so this new option to use technology to track my progress fits well with my busy schedule and frequent travel. I took the plunge on Thursday and have been happily using my iPhone and computer since then to help me learn about the changes in the program since the last time I used it.
A lot has changed in my personal life since that first time around—I am older, but not necessarily wiser. My body has been through breast cancer and radiation, the start of menopause, and the sedentary work of sitting at my computer to write three books. What was easy in my late thirties and early forties feels more monumentally difficult and discouraging now, but I’m happy that I’ve finally committed myself to a course of action.
I’m “outing” myself here on the blog in the hopes that perhaps some of you can help me stay accountable. I’m going to be blogging a bit about my experiences, my challenges, and any tips I find that help make the process easier. For today, I’ll simply say that I’m loving the ease and convenience of using my iPhone to easily count points and keep track of exercise. Additionally, I’m a bit obsessed with the WW Scanner app that lets you simply scan the bar code on a food item and immediately send it to your tracker. For a geek like me, the convenience and ease of access to food data has already helped me avoid some bad decisions.
How about you? Do we have any other readers here at the blog who are prioritizing good health choices this January? Feel free to chime in below in the comments with your tips, frustrations, or experiences.
Something I do to motivate myself is invest in something with repeated return benefits vs a one-time gratification "hit." For example, when I'm tempted to self-medicate with an unhealthy craving--Dr. Pepper being my longstanding drug of choice--I can instead download an mp3 I can then enjoy repeatedly, including while exercising. This way I learn to seek out, in a healthy way, increasing endorphins through something noncaloric (exercise) and the music therapy motivates me to do the otherwise dreaded [shudder] exercise. When reaching each new exercise goal I'll reward myself with something larger than an mp3--perhaps a new kitchen tool--that will also reap repeat benefits while making some aspect of healthy living choices (e.g., food prep) more enjoyable.
Posted by: Sabryna | January 19, 2012 at 01:56 PM