My weight loss struggle.

Getting my stuff together.

Archive for February, 2008

Small goals.

I was rereading Dr. Gullo’s interview that I linked to yesterday. He recommends small goals. So, for the umpteenth time, I am regrouping, and trying a new approach.

While my ultimate goal is to lose 100 pounds, my (new) current small goal is to lose five pounds. My goal is to lose five pounds by March 13. I will lose five pounds by walking or exercising for 45 minutes a day, by drinking at least ten glasses of water a day, and by eating three meals and two snacks a day. I will weigh myself every morning to track my progress. I will not eat after 8:00 at night. I will allow myself dessert on Fridays only. I will deal with my emotions, and the stress of my crazy job, by writing in my journal (which says “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. –Thoreau” on the cover.) Or I will express my feelings on this blog.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Moist, double layer, yellow cake with chocolate icing, I abjure you!

So proud of myself. Yesterday, we had a reception at work where the sole food was delicious (I am guessing) double layer yellow cake with moist chocolate icing. I didn’t eat it. Drool? Yes. Eat? No.

Can I get a virtual high five?

Dr. Stephen Gullo is right, thin tastes better.

Feeling better.

I took some time to write. I feel better already. Life is a blessing, and God I am thankful for it.

Crazy Lady, your child is no genius.

I got on the scale a few days ago. No progress, but no gaining either.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks with work. I am just drained. Teaching is really hard.

I never wanted this blog to be a journal of depression. But I guess in life, we have highs and lows, and I’d be being fake if I didn’t address those.

I have got to figure out a way to stop taking things so personally. I had a really bad interaction with a parent that just ruined my week. I still haven’t completely snapped out of it. But it hurt really badly, and I comforted myself with ice cream, cookies, etc. I started focusing on all that was wrong, instead of all that is right.

Anyway, am taking today to conciously work on being happy, being grateful, and finding a good therapist! Just someone to help me restructure how I think about things, how I take crticism, and how to work on my perfectionist tendencies.

My body is a temple, Goals for the week, and other thoughts.

Note to self: Once I get off track, it’s hard for me to get back on. An aunt of mine once said, “You’re an all or nothing type of girl.” Unfortunately, I think she was on to something. The past two weeks were full of things that I had not planned for. And so I resorted to the “nothing” default.

While I knew they were coming, I had not taken the time to let my mind wrap around what those things would mean for my goals. The wedding (and reception), my mother’s visit, a field trip out of town with students, etc. I let myself have a “break,” as if feeding myself large amounts of crap was a reward. I have to stop thinking of food as life’s main pleasure.

I can’t remember whether I have mentioned this before, but I have a tendency to disconnect from reality and to live in my day dreams and thoughts. That might make me sound loony, but it’s true. I can go through weeks just preoccupied with the thoughts in my mind. Sometimes, I think that I might be clinically depressed, but I just try to push on through it. I have periods where I “wake up,” but I can definitely sink into another world, and just go through my real life like a smiling, nodding zombie. In fact, I have to work hard not to go into that world. When I think about it, I can remember, as a child and teenager, my mother frequently telling me to “snap out of it.”

Since professional counseling is not an option at the moment (ummm….copays are expensive..Nah, I choose to pay my never ending mountain of damned credit card bills….) I’ll just do as my mother suggests and pray about it. At least I know that I have a problem. And that’s the first step, right?

So, the point of this tangent is to say that I kind of went into a zone in a not good way this past week, as I thought about bills, debt, grad school plans, the election, the plight of working mothers, day care issues etc. and I stopped focusing on what I eat. I just ordered what I wanted. “What about your goals Mjaay?” you ask…Completely forgot about them. Plus, (sorry for this TMI…be forewarned) my “auntie” was visiting for the week, so PMS was an excuse to buy chocolate and salty junk.

I was looking for excuses to feed my anxiety, and I used all the events of the past two weeks to do it. Now that things have calmed down (although The Little One has an ear infection, strep throat, and is gettining in FIVE new teeth at the same time, so I don’t think it’s that calm!!) I can realize what I’ve down. I’m trying not to beat up myself too much (and I feel guilty because the last few posts here have been whiny…), just trying to be honest with myself so that I can recognize things and move on.

So, here are some personal goals for this week. And I am trying to make them simple, because sometimes, I do “too much” and make these big plans (did I mention that I am very much a perfectionist?!) and then I can’t follow thru, so I don’t do anything.

Here goes something:

1) exercise every day for an hour

2) eat breakfast every day

3) drink at least 10 glasses of water a day

4) take my lunch and snacks to work.

That’s it for now.

Please think good thoughts for me. And as always, I love comments!

Peace,

Mjaay