New Year = Fresh Start

There is just something about the New Year that appeals to my perfectionist personality like nothing else can. A clean slate, no errors, not even the tell-tale streaks of an erasure. It is the understatement of the new decade to declare: I "do" resolutions. I even read the Bible daily once until July.

So here I go again, resolving to lose weight. To get healthier. To move more freely. To have more energy and enjoy life more.

I, KB, being of semi-sound mind and uncooperative body, do resolve to:
1. Limit my caloric intake by following the BL 30-day Jumpstart to the best of my ability.
2. Expend as many calories as is humanly possible, given my limitations, by attending water aerobics and trying out my new Jumpstart DVD when the pool is closed due to weather.
3. Drink more water.
4. Keep a food journal and blog my results.
5. Stay motivated with the help of family, friends and the unlimited supply of dieting materials I have accumulated.

Join me in a round of applause.

Commitment

Guru Bob says, "When you renew your commitment each and every day, you reinforce your forward momentum, remind yourself of your goals, and refresh your confidence that you can and will achieve those goals."

Guru-in-training Karen says, "I need to commit to each and every day being able to deny myself the momentary pleasures of this world with an eye to the intangible rewards that I can't see yet, but know exist." I can't see better health, but I know I need it. I can't see increased energy, but I yearn for it with everything I have. Now I just need to make that elusive connection between every tangible bite I put in my mouth and those intangible but just-as-delicious rewards.

Do it anyway

Even if I don't feel like staying on plan, I have to do it anyway. If I do only what I feel like doing, I won't be able to lose weight and keep it off.

I will need help to remind me of this. I am the excuse queen. I can blame anything. I will need coaches and cheerleaders, so any of you out there that know how to motivate someone who can justify almost any shortcut, speak up or forever feel the guilt. It will be totally your fault that I didn't lose any weight. See?

Why do I want to keep doing this anyway?

Yes, I admit, I have fallen off the blog scene for awhile, but the weight loss attempt is still underway. I lost 2-3 pounds since I last updated. I finished my 30-day Jumpstart and will start afresh after a short break to remotivate myself.

To do that, I am asking myself the age-old question of why I want to diet and I came up with my top 10 reasons. I encourage you to do the same.

Karen's Top 10 reasons to diet: (in random order)

1. One chin.
2. A wardrobe that includes more than just purses.
3. A lap.
4. Thighs that don't touch.
5. Walk Paris.
6. No granny panties. Ever.
7. No comments behind my large backside.
8. Ditch the cover-up at the pool.
9. No shoulder-rubbing with strangers on airplanes.
10. Nomination for What Not to Wear instead of Biggest Loser.

Confessions of the Scale #1

The almighty scale. Not usually my BFF. But this week: worship & adoration. Even though it delivered the news of a miniscule .8 loss for me; my family lost such a large percentage of our total body weight that we WON the weigh-in at the gym this week. Fattastic 4 rawks.

If I'm truly confessing my feelings about the scale, though, I have to admit my OCD practices. Stepping on multiple times per day when I'm trying to lose causes my mood to fluctuate as much as the number does. Ok, maybe more.

Day 17

My breakfast burrito was so delicious I babbled about it on the phone with a friend. Especially the peach mango salsa. Don't worry BL fans: the amount of mango did not push me over my caloric limit for the day. Have to admit that I've never had refried beans for breakfast before this, but I'm really branching out now. Watch out brussel sprouts! Yeh, no.

Hubby was happy to grill chicken and shrimp for dinner while I put wild rice and broccoli in the steamer. Snuck a few bites of grilled sweet potato and some grapes for dessert. I could get used to this.

Weigh In Day is Wednesday

Lost .8 today. It goes on so quickly and off so painfully.

I was following the meal plan in order until I got sick. Somehow I got all discombobulated. If that's even a word, I'm not sure how to spell it. Anyway...

Day 15 (sometime before I got sick) Zzzzzz

"Resting your body is just as important as working out." - Ali Vincent, season 5 winner

Ironic. This day in the plan came before I got sick, but I sure needed the info before the plague hit me. Research shows that "those who get 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night are thinner than those who get less than 7 hours." Guess that explains why my husband is so thin.

While I was feeling bad I got plenty of sleep. I even slept in the doctor's waiting room. Well, they shouldn't have left me there for 2 hours.

Picking up where I left off (several days later):

Day 16
Take Stock! You're Halfway There

We may be midway through the 30-day jumpstart, but seeing that I've only lost 2.8 pounds so far, I'm thinkin I'm not quite midway yet. Nice thought, though. When I pause to take stock of my daily commitment to health, I realize that although I have such a very long way to go, each tiny little step is that much better than I was before. I was so proud of my smart little self after water aerobics today when I marched over to Tropical Smoothie and ordered, get this, a BANANA. Not a banana smoothie, just a banana. You can do that. Who knew? Then I went to Starbucks and got a skinny vanilla latte for protein to go with my banana and I had the perfect post-workout snack. Go me. Gold star for today.

Ate lunch out but I had already weighed in and Wed. lunch is my one big splurge for the week. Not tooo terribly bad since I got a multigrain bagel with tomatoes and wiped the grease off the cheese. Ewww

Made Sesame Chicken with Noodles tonight and although the kids picked out the red peppers and Dave added some hot seasoning to his, I thought it went over fairly well.

Off Track

My entries aren't matching up with the current date. I got a little off track with being sick, so from now on I will date my ramblings.