Staying Motivated

My family and I sort of rested on our laurels yesterday as we celebrated our first week's success. We didn't go Charlie Sheen crazy or anything, but we did enjoy a taste or two of foods we hadn't had for a while. It was a reminder that we could still eat our favorite foods once in a while. In fact, I think the old adage about how absence makes the heart grow fonder is also true about food. My husband and daughter made a DIY pizza from Trader Joe's pizza dough. They relished every bite.

I realize that my challenge this week is to keep us motivated. Yes, we're beginning the week on a high, but we all know that our next weigh-in will probably not produce the same fab weight loss as this week did. My goal is to keep us all excited about staying on target and to try to get everybody (mostly my husband) to not focus on numbers, but instead, to keep the eye on the prize - healthy living. This is a lofty goal, so I'm going to need all of the help I can get. Bring on the suggestions!

I received a lot of input from folks for the food plan this week. I'm hopeful there won't be any more threats of mutiny or worst ... desertion. Everybody had a say in the plan, so I'm fairly confident that we'll have success. My other goal this week is to add more exercise into our lives. I have broken from my morning and nightly routines of sitting on my tush in front of the computer. Breaking free of these has improved my energy level plus produced two very happy pups! I used to loathe exercise (or any activity) in the mornings. However, now that I'm walking first thing, I find that I have a whole new outlook on the morning. I also love my evening walks at dusk. The sky is so pretty and the temps low. It's a perfect way to end my day. So yeah, I'm pleased with these new routines. However, I feel that we need to amp it up a bit. I won't make the same mistake as last week where I set us up for exercise failure. Nope. I will be more realistic in this coming week. I will continue my walks every day, but I'm going to try to add a nightly swim to the mix. Not every night, mind you, but maybe two to three times a week. I love to swim. While I'd like to say that I'm part dolphin, I fear it's more like part whale. But I don't care. Give me some fins, goggles, and a kick board, and I'm the happiest girl on the planet. The world melts away when I hit the water. So instead of looking at swimming as yet more exercise, I'm going to view it as "mental health." Yeah. I can live with that. "Mental health" instead of exercise. So ... what are we waiting for? Let's dive in to week two! Wish us luck!