O Sweet Clementine!

I have decided to mend my bad eating ways. So this cookie-eating, donut-stuffing, pizza-loving gal is joining the ranks of such fine and inspiring "dieters" (I use that word loosely - there is no such thing as a "diet", just eating right for life!) as Smart Mouth Broad. If you know SMB, then you know her saga of losing weight - exercising with her Wii Wii, her Daughter #1's (aka the Food Nazi) strictly enforced Zone diet, and SMB's sudden gradual switch to the South Beach Diet. Why, she has even given up sweet tea *gasp*.... I can NEVER give up my sweet tea. Never. Ever. Ever.

Mind you, I have not worked out or ate right in about 2 years. So this is a large undertaking for me. But I have tons of motivation (finally). When we were tearing down that outbuilding last weekend, and the day before when we were cutting down tree limbs and lugging them to a burn pile, I felt like I was literally lifting one foot to put it in front of the other. I felt exhausted before I even began. This is so not me. I have always been game for outdoor work, and usually love it. Now granted, female hormones were working their lovely magic on me this past week, and I do believe that had something to do with it, BUT I also know that I have gained at least 20 pounds since my move to Kansas and I do not like my lack of energy and how tired I feel at the end of a workday. Hence my motivation to lose weight and get back into my smaller jeans. I want to feel energetic and know that I'm eating healthy, especially "at my age".

Then, there's the challenge. I felt the burning need to take up that challenge about 3 summers ago, and to break the plateau that had always plagued me. I could never seem to get below 118 pounds to 115. I am only 5'2" (yes, I am severely vertically challenged and need a chair to reach just about anything in the house), so that weight suits me perfectly. I felt healthy and I felt like I could do ANYTHING once I got down to that weight. It inspired me, and made me feel way more confident. I was jubilant when I got down to 115 the summer of 2006.

The challenge this time around? Well, I am older for one thing. I am pushing 50 in another year and a half. So, I want to prove that an almost-50-something gal can be slim and trim. I started this past Monday with cutting out all fast food. I always find that when I stop eating fast food, it takes about 3 days or so for me to lose the craving for it; once I get past those first few days, I find I no longer crave it, and in fact, it sounds disgusting to me. Challenge one, accomplished!!

Challenge two: Eat right. So now that I've virtually starved myself since Tuesday, it's time to figure out what to buy at the store and plan my lunch while at work, so I don't eat dumb. A co-worker was eating clementines a few days ago and gave me a bite. I am food-stupid much of the time, and I'm reluctant to try new things. For whatever reason, I just popped the piece of clementine she gave me right into my mouth, and from that moment forward, I couldn't get to the store fast enough to buy some clementines! Yummy a thousand times, and oh so easy to peel and eat. I bought a bag yesterday and had two clementines for lunch. As I write this, I'm salivating, so excuse me while I go grab a clementine to snack on....


Now, on to challenge three. Take up a workout regimen. I had a friend at work copy some of the P90X workouts for me. If you've never heard of P90X, then take a look here. I watched the ab portion of the workout a few nights ago and was blown away. This stuff is going to kick my arse. But I will go slow and pace myself. If there's one thing I've learned in my lifetime of working out, it's that pushing myself in the beginning is self-defeating. I will end up so sore and unable to move that I cannot workout for a few days, then I somehow fall off the wagon before I even get started. I know better than to let that happen.

I also have an olympic weight bench and a TotalGym. But they are in hubby's shop. And there are also spiders, big spiders, out in his shop, even though he does spray for bugs. I'm not sure I want to work out in his shop. There is just no room in the house for these monstrosities. And I love my olympic weights -- I've always preferred lifting weights to cardio. And you know if you build muscle mass, then your body has to burn more calories to maintain that muscle, hence you lose weight faster! I think I'll bring some of my free weights into the house - a compromise.

So, this is my plan for the next few months. My main goal is to feel better, to have more energy and zest, like I used to. Of course, as a side goal, I hope to look better, in and out of my jeans. I'll let y'all know how it's going!