New Diet

Norma and I have finally cracked. After a month or so of eating everything in sight, I have realized that I need to stop. Food is a lot of fun for us. So it is difficult to make changes. But, we are being realistic. So the idea works like this, a few simple rules:

1. Breakfast is fruit. I usually have an apple and a cup of coffee. This is so much better for me than the cereal, kolache, Sonic Breakfast Burrito, or pastry. If I am really hungry that morning, I can mix in an extra piece of fruit, like a peach or grapes or something.

2. Either lunch or dinner must be a salad. And that salad can be as big as we want. Vegetables can be eaten and eaten and eaten. There is no limit.

3. The other mean (that is not a salad) can be a reasonable meal of whatever we usually like. For example, today we are heating up a lasagna for lunch. We will take Aidan to McDonalds after karate tonight and we'll both get a salad.

4. Snacks must be healthy ones. Fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc.


McDonald's Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad is pretty good. I usually substitute the dressing for low fat.

I think this is a realistic diet. We still can have a meal a day that is one of our favorites. But, we sacrifice for breakfast and the other meal. The sacrifice is one that I usually get used to (I've tried this diet before and it works - so I know it's worth it). We love our chinese on saturdays. We get Chinese take out every Saturday. And when I say EVERY Saturday... we haven't missed in years. We have Chinese every week. So we'll keep doing that. But the other meals that day will be responsible.

It has only been about 5 days and I am already feeling a difference. More energy and I am losing some of the areas of fat that I put on this summer. It's hard to explain but I lose weight easy in certain areas (other areas come off much, much later).

Of course, exercise is vitally important with any diet. We have been taking long bike rides with Aidan in the bike trailer. We stop off at parks throughout Kingwood so that Aidan can play. We also have been running to the park some nights with the jogging stroller. This way Aidan gets some exercise, too.

This has made for a much better summer. We have slowly but surely been making some changes and now we are kicking it into gear. So far, so good.

"Running"

This little "thingie" shows my 'runs.' I call them quote-RUNS-unquote because they aren't much of a run at this point. I am dreadfully out of shape. I am going super slow. But, at least I am going at this point. I have completed about 11.77 miles since April 27th. Slow but steady wins the race, I hope.

Here is how Nike+ works:


You may have seen this commerical before:


Well, that is what Norma and I have been using. Pretty neat.



I am not a very good runner anymore. My knees and ankles are a mess from injuries from sports. But, I have to lose weight. I have never lost weight before without running some. So my goal has been to walk 5 minutes, jog 5 minutes... so on until I am beat tired. I have been going 20 or 30 minutes each time out lately.

When Aidan is in the bath tub and playing, I have been in the next room working out on my bowflex a little. This is helping as well. I can tell my body is reacting in a good way already. I just have to keep this pace going and get into summer with this good habit.

Before Aidan (I guess you could call that BA), Norma and I used to work out together. We stayed in pretty good shape because we could push each other. Then when he came along we didn't want to take time away from him. But, we have to get our workouts in. So Nike+ is helping us see how well we are doing and we are competing against each other again. I can see what she is doing online and she can see my progress as well. Very neat.

This might just work... at least a little while. I am taking it one workout at a time. :)`