Fit by 40 - Goal 2: Fix breakfast

I have a really bad habit of picking up McDonald's for breakfast on my way to work. My usual order was either a Sausage McMuffin, hasbrown, and diet Coke or two hashbrowns and a diet Coke. I also enjoy the fruit and yogurt parfait. This habit was born mostly from laziness. Fixing breakfast takes time (either in the morning or the night before) and it was just easier to swing through the drive-thru right by work. Making a goal of fixing my own breakfast seemed like a natural progression after successfully giving up pop for two weeks. I will need to come up with some more ideas for breakfast that I can either eat quickly while getting ready or take with me to work so I don't get bored of eating the same things everyday. Some of my go-to breakfasts are hard boiled eggs, energy balls, yogurt, oatmeal (with brown sugar, walnuts, and Craisins), toast with butter or peanut butter, and bagels with cream cheese. I know, bagels aren't exactly healthy. My goal for the moment isn't necessarily to focus on the healthiest choice. I want to establish the habit of fixing breakfast first and gradually become healthier. And honestly, pretty much anything I fix will be healthier than what I've been eating.

Stats after Goal 1:

• Weight: 225.5 lbs (down 2.5 lbs)
• Pants size: 38 (no change)
• Shirt size: XL (no change)

Fit by 40 - Goal 1: Give up pop

I can drink pop like it's my job. I've been known to 2-3 large pops from a fast food establishment and another 2-3 20 oz bottles in the same day. That's a lot of sugar and a lot of calories, even if some of that was diet pop. I've given up pop in the past as part of the 17 Day Diet, but it always manages to sneak back into my life. As I started thinking about my goal of being Fit by 40, I knew pop was one of the first things that needed to go. I officially drank my last pop on September 8, 2017. I'm sure I'll get to the point where I can have the occasional Coke, but for now I need to make a clean break and not tempt myself.

 In the two weeks since my last Coke I have dropped about 2.5 lbs. This has fluctuated a little (down as much as 4 lbs), mainly because I didn't change anything else about my eating and might have enjoyed a few large natural lemonades from Wendy's. And maybe a Frosty or two. The first several days were hell as my body adjusted to not having its daily caffeine intake. The migraines were pretty crippling. I really started to turn the corner on day 5 and since then I haven't really missed the caffeine. I don't feel more tired during the day than I did before. In fact I probably sleep a little better and pretty much pass out by 9:30, even when I'm trying to work on homework. I have had some cravings for a Coke just because I actually like the flavor. The strange thing is that I have had a couple of dreams where I realized I was in the middle of drinking a Coke or had just finished a Coke and I didn't even know that I had started drinking it. Weird.

Fit by 40

I turned 39 at the beginning of September. Not a milestone by itself, but it is the last stop before a big milestone. I got to thinking during the days after my birthday that I was tired of being fat and tired. I decided something needed to be done, but I've tried making big changes in the past to only end up back where I am. We were pretty successful with the 17 Day Diet back in 2012 when I lost about 30 pounds, but that weight all came back and it brought some friends. We've tried to do the 17 Day Diet a couple of times since then and we just couldn't make it work a second time. I was up to my heaviest weight and largest pants size on my birthday. I hate outgrowing clothes, but I hit the point that I really couldn't wear most of the pants in my closet and a lot of my shirts were getting tight. I had to go up a size for my polos and my dress shirts were starting to tug at the buttons on my belly. I knew something needed to change.

I decided that if I'm going to lose weight and get in shape (and stay that way), I needed to make more gradual changes rather than trying to lose the weight quickly. I found the Runs for Cookies blog a while ago and one of her strongest recommendations is to start by making small changes that add up to a big change in the end. I also don't want to give up all the good food options :). My plan is to make a series of healthy changes during the year leading up to my 40th birthday. I've read that new habits take about 40 days to really stick. I don't want to wait that long in between changes, so I'm going to introduce a new change every two weeks. Some of the changes will be giving up a bad habit. Others will be incorporating a new healthy habit. The first changes focus on food because a healthy weight starts in the kitchen. So far I have ideas for 9 of the 26 changes. I might decide that I need to devote more time to make sure some of the changes become permanent before moving on to the next one on the list.

Here are the ideas I have so far. I would certainly welcome suggestions for other healthy habits.

• Give up pop
• Fix breakfast
• Pack lunch
• Stop eating out
• Eat at least 2 fruits a day
• Exercise 30 minutes 3x a week
• Exercise 30 minutes 5x a week
• 10,000 steps a day
• Bodyweight exercises 2x a week

 Starting stats:

•  Weight: 228 lbs
• Pant size: 38 in waist
• Shirt size: XL (16.5/17 in neck)