Goal 2 of fixing breakfast was a success. Breakfast the first week was mostly hard boiled eggs and energy balls. Then things got a little busy and I didn't keep up with boiling eggs and I didn't get to make a second batch of energy balls, so I had to punt a few days. Breakfast on those days was a granola bar, a cheese stick, and an apple. Still considerably better than a daily heart attack in a sack from McDonald's.
Goal 3 is to start exercising. I've had a good month of making some dietary changes and now I want to bring in some physical effort. Hopefully this will give my first two changes a chance to become more automatic. I'm not going to lie, I've had a few Coke cravings and came close to giving in. As for the exercise, I'm going to focus on walking since that's relatively easy to incorporate and I can take Gunnar along with me. Freeman could use the walks too. I'll probably throw in a couple of bike rides if the weather is nice.
Stats after Goal 2:
- Weight: 223.8 lbs (down 4.2 lbs total)
- Pants size: 38 (no change; I did manage to squeeze into a size 36, but it was tight)
- Shirt size: XL (no change)
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)
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.
