MONDAY MOTIVATION - WEEK 2 - LET'S TALK ABOUT FOOD, BABY!

WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME!

This is the start of my second week of my weight loss journey! If you missed my week 1 post you can check it out here!

WEEK 1 RECAP:

This last week turned out to be a pretty irregular week. Both Winter and Jennifer got a bad stomach bug. No offense to Jennifer but seeing little Winter sick is the saddest thing ever. Also made worse is that she somehow caught a cold at the same time! I managed to escape the stomach bug, but not the cold which is frustrating. Not frustrating in the way all colds are (i.e. sneezing, coughing, sore throat, so congested you can’t breath), but in the I NEVER get sick kind of way. Really the only times I have been sick in the last four years are when Winter got the flu then I got the flu and now when Winter got a cold so I got a cold. I don’t want to place blame or name names here…

Anyhoo, I am breathing semi-normally again and the cough has for the most part gone away. I may not have been very active for the last couple of days, but I did keep up with my other week 1 goals!

1. Sleep - I set up bedtime on my iPhone to get 8.5 hours of sleep at night. It warns me 15 minutes before bed that it’s time to go to sleep and it wakes me in the morning with a really nice melody. I’ve always used the standard, terrible wake up sound of Radar, but this automatically uses Early Riser. I’ve always known that I could change the sound of course. I just didn’t. Maybe because I thought I needed a terrible noise to annoy me into waking up. Turns out I did not need to be torturing myself for years. In fact, I have enjoyed waking up to this new gentler noise. Each day this week, except for Friday when I felt my worst, I woke up with the alarm and started my day.

2. Water - My goal was to be drinking at least a 1/2 gallon of water everyday. I am proud to say I reached this goal every day and exceeded it on others. I’ve never really found drinking a whole bunch of water too much of a problem. I’m always thirsty.

3. Exercise - My first two goals went really well. This one, unfortunately, took the brunt of my sickness. However, for the first four days I woke up, got dressed, and did 30 -45 minutes of exercise. This included going on long, brisk walks with Mom and beginners yoga. I will say that I felt great throughout the day after starting it with some exercise!

WEEK 2 GOALS:

I have read a lot of weight loss success stories. Like a lot! A. Lot. I’ve noticed two similarities in them. The first is that every single one of these success stories is different. This is something that I am going to have to remind myself. Every person is different. Every body is different. So although I have read all of these stories, I am also going to have to figure out this journey for myself. The second is that almost all of these journeys start with food.

1. Let’s talk about food, baby! I have a confession. You may not know this about me. I LOVE SUGAR! I guess really I should say just carbs in general, but mainly sugar. I don’t really discriminate in the type of sugar, but of course chocolate is my favorite. I’ve done well in the past with limiting myself certain things. Including this past June when we all did Whole30. However, I know sugar is going to be an issue. I live in a house with three other people who do not necessarily have the same constant craving for sugar that I do. I'm going to have to learn to resist. So for my food goal for this week it’s going to be rough: avoid sugar!

2. Meal prep. Say it agin, Meal prep! In the times in the past that I have done well with eating better, the best thing I did was meal prep. It was nice to have all of my meals made when it was time to eat. And the best part? I just have to be responsible for deciding to eat right for one afternoon. Technically, I could eat other things throughout the week, but I’m usually not very wasteful with food. If I’ve already prepped it chances are that I’m going to eat it. I’ve already prepped my breakfasts and lunches for this week! For breakfast I made these Spicy Breakfast Egg Muffins that I will be eating with a couple of slices of avocado and a handful of strawberries. For lunch I packed a container with half a cup of cottage cheese, a handful of grape tomatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, and a cup of grilled chicken breast.

2. Work. It. Out. As I said above, I liked doing my exercise in the mornings. This week I have a goal of working out for 45 minutes every morning. I’ve even gotten Jennifer to sign on to being my reluctant workout buddy for the week! I am putting together a daily workout plan for us!

There you have it! Week 1 recap and week 2 goals. Let me know where you are in your own journey!

-Laura Herrmann