Update: New Year's Resolution

Ten days into the new year, and I am still sticking to my New Year's resolution. My plan was to get back into shape, and I'm so excited to report that I am seeing some real success! In my resolution, I outlined the five guidelines I would be using, and the key points are as follows:

1: cutting out junk food

2: eating 4-5 fruits and vegetables a day

3: avoiding butter, sugar, and chocolate, (except 1 treat day each week)

4: sticking with an exercise routine

5: making the commitment to really stick with it (the promise)

I have also been keeping a food and exercise journal. I find this helps a lot. It keeps me honest and I like to estimate how many calories I've had at the end of each day. I feel great about writing down the good things I'm doing for myself. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

I decided to weigh myself only every 10 days. I was so excited and a little bit shocked when I stepped on the scale today and saw that I had lost 4 pounds! Now, I don't know if that's exciting to anyone else, but for me, it was incredible. I stuck with my plan, I didn't use any fads or pills, and I lost 4 pounds in ten days! It really does work if you have a plan and stick with it. I'm excited to see how much more I can lose and now I have even more resolve to succeed.

I ran into a couple of challenges already. My nephew's birthday is during the first week of January. Being a chocoholic, it was not easy for me to pass on his double layer chocolate cake spread thick with creamy chocolate frosting, but I did pass on it. Even though I was told that "one piece of cake won't hurt", I politely declined, because I made this promise to myself, and I am determined to keep it. Seeing that first 4 pounds come off was totally worth it. I also had to bake cookies for a gift that same week. That was even more tempting than the chocolate cake, but always in the back of my mind was my promise to myself. So I washed the cookie dough off my hands, didn't help the kids lick the bowl, and had my husband do the taste-testing. (He didn't mind at all.) Again, it was totally worth the trade-off.

I'm also finding that my family is getting on the health bandwagon with me. My toddler and I tried a healthy black bean soup recipe together for the first time yesterday. I thought it was very tasty and it was very satisfying, and it's unbelievably high in fiber and low in fat. My little one just liked the taste, but I was glad to see her getting some real nutrients without all the junk and sugar. My ten year old got excited about a new light salad dressing I found, which has about 75% less fat than the kind she usually eats. Even my husband, who works hard at work, but tends to be a couch potato at home, has been working out on the elliptical. Healthy habits seem to be contagious!

Ten days in, and I'm feeling great about these accomplishments. It was a little hard to let go of some bad habits at first, but I feel like I can really do this now. We'll see what the next 10 day period brings, and hopefully I can keep getting back in shape at a steady pace. Who knows, maybe I'll even be looking forward to trying on bathing suits this year!