Lately I've been talking about taking baby steps when it comes to weight loss. I'm typically an all-or-nothing person, so this is a little difficult for me. Especially when it comes to knowing where to start.
Well, I can't know where to start if I don't have a baseline - what does my typical day look like? What do I eat on a "normal" day (for me)? A normal day for me means not being restrictive with calories, and no bingeing (ugh, I never know how to spell that word). For the last few days, I've been eating normally, and not really paying attention to trying to diet. A typical day for me is between 1700-2000 calories. At this calorie level, I've been maintaining/gaining a tiny amount here and there (with no exercise). Nothing earth-shattering.
In the next few days, I'm going to be tracking my movement - how many steps do I take in a certain day? I used an online calculator to figure out my resting metabolic rate, which is what I burn if I'm completely sedentary. All calculators have me at a 1450-1550 RMR range.
Once I'm able to figure out a baseline for my movement, I'll put the two together and see what I can come up with. Right now, I've made a very vague list of "baby steps" that I can put in to action over the next several weeks/months. Here they are...
- Find a designated eating area - no eating in front of the TV/computer/phone.
- No fast food; start out by only ordering "kid" size portions.
- Meal plan
- Drink more water
- 1 soda/day
- Measure/weigh all food
- Walk on the treadmill while watching Big Brother (and other favorite TV shows)
- Add veggies/fruit to every meal (2 to breakfast, lunch, & dinner; 1 to snacks)
- Low Carb Day(s)
- Join a support group (like through an online forum such as 3 Fat Chicks)
- Only 1 "treat" a day
- Where is your baseline (working on this)? (avg calories/day/week; avg steps/day/week; avg exercise/day/week; avg sleep/day/week)
Anyone have anything else to add? Any suggestions for what I currently have?
I am a big believer in taking small steps thats how I got to where I am today, all or nothing always lead to failure for me, I think your plan sounds great.I also started off by switching certain very unhealthy options to slightly less unhealthy and finally to healthy...like to start off with I did not completely give up on burgers I either skipped the top bun and cheese, then switched to wraps..then finally lettuce wraps and now I have not had a burger for a long long time and the best part is I don't miss it either, I have done the same thing with a lot of my unhealthy junk food options worked well for me :)
ReplyDeleteall the best with your plan
Thanks for the tips - I love it! That's a good idea regarding the fast food/burgers. I'm hoping this is the "breakthrough" I've been needing. Thanks again for always being so encouraging and supportive! :)
Delete