Since I’m devoting this first month of the new year to my personal health, I figure that blogging about my progress makes sense. It helps me to keep track of my thoughts and progress. I hope it will help you, too. It’s nice to know we’re all in this together.

With week one behind me, I’m learning all kinds of things about myself and how to best stay on track:

1. For one, I still don’t gym. I keep trying it but will never be a gym kind of girl. When I’m there, I spend the entire time looking around at people. I’m way too ADD to make any progress. I have gone once with my husband this new year and plan to make that my one and only visit. Fortunately, I do have a treadmill here to walk on. That’s one of those “have to tell myself yes” situations. I’m doing well with that and sticking to consistent cardio.
2. Next, just as I suspected, I can actually tell myself no and stick to it. I want cookies but tell myself no. I want a pb&j sammie every single day, but I need veggies. Thing is, I’m not saying that I can never have one, just not every day like I want. Knowing I can have one another time seems to help.
3. Instead of going by a list of can and can’t haves as far as food goes, I’m better off to focus on each meal and what I can do to eat well in that given situation. If I know I can’t have fast food because it’s on some list of can’ts, of course I feel deprived and will eventually fail. Life is busy. Sometimes fast food is necessary. Heck, sometimes a burger is necessary, right? If I’m in that situation and have a burger, I’m learning to just have the burger – not the burger and fries. Every little victory counts.
4. I’ve learned that I won’t starve between meals. Instead, I’m finding that a few hunger pangs are helping me to learn when I’m hungry or eating out of boredom. Also, I’ve found that hunger pangs come in waves and then subside. If there’s only an hour until dinnertime and I feel a hunger pang, I can drink a big glass of water and ride out the wave. Soon, the grumbling is gone, and I easily make it until dinner.
5. The more I eat well, the more I’m enjoying it. I’m branching out and trying new ways of cooking foods and incorporating new veggies into my diet. Also, I’ve noticed that when I’m super hungry, enough for my stomach to growl, then healthy foods taste great. I’m surprised at times when I eat something healthy and think, wow, this is better than I expected. 
6. Veggies are the best bang for the calorie buck. With that in mind, I eat plenty and don’t indulge as much in breads and meats. But breads are still on my can list! If not, I would never last. Where most diets restrict potatoes, I don’t. Mashed potatoes are my favorite food. I’m not giving them up!
7. As with potatoes, I’ve come up with a list of foods and I can and can’t live without. Honestly, for me, life is too short to live on salads. I just don’t like them in the winter. I want warm comfort food. I’m learning I can eat well without salads being my go to. I’ve stopped eating foods I don’t particularly care for just because they’re healthy. Why waste calories on foods that are just okay when I can have mashed potatoes?
8. If I do mess up, I can begin again and not throw in the towel entirely like I used to do. If God’s mercies are new every morning toward us, shouldn’t ours be the same toward ourselves? I’m not punishing or coddling myself. If I blow it, I learn from it and move on. But I most certainly don’t say, “Oh, it’s okay. Here, have a cookie.” Babying myself has to stop.
9. The most important thing I’ve learned is that this is more of a journey of self-discovery. I’m learning about myself and my unhealthy relationship with food. (More on that next time – maybe.) For each of us who are making this effort in the new year to live healthier lives, we have to realize it’s a personal journey. What works for me may not work for you. A few things may, but not all will. My bestie, Leann, and I are constantly trying some new diet together. We’ve learned, though, we have different personalities and lifestyles. Technically, we have different goals. Her’s is more about weight loss and mine is more about freedom. I don’t want to be bound any longer. I have been since I was a little girl. Now, Leann and I just try to encourage each other. And never, ever, do we beat the other up when one fails.

Small victories are keeping me on track. I love the feeling of going to bed at night knowing I’ve had a successful day. Used to, I went to bed feeling like a failure more often than not. I don’t want to live in that same pattern that I’ve known most all of my life. I want to win against this inner conflict. I’m hoping (and praying) that 2017 will be my year.

If you’re goal this year is to make better choices, what have you learned about yourself as you go? Each time you share your story with me, I take it to heart and try to learn from it. Doing life together is the best way to get through this.

Many blessings and fewer calories to you. 🙂