Perdi's Plan

[Perdi]

A little over a week ago, I re-spawned. I've tried many times and failed many times to lose weight and get in shape. A couple of weeks ago, I saw 251 on my scale.  I'm 5 feet 4.75 inches tall, and that's the most I've ever weighed. Something had to change. My plan upon popping back into the game as a level zero was simple:

 

1) For the rest of December, no soda other than Perrier, San Pellegrino and the like, which have no sugars and no artificial sweetener, and the occasional Zevia, which is sweetened with stevia, monk fruit and erythritol, which is a sugar alcohol. I bought new CO2 canisters for my Sodastream, and a pack of "my water" flavorings. Those have no sugar or artificial sweeteners. They're just flavor, and you add 1/2 tsp to a liter.

 

2) A 10-15 minute walk three times a week until the end of December.

 

Report for the end of the first week:

 

1) I've had no soda other than fizzy waters and Zevia. So far, I've only been tempted by real soda twice, and I reached for them out of habit instead of a real craving for them. When I realized I was reaching for soda, I thought "what are you doing? you have a liter of fizzy water at home!" and both times I had no problem resisting the soda. I think I'm doing particularly well on this so far because I'm focusing on keeping stocked up on "soda" instead of focusing on quitting soda. I tried quitting soda before. It did not work. I'm not quitting this time; I'm substituting.

 

2) Three walks were taken last week. Two were just ten minutes and the third was 20, because I didn't feel ready to go back to the office yet. The first of this week's walks will be tomorrow. I re-spawned on a Wednesday, so my weeks are Wednesday to Wednesday for the purposes of this little self-challenge.

 

End result this week? 1.8 lbs lost.  Small walks. No soda. 1.8 lbs gone. 

 

I'll report again at the end of week 2.  At the end of December, I'll decide what small behavior to modify or add next. If I can keep these behaviors going and add other healthy behaviors one by one, eventually, I'll be in shape again.  Slow and steady wins the race. New habits will get made, one at a time.  

 

I've also made a realization this week. I'm a binge eater. Really bad. I binge all the time. I will talk to my therapist about it when I see her next. I ordered a book on breaking free from binge eating after I realized that's what I do. It should be delivered in the next week. 

[Perdi]

Week 2 is almost half over for me, and I'm still doing well with the soda and the walking. I've decided what I want to add for January. The soda substitution has been an easy thing to maintain. Keep a house full of fizzy water and I don't drink regular sodas. I didn't so much "quit soda" as change brands. I'm not a Coke person anymore; I'm a Mendota Springs person. Or San Pellegrino or Perrier. So, I'll concentrate on walking 3 times a week for at least 10 minutes (which has been the more difficult thing to do this challenge period so far), and I'll add in 5 minutes (or more) of meditation 4-5 times a week.

 

Controlling stress might help with the binge eating. And while 4-5 times a week seems like a lot, I really like how I feel right after a 5-10 minute meditation. My brain feels all fresh and happy. With an instant reward like that, I think I can manage 4-5 times a week pretty easily. I can even make a schedule on my phone calendar.

 

So, by the end of the third week of January, I should be meditating regularly, still walking regularly, and still not drinking soda. Since I started a week into December, I'm thinking of doing these habit building challenges in three week intervals, rather than monthly challenges.  If I feel three weeks hasn't really caused a new habit to "stick", I'll do the next three-week period with the same challenge.

 

Edit: Looking back, I only started a couple days into december. My third week will end on Christmas Eve. So, the meditation challenge will begin Christmas day. 

[Perdi]

I've been so busy at work, I forgot to update last Wednesday or Thursday. My weight was unchanged as of last Thursday, and I am still doing well walking 10-15 minutes 3 times a week and drinking no normal soda. Today was really difficult, with free soda in the office for a party, but I drank sparkling water instead. Wednesday is the end of this particular challenge. Keeping the "no soda" and "walk three times" going, I'll add in a 5 minute meditation challenge. 5 minutes 4-5 times a week for three weeks.  Adding one healthy habit or subtracting one unhealthy habit at a time!

[Perdi]

Gained weight this week, but only 0.4 lbs, so it could just be water weight. I won't worry about it.

 

I've done great! I've had no normal sodas at all for the past three weeks, and I've had three very short walks three times a week.  Today, I start the next challenge I've set for myself.  Keep the walks and the no-soda thing going, and add 5 minutes of meditation 4-5 days a week.