Boys R Gross, But It's What I Got!

We are only 13 days into 2012 and I am getting so annoyed with all of the exercising, weight loss, dieting crap that everyone is talking about.  It may be because I hate dieting, or that it makes me laugh when people say they have lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks. 

*sigh*

All I have to say to that is:

"CONGRATULATIONS, your kidney's and liver will be thanking you

if you keep heading down that path my friend."

Some people think that dieting means removing food from their life or exercising until they can't stand anymore.  Dieting is a lifestyle people.  It's making a point to not eat sweets and fried foods every single day, and adding in tons more fresh fruits and veggies, and getting off your rump and moving around.  You don't have to run 50 miles a day or lift 100 pound dumb bells, you just have to walk, bend, twist, just move!  Exercise is also cleaning, playing with your kids, folding laundry, shopping - the every day things that you do.  I love to put on my earbuds and listen to music while I clean.  Listening to music makes me dance, sing, and clean longer.

One of the most important things that I have learned whilel trying to lose weight is to not get bored.  When you get bored, your body tries to lie to you and tell you that you are hungry when you really aren't.  Here is some advice:  If you find yourself getting up to go to the kitchen for a little nibble, stop and ask yourself, "Am I hungry or am I just bored?"  Eating a piece of gum or drinking a cold glass of water will not add any fat to your hips or thighs.

Now, a healthy amount of weight to lose every 2 weeks is 0.5 to 2 pounds.  Don 't go nuts people, be wise.  It took you months/years to put that weight on and it will take you a while to take it off.  One thought is that every 1 pound is equal to 3500 calories, so if you eat a deficit of say, 500 calories a day for 7 days, you will lose 1 pound.  Yeah, totally wish I would have thought about that before I ate that cheesecake, birthday cake, bowl of ice cream, hamburger, fries, that second bowl of ice cream... I don't eat very healthy do I?  I am so good at not following my own advice.

Now, onto my 2012 plan, since 2009-2011 didn't quite pan out.  I want to lose 30 pounds before my cruise in October.  After some research, I found that if I stick to 1540 calories a day, I will lose 30 pounds by mid-October.

With dieting, I find it easier to have a reward, or to compete with my husband, which never works out because men suck!  Last time I tried a real diet with competition and reward was about 4 years ago.  I wanted to lose weight for a trip to Disney World.  My goal was to lose 25 pounds (down to 130), and my reward was a Swiss Army watch.   Unfortunately, I lost all but 3 pounds, so I didn't get the watch.   

This time, I want to lose 30 pounds, though I am starting from 10 pounds lighter than where I started last time.  My hope is that I will lose 30 pounds before October 2012 so I can get my new award,

 a tattoo! 

Now, I just need to go bake a cake for the hubs