Day 3 - Checking In

So far I’m doing okay on my week #1 goal to give up my Dr. Pepper dependency. But, I’ve gotta admit, I’m really kinda craving one as I type this.

I thought today would be a good day give you, my dear reader, a little background on what brought me here. In my mind, I’ve always been overweight. I’m not sure that technically my weight has always measured clinically obese, but I’ve always felt larger than my peer groups. I can remember this feeling from back in junior high when I first noticed that my thighs rubbed when I walked and not everyone else’s did.

I can recall trying a couple of diets while in high school.  But, I can’t say that I really got interested in concerted efforts at dropping pounds until after I had children. Since that time I’ve tried weight loss drugs including phentermine and meridia. The thing about phentermine was that if I lost ten pounds the month I was on it, I’d gain back 18 when I went off of it. It was a very self-defeating experience.

I’ve also tried Metabolic Research Center, Weight Watchers, LA Weightloss and various fad diets like Atkins, the Cabbage Soup Diet, etc. Some worked for a little while. None resulted in significant or permanent weight loss. I should throw in the mix that along with all these diet attempts were sporadic attempts at exercising.

Along the way, I probably dropped a fortune in diet books and those womens’ magazines that have a new diet in them every month. But, I also spent some of that fortune on health oriented magazines like Prevention, Shape, Self and Fitness. I recognize the advice in these magazines to be mostly sound, but it still seemed geared, for the most part, toward people who were already somewhat health conscious and not still struggling to get there.

However, it was in these magazines and other similar printed material, that I kept reading about the lifestyle change. There is a whole mindset out there that is more about adopting a healthy lifestyle, and not trying for any quick fix. The weight loss piece of the deal seems to be the, “if you build, it will come,” sort. So that is where I am today. I’m going to adopt those small steps toward a healthy lifestyle. I’m also going to hope and pray that doing so will result in some significant weight loss for me over the course of the next year.

Now, I promised to post my daily food intake. Keep in mind that I'm not modifying my diet yet.  Here is yesterday’s:

Bacon sandwich (made with 100 cal Orowheat bread)
Chocolate milk (1% milk and nestle quick)
Vanilla Almond Shredded Wheat + 1% milk
Peanut butter crackers
Lean Cuisine
Apple Sauce
Hot Chocolate
100 Cal popcorn
Skittles
Roast Beef
Instant Taters (last night was a basketball night for the kiddo)
Tortilla
And there were a few pieces or hard candy in there throughout the day.