Seems to be working!

I'm trying to make small changes and see how they work. My first change was to use smaller dishes when I eat. I don't normally go back for seconds, so this was worth trying. I bought some little bowls, and now eat dinner from a smaller luncheon plate. Yes, it does look like I'm eating off doll dishes!

The other change was to start drinking "green" smoothies for lunch at work. What's a green smoothie? It's a regular smoothie, except most of the liquid comes from blended spinach....hence the word "green"! Sounds terrible, I know, but if you put in fruit, you can't taste the spinach. If you have 5 servings of leafy green vegetables a day, you prevent diabetes. One smoothie has 6 servings!

This was a challenge. I bought a small blender to take to work, but there's still the challenge of keeping the berries frozen and cleaning everything up afterwords. So, I make it the night before, put it in a larger plastic container with a screw-on lid, and freeze it overnight. It naturally defrosts in time for lunch.

My recipe is 3 cups fresh spinach (washed), 1 cup almond milk, and 1 cup frozen fruit or berries. Be warned, if you don't use dark berries, your smoothie will be bright green! If you use blueberries, it just looks like blended blueberries.

15 pounds and one size later, looks like it's working. Even my friends are starting to notice!

Daily Journal - Physical -Staying committed

By Randy McNeely

In my "Why This Blog" section, I stated my reasons for needing to lose weight. I have several incentives--I  need to bring down my cholesterol, in need more energy, I don't want to wear a C-Pap, I want to be there for my kids and be able to do things with them, etc.

Knowing those things, however, and translating that knowledge into action, are two different things. Like many of you, I don't particularly like exercising. However, I do like how I feel when I have exercised. I feel awake and alert. I feel more energized. I feel a sense of accomplishment for having done it even though I didn't necessarily want to do it. I also like the fact that because of the exercise my weight is going down and I fit into my clothes better (yes men do think of those things too -- though we're not nearly as obsessed about it as women are :-)). 

So, when 4:45 am hits (that's my new wake up time--I'm working toward 4:30 am), an I'm faced with a mind over mattress battle, I force myself to think of those things. If I don't, my king size mattress is way to comfortable and try as I might, I lose the battle.