Realizations...

The other day I had realized that I've been stupidly self sabotaging all my efforts in losing weight. I've been eating badly all week. I've been eating just everything that's bad for a person. I put an end to that today. I just decided that it's stupid to eat the wrong things and then hop onto the scale expecting a different result! How STUPID is that?! So, I put an end to eating badly starting today. It wasn't easy. In fact every time I go to the store the first thing my eyes seem to drift to is the sweets. After a workout, the first thing I seem to think I want is sweets. WHAT THE HECK?! I've been trying to think about why I'm craving garbage like that. Is it because I'm bored? Is it because I'm hungry and going to the store at the wrong times? Is it because I'm not hydrated enough so my body is wanting something in place of water to quench what ever it's lacking? I don't have a CLUE what the heck it is. All I know is that I've just got to stop eating the crap, and start eating clean foods again. What could it hurt? Sure my taste buds don't always love to eat fruit instead of a candy bar. I'll just have to retrain them again.
Ya know what? I think I do know what it is. I think that after having hit another plateau for yet the 4th time, I've sort of relaxed my diet a little bit. I guess I rationalized that since I'm not going to lose the weight anyways, why keep trying to eat AS healthy as I did before? It can be frustrating hitting that dreaded plateau, let me tell ya! I'm sure that I'm not telling you all anything new. There's probably several people out there who know exactly what I'm talking about. When you're working out every single day and really torturing yourself so that you get the most out of your workouts to just see the SAME OLD WEIGHT on the scale on weigh in day?! That's TOTALLY frustrating! I just need to stop being so obsessed with the scale and just keep on pluggin' away with this healthy life style of mine. After all, this is no DIET, it's a lifestyle. And interestingly enough, if you look closely at the word DIET, the first 3 letters of the word spell DIE. That is what will happen to a person if they diet all their life, then go back to unhealthy eating. That person will lose weight fast, gain it back fast with possibly some additional weight, and the cycle will keep on continuing for years. Finally that person will drop dead of a heart attack because that roller coaster lifestyle will have caught up with them and will have killed them! That's why I DO NOT like the word DIET! It's a 4-letter word that should never be uttered by anyone! It should be shot and put to rest! LOL Having a healthy lifestyle is so much more rewarding then the temporary weight loss that dieting will bring you. That's the truth!
So, today after I had my realization, I decided to sit down and write a list of things that I will strive to do during my weight loss journey. I needed to get refocused on what it is that I really want out of this weight loss journey of mine. So, here's my list.

I will strive to....

1. Eat healthier meals every day.
2. Avoid sweets. When I go out shopping, I will avoid the candy aisles and the sweets aisles all together. That way I'm not tempted to eat that garbage.
3. I will try to eat every couple hours so that I don't at any time feel like I'm starving. That way I'll be more likely to eat something healthy and of regular portions.
4. I will drink more water every day so I get enough fluids for my body.
5. Take a Multi-vitamin every day to help give me the vitamins that I may be lacking.
6. Try not to get discouraged by the numbers on the scale.
7. To create a cut off time for eating. I will look at my kitchen as a cafe that closes at a specific time so that I don't even go in there to eat stuff I don't need.
8. To get more strength training into my daily workout routine.
9. To focus on my goal of wanting to be healthy and also my goal of wanting to reach my goal weight.
10. When I go places, whether it be out to the store, or out to a social function, I will remember to bring healthier food options with me, and to also eat something healthy before I leave so that I'm not ravenously hungry when I get there.
11. I will try to create menus for the day so I will eat healthier and so I will be less likely to eat the stuff I shouldn't.
12. To visualize myself at my goal weight so I'll be more likely to want to eat healthier.
13. Something that I will do to keep from getting bored with my workout routines is that I'll take workouts from different fitness magazines that I come across and I will put them in a binder, dividing the workouts into different sections like Arm exercises, Ab exercises, Leg exercises, and also different cardio workouts as well.
14. To treat myself to things that are NON-food when I accomplish a goal, or just to make me happy.
15. To keep a positive frame of mind when it's really frustrating, namely when in a dreaded plateau!