My Plan...

So someone asked me in an email to write a quick post about what I have learned works and doesnt work for me at this point on my journey to losersville.
I decided at the start of my pre-op that if I was gonna undergo such a drastic measure to get healthy then I was gonna do it the right way ! For me all my previous attempts had failed because of my lack of being able to comprehend that the key to being successful in losing weight was that I had to come to terms mentally with what I was-what I need to do and most importantnly what I needed to stop making excuses for !

I finally realized that my main problem was that I had no will power when it came to food temptations and most importatnly that I had no self control. I needed to learn these things so my first action once I started pre-op was to get rid of all those things that I thought would pose a problem...this unfortunately included some of my hubby's favorites but I quickly reminded him that our vows included making sacrifices for eachother. So out went the soda, bye-bye went all the chips and cookies and the kool aid. No more hershey's kisses or PB cups !! It is completely true what they say that out of sight out of mind !!!

Then it was time to face the music and I finally took in, in all of it's unglory the truth of what my body had become with a hard look in the mirror ala naturale !!! I had avoided really looking at the problem for so long knowing that it was easier to just deny the problem..again out of sight out of mind !! I was gonna do this and I was gonna do it right !!

My doctor has a very strict policy on what was allowed or not so I chose to follow her instructions to the tee ! That meant the 10 days of liquids, the 10 days of true mushies and finally then the solids and that's when the real work begins because the safety of the strict guidelines was kinda of really gone ! So what have I chosen to do for myself as I jog my way to the emerald city well....

1. I monitor my calories very closely and really watch what I eat. No I'm not on a diet, but I am VERY conscience of what goes into my mouth !! If I want a piece of godiva choclate I will have 1 piece, enjoy and savor and moan my way through that piece but that's it !! I restrict myself to less than 1200 calories of day.
2. Of my 1200 calories, I keep my 3 main meals at 300 calories and allow myself 300 calories for snacks. Protein ALWAYS comes first before the carbs or the snacks and I always eat in a measured (1 cup) kids plate that I bought at walmart. I make sure to get in my 3 servings of dairy a day ( great source of protein) including 2 glasses of Skim PLus milk and a FAGE greek yogurt in every day. My snacks will be a string cheese stick or 2 tbsp of hummus with some pretzel crisps or some apple slices with some lo-fat peanut butter.
3. I try to NEVER finish everything on my plate. Even if I can eat it all I try to always leave a lil bit. The reason I do this is to teach my mind that I dont need to clean my plate. growing up we were always so guilted into eating everything on the plate even if we we're no longer hungry...you know the whole starving children in africa bit !!
4. I go to the gym 4 times a week no matter what. Rain, cold wind, tired, shopping excuses just dont work! Because the only person who pays in the end is me !! I do a 45 minute step class 2x wk, a kick boxing class on fridays and on tuesday's I do the elliptical at a 9 incline/8 resistance and at 170 + steps per minute. I've also started to do my C25K training on sat mornings.
5.  Most importantly I stay true to myself and surround myself with great support ( like you guys who are the reason why I'm at this point in my journey). I've set goals that are acheivable and ways to reinforce my thinking on what my goals are. I have clothing reminders of what I where I want to be and do reward myself when I acheive my goals. It is also very important for me to feel better about myself and reward my progress, so I put more effort into  my apperance. I wear make up now, accessories with belts and wear clothes that hsow my curves and the progress that I've made and DAMN DO I FEEL GOOD !!!

 So much for a quick post..... all I know is.....HAWAII here i come !!!!