Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

I think this is my new mantra.

I lost weight this week. I don't know how, but I did.  I lost 4LBS! Holy balls, I lost 4 lbs. Let me explain why this had me running into the living room squealing like a little girl last night.

You see, I've tried a million times to get on the right track. I've started Couch to 5K probably 4 or 5 times. I've been on SparkPeople. I've tried yoga and cross training. I've set goals. I've tried portion control. Nothing worked. It was either too hard to stick to to begin with or I didn't see any results in the first few weeks (that's plural...weeks), and I'd give up.

So I joined Weight Watchers about a month ago. I did it for a week before a work trip and lost 2 lbs. When you're first starting out 2 lbs feels like a real achievement. Then I went out of town, and didn't bother to track anything for several weeks.

Then I realized that was a waste of money. I joined WW for 3 months, and I'm paying the fees. I'm also a member of a gym, and I'm paying for that as well. So last weekend I decided to go ahead and start following WW again, and try to head to the gym a few times. I want to be a person that can run 5 miles, no problem. I want to be a person who can train for a half marathon and feel that accomplishment when I cross the finish line. The only thing holding me back is my own lazy attitude.

"But wait!" you say. "Your update on Saturday said you failed miserably to stay within your allotted WW points. What gives? And side note, what does any of this have to do with your mantra?" I imagine you wondering. It's true, I spent my points and then some. BUT! I was spending them on mostly whole foods. Fruits, vegetables, yogurt, pasta and rice. I ate a few frozen meals for lunch, to be sure, but overall I ate fresh, unprocessed foods. I really think this fact has a lot to do with the reason I lost weight while exceeding my WW points (by a ridiculous amount, seriously).

So, my sentiments yesterday about wanting to eat more whole foods and less processed and pesticide riddled foods - definitely getting reinforced today.  And that minor victory - seeing the scale go down so quickly - actually makes me excited to get to the gym, to stay on track, to eat right. If I can see such a significant change in such a short amount of time by only barely following the guidelines, imagine what will happen when I hunker down and do it correctly.