Jumpstart

My last several blog posts have talked about how I am struggling with staying on track. I thought after my post on July 4th I was on my way back on track. I wasn't. I started trying to track consistently again with my only goal being to stay in the green on MyFitnessPal. I set my calorie goal pretty high so staying in the green really shouldn't have been that difficult (especially when adding my exercise calories back). July 4th and 5th I was in the red. The 6th I actually stayed in the green, but then the 7th-9th I didn't even track.

I tried getting back on track again on Monday (the 10th) and I did pretty well. I strung 3 days together in the green! I can't even tell you what exactly happened after that. I tracked everything I ate Thursday, but went 683 calories OVER my already pretty high calorie budget. I derailed for the weekend again. And now here we are.

I decided that what I really needed to do is just have one week where I REALLY restrict my calories as a way to kind of jumpstart my weight loss again. Last year when I tried Nutrisystem I lost almost 8lbs in the first week because it was incredibly low calories that week. I was not even hitting 1200 calories most days! There is NO WAY I can (nor should I) maintain that amount of calorie deficit for an extended period of time; but one week isn't going to kill me.

Breakfast = 215 calories

I decided that starting today my goal will be to eat as close to 1200 calories as possible for the next week. There is one day this week that I am not going to track or worry about my calories. We are taking the kids to Cedar Point on Thursday so that will be my "free" day. I will try to stay as close to 1200 calories as possible for the 6 other days of the week. I am hopeful that this will help to drop the weight that I re-gained since losing my focus in May. I won't drop all the weight I've re-gained in one week, but hopefully a big chunk of it can come off with one successful week.

Lunch = 450 calories and SO yummy! 

More importantly, I hope that one successful week can turn into 2 successful weeks and that can turn into several successful weeks! I KNOW that this isn't that hard. It isn't as hard as I make it and it's all about how I approach it in my head. The food I'm eating right now is GOOD. I refuse to eat things I don't like just because they are "good for you". That means that even when I'm restricting my calories, I am still eating yummy food. It's also not like I can never have unhealthy food again. I need to find that balance of eating in a way that I can continue to lose weight and stay happy in the process.

Dinner = 393 calories. 

Day 1 of "jumpstart" has been a success SO FAR. I now have to survive the hardest time of the day - between dinner and bed. I currently sit at 1058 calories on the day. I have had 64 oz of water so far and just filled up my 32 oz water bottle for the 3rd time. I did not have any activity on the calendar today so I decided to take the kids to do some geocaching this afternoon just to make sure I got some steps in. I feel good. It's one day closer to reaching my goal. It's one day closer to regaining my focus.