My first thoughts

My original thought was to join some kind of a program. I found this link - www.livehealthyamerica.org - in an article but the whole thing seemed very complicated. Lisa G. suggested setting up a wiki but since that creates one document (and because I already knew how to set up a blog), I decided on a blog instead.

So I'll start w/what I've been doing lately and what changes I'm starting (notice that I did not write "trying") to make.

I came across a website called flylady.net. The two women who created it are sisters who wrote a book about 20 years ago called Sidetracked Home Executives. It was given to my mother but I read it instead and I found it pretty interesting.

The site has some really useful (for me) ideas. In particular, they talk about doing things in only 15-minute increments. For example, walk out your front door, walk for 7 minutes, then turn around and walk home. In the morning, when I feel tired and want to take the bus, I tell myself that it's just a 5-minute walk to work, not even 15 minutes. And it helps.

They are also very big on creating new routines so that you don't think about things but just incorporate them into your life. So, for example, when I take my morning medicine, I drink a glass of water. It's part of my morning routine.

They also have two links that I liked.
http://www.flylady.net/images/bc_investigator.pdf
This one has a page that you can complete on a daily basis that takes a holistic view. It asks if you've drunk water, moved, stretched, had fiber, slept, etc. I really like it and have already started drinking a little more water on a regular basis.

http://www.flylady.net/images/bc_release.pdf
This is a contract you sign with yourself to support yourself through this process, etc. Also very nice.

I read in AM New York (a local, free newspaper) recently, a short piece about changing one's eating habits and I wrote them down because I found them so powerful.
First, fantasize re healthy food. Pick a food you like, and that you have at home. Imagine a nice, ripe pear: feel it, smell, taste it, feel the juice, etc. Then? Eat it! It
Second, change the words you use. Choose positives: I want to feel fitter, healthier, faster, more able to move.

What I've discovered in the last few days is that I don't like feeling deprived and I don't like feeling like I don't have access to junk food. So I have ice cream in the freezer and I've actually avoided eating it. Because I feel like I can eat it whenever I want, I've been able to avoid it - well at least once!

The biggest thing I discovered - duh! - is that good food needs to be easy to eat. So instead of trying to make a salad, I bought grape tomatoes, Israeli cucumbers, carrots, easily peeled clementines, and it's helping.

Of course, I went to lunch with a friend and ate lots of bread and butter, but I'm working on it. I'm changing! Come join me!