JUST (don't over)DO IT!

Monday - Started the new workout & diet today.  Walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes!  Thought I was going to die.  Lifted weights until my arms felt like jelly.  Did 30 crunches, 20 push-ups and 50 squats.  Drank 8 glasses of water.  From this point on I will never have another donut, soda or potato chip.  I feel great!!!!  I am ready to lose weight!

Tuesday - My arms kind of hurt this morning, but went to the gym anyway.  30 minutes on the treadmill again and worked out my leg muscles.  Another 8 cups of water.  I did have a small bite of a donut at work, but I earned it.  (The pain in my arms prove that I earned it.)  Still feeling like I can do this thing.

Wednesday - Weighed myself.  I can’t believe that I haven’t lost A SINGLE POUND!  What is up with that?  Every muscle in my body hurts, so I didn’t go to the gym.  I’ll do extra time tomorrow.  Drank only 6 cups of water today.  It’s getting kind of old to drink only water.

Thursday - Didn’t make it to the gym.  Stayed up waaaay too late last night watching game 6.  Does Coke count as water intake?

Friday - No reason to go to the gym this morning.  I've already failed this week.  I plan to start anew on Monday.  Had a Double Whopper combo for lunch today.  (Hey, I burned off enough calories on Monday and Tuesday to validate it.)  Not even going to step on the scale.

Have you ever felt like this? I think we all have been there once in our life.

Too often we start a new exercise or diet plan and we automatically set ourselves up to fail. Either we push ourselves too hard at the gym or ban "bad" foods so we can have more "good" foods. The problem with this is that a salad just doesn't taste as good as a hamburger.

When I started this journey on July 25, I started out slow. I have failed at losing weight and getting healthy so many times, and I didn't want this to be another failure.

I started with a few push-ups, squats and walking around the block.

After a week or two of that, I added more into my routine: weights, crunches, pull-ups.

And for food, I didn't cut anything out of my diet, I just ate less and limited my "bad" foods to the weekend.

And now I've lost almost 30 pounds.

The point is, so often we get really gung ho about the new plan that we burn ourselves out. Take it easy at first. You have plenty of time to lose weight and get healthy. It's not a race. Remember, the slower it comes off, the less likely it will return.

And I don't know about you, but I don't ever want it to return.