This post is written as part of a journey inspired by the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s My Healthy Weight Action Plan, an online tool geared towards helping you live a healthier life. Feel free to get caught up on previous posts: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 15, Week 16, Week 17, Week 18, Week 19, Week 20, Week 21, Week 22, Week 23
Here are the stats to show my progress in my “Get Healthy Challenge”:
| Start Weight: 190 pounds | Starting BMI: 28.9 |
|---|---|
| End of Week 1: 185 pounds | End of Week 1 BMI: 28.1 |
| End of Week 4: 179 pounds | End of Week 4 BMI: 27.2 |
| End of Week 8: 175 pounds | End of Week 8 BMI: 26.6 |
| End of Week 11: 175 pounds | End of Week 11 BMI: 26.6 |
| End of Week 14: 175 pounds | End of Week 14 BMI: 26.6 |
| End of Week 17: 175 pounds | End of Week 17 BMI: 26.6 |
| End of Week 20: 172 pounds | End of Week 20 BMI: 26.1 |
| End of Week 23: 171 pounds | End of Week 23 BMI: 26.0 |
Last week, I mentioned that one of the areas that I still need to work on is to allow myself to have an occasional SMALL treat without feeling guilty or eating too much. This is something that is difficult to do when schedules are busy and there are special occasions occurring every week.
One of the reasons why I haven’t seen much progress lately is because there have been enough “special occasions” in combination with a busy schedule and illness that has left me cheating myself of the healthy food choices that I *know* I should be making for myself.
This cannot become a routine for me as busy lives and special occasions are something that happen on a regular basis.
After giving a lot of thought to how I would tackle this challenge, I have come up with this plan:
- Don’t let being busy or being out of the house be an excuse for not drinking my water. There are washrooms everywhere I go, I’ll just have to get used to using them.
- Don’t deprive myself of treats at special occasions, but rather engage in some positive self talk leading into those days in order to have the confidence that I can manage the amount of “junk”/less healthy food that goes into my body.
- Make sure that I always leave the house with a healthy snack in my purse (an apple, cut up veggies, raw nuts).
I did wish that there was a mobile app that the Heart & Stroke Foundation had that went along with the Healthy Weight Action Plan because it would make my food tracking much easier and consistent! Maybe this is something they will consider for the future?!
As part of the Healthy Weight Action Plan, you receive weekly e-newsletters full of resources, tips, articles, recipe suggestions and more. I have found this part of the plan helps to make the experience more real. Reading the newsletters and the articles that it suggests really help to keep me focussed on my goal. Whether it is helpful tips or articles about heart health, I find myself feeling re-focussed after each newsletter.
Other than me wanting to live a healthy lifestyle, the main motivator in my Getting Healthy challenge has been the Healthy Weight Action Plan available FREE by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. I am able to easily track (by hand or online) the foods that I eat, the times that I eat and the breakdown of how items from each category I consume in a meal or day. I can also track how I am feeling each day and the amount and type of exercise that I accomplish. The My Healthy Weight Action Plan Tool has helped to motivate me and guide me to becoming a healthier individual.
If you are one of the people who read these posts, I’d love to know you’re out there (please leave a comment below) because, I am very serious when I say that the more people who are behind me in this, the easier it is for me.
Ok, your turn. How do you manage your busy lifestyle in keeping healthy and staying on track?
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Opinions expressed belong to Multi-Testing Mommy and are NOT influenced in any way. See MTM’s Disclosure for more details.
My sweet tooth always gets in my way! I like to grab 90% dark chocolate as my go -to! I think my weigh lost struggle is drinking enough water, I just don’t 🙁 Have a great week!
I have a huge sweet tooth, and don’t think I could ever commit to a plan like you are on! Even with the plateau for a few weeks – i still think your doing great!
see … i told you birthday cake has no calories 🙂
Congrats on another good week, and thanks for the water reminders. I promise. this week. water. (even if there is vodka mixed in)
I struggle with a sweet tooth as well. It’s tough. I love your tip on keeping healthy snacks in your purse. Such a great idea!
Ughh I’ve had to close the kitchen after 8pm and wrangle Hubby not to buy sweeties….
Oh my goodness! You are doing fabulously!! I’m so happy for you, lady!
I love your action plan. I’ve been pretty diligent, but the past weekend with Father’s Day and Hubby’s and my 6 year wedding anniversary kind of set me back for the day. When you eat well and all of a sudden spend an evening celebrating and not eating as you normally would, you can totally feel the difference. Oy.
This is one of the hardest things to deal with for me too; my bad food choices are almost always made when we’re out of the house. I think your ideas sound great; and having a big reusable bottle full of water ready in the fridge can help with water intake out of the house (as long as I remember to grab it before we leave!)
Amazing! I am sooooo super impressed and proud of you! You’re an inspiration and I’ve got to get on board! 🙂
I always have a snack with me. Another suggestion for the treats struggle at events, have one of your healthy snacks with you and have it before you go into the event or before you indulge in a treat. 7 or 8 almonds or walnuts will help your body feel full and your brain send the signal that it doesn’t want much more. Then when you go to have a bit of a treat you won’t be starving or tempted to eat too much 🙂
My issue is late night snacking. I’m usually very good during the day but watching tv at night can be tricky. I want to grab M&M’s or cheesies.
For myself, I have found that literally counting out a “treat” works for me. I will put something healthy on a plate to snack on and then add exactly 5 winegums (60 calories) or 10 cheesies or what ever. Then I suck on them for the taste enjoyment so they last longer LOL I know seems crazy but if I didn’t I eat a days worth of calories
OMG, you are doing so well. Congrats, whenever I need a reminder I look at what a pound of fat really looks like and that is all gone. My sweet tooth is my weakness, I can say that’s what attributes to my up and down weight. Either way, you are amazing and doing so well!
I have a sweet tooth but I’ve been finding lately that if I drink 1/2 glass of milk it seems to curb it. Great work this week 🙂
I try to keep snacks handy too and am guilty of not drinking enough water
It is so hard to stay on track. I always say to myself “three meals and only fruit and veggies for snacks” Well, that’s not going too well. Every time I go to the grocery store they have amazing new products. Right now I am snacking on Aero Orange bite size mini chocolates. Hmmm, not a fruit and not a veggie, but sooo good. Tomorrow (after I polish of this bag on chocolate) I’ll try fruits and veggies and three square of chocolate, oops I mean three square meals 🙂