Follow-through: A sign of progress...

I have stocked the fridge with "go-to" foods so there is no reason to cruise out of here any morning for at least a week without bringing something breakfast-like along. I think my favorite so far is the butternut squash and pumpkin casserole I had a little of for lunch today. It is so good!

And so, already I've found that I want to zoom ahead and get stuff done, like be a size 8 by tomorrow; however, I know that kind of mentality isn't going to help me. That gung-ho woman at the start of this blog? She's not good for real results over a long period of time. I'm slowing down. I'm being more conscious. I'm making room for things I must.

It never ceases to amaze me that the world works in your favor when you choose a healthy option for your life. For instance, I decided this slow and steady approach to weight loss (pick a habit, make it my bitch, pick a new habit and so on) and along comes Suzanne, who I have followed for quite a while on twitter, and with a tweet that introduces me to Christine Hohlbaum, whose book is about finding ways to make change more like a permanent thing. So, yes, I am buying her book and yes, I am going to get in touch with her.

I am so going to take this introduction as proof of my readiness to employ this approach. I hope I don't bore you with my slug-like movement.

AccountableMe

I'm making all sorts of decisions to secure a nicer day-to-day lifestyle for me and my family and part of that includes being more and more accountable to myself about diet and exercise.

I thought by letting go of two jobs I would be giving myself more time to get stuff done that I care about, like taking care of me, but guess what? Every ounce of that time I tried to give myself suddenly became filled with a bunch of other things. I'm not crying "victim" because I brought this on myself and I'm learning how to do things differently...so no harshness, just observation.

But, okay, I was with Ivana 2 weeks ago and we're due to meet again on Tuesday next. While with her, I made two important goals:

1) let go of my paper writing job
2) make breakfast at home and take it along (instead of getting drive thru junk).

The first was THE hardest thing I've had to do in a very long time, but I did it. And I've done what I can to make bringing breakfast from home an easier thing to do every day, too... like making an egg bake ahead of time and scrambling sausage with veggies and storing it in the fridge. i plan on making a "mash" from a recipe that calls for butternut squash and pumpkin, and i'm gonna steam asparagus, wrap individual wands in prosciutto and use those for snacks or an occasional breakfast. so, there you have 'em: plans.

I've decided small steps are best because I keep taking on too much at once and then I stall or give out or something happens to disrupt my routine and I lose momentum. I lose that "discipline" feeling that I see and admire of my father-in-law's daily do list. So, here's to change that I can manage well. Thanks, Ivana. :)