19 Days

Well, I made it 19 days toward my goal of taking a picture of everything I eat for 30 days straight. And that's just not good enough.

We had company in town last week from Saturday through Sunday, with enough time in between on Wednesday to put fresh sheets on the guest bed. With all of the visiting, running around town, showing off the sites and eating, I forgot, honestly just forgot.

So, today is day 1, again. I don't want to just skip the last few days and jump in again starting at day 20 -- I really wanna make a real run of 30 days. Wish me luck!

Day 7: 1/2 Pound Down

Well, I'm seven days into my self-assigned challenge of taking a picture of everything I eat for (at least) 30 days. I'm liking what's going on!

First, I stepped on the scale this morning and am down half a pound. Yay! That might not seem like much, but I'm looking at it this way: If I lost half a pound every week for a year, I'd be 26 pounds down overall. That's fun to think about!

Secondly, it's forcing me to make better choices. It feels great to be honest and accountable to myself, but I also know there are a handful of people out there watching and offering their support, and I'm proud to tell them -- through my pictures -- Hey, look, I chose tomato soup instead of a bag of potato chips today.

Finally, I'm starting to see my diet through a rainbow lens. After having a completely beige day a few weeks ago, I'm been challenging myself to work more color (and I don't mean M&Ms) into my day. This morning, that meant a handful of blueberries mixed into my oatmeal. Delicious! And, a serving of fruit before I even got dressed!


What would you learn about your diet if you photographed everything you ate for 30 days?

Back From NYC

Cole and I just returned (well, a week ago) from five days in New York City. Why, oh why, do I love cupcakes and pizza so much? The good news is, even though I had more pizza and cupcakes than a girl should have in an entire year, I lost half a pound because we walked so much while we were there.

I've lost track of my total weight loss the last two or three weeks. It's up, it's down, I'm not paying much attention. What I am trying to do is pay more attention to simply living healthy. And I hope these little things I do to challenge myself will start adding up.

Today's challenge: Walk the dogs. Again. The weather has been beautiful and fall may actually arrive soon. I don't think we ever got higher than 71 degrees today, so after lunch today, I snuck away from my computer and took all the dogs out again for another walk. They loved it and napped all afternoon, and I felt better about at least one of those NYC cupcakes.

Nature Challenge

Well, we're back from New York City, and after lots of yummy pizza and cupcakes, I'm ready to get myself back on track. So here's a little challenge for today: Take a nature walk.

If you have a camera, grab it and stroll your neighborhood or your favorite park and take pictures of the fun things you see. Leaves changing, fuzzy caterpillars, sun flares reflecting from the slide.

If you don't have a camera, how about a pencil and some tissue paper. Make fun rubs of fallen leaves or rocks or even the bark on the trees.

It may sound silly, but walking just to take in the nature around us may distract our minds from the fact that we're getting in a little bit of physical activity.

Half Is Plenty

Well, I've decided these little daily challenges are fun, so here's another one for us to try.

At dinner this evening, just eat half. Fill you plate as you normally would, but slow down and savor every single bite you take, and leave half of it on your plate. If you're dining out this evening, you'll be making a huge difference in the calories, fat and sodium you take in.

Slowing Down

So, here's my challenge today: To put my fork down between bites.

I eat too fast. Cole tells me all the time that I do. I think it all stems from growing up and eating meals across the table from my Navy-lieutenant grandad. He ate fast, I mean fast. And if you wanted to spend any time with him in the backyard, at the farm or in front of the TV for the Cowboys' game, you had to eat fast to join him.

And don't studies show that the slower you eat the faster your brain will tell your stomach that you're full? We'll see...

Trying Something New

I'm getting ready to head to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the weekend, and another challenge hit me. (I wonder how many days in a row I can do this?) I'm going to pick up a fruit or veggie that I've never tried before, and try it today.

With fall in the air around parts of the country (we'll hit 90ish today), the produce departments are starting to fill with a beautiful autumn bounty. So maybe I'll roast an acorn squash, or chop up some jicama for a salad. I'm sure something will grab me.

Are you in?

Update: I bought nectarines at the store. I'll give you my review later.

Drink up!

Yesterday I issued myself a little denim challenge. It didn't have anything to do with counting calories or the number on the scale. I was pleased with the results, and maybe one of my five readers out there decided to do the same. (Let me know if you did.)

So for some reason this morning I woke up thinking about other little challenges I could give myself on this journey to better health. So my challenge today: 10 cups of water.

I'm normally pretty good about getting six in, and on a good day when I run, eight is no problem. But I decided today to try to get 10 full services down the hatch. Whadya say? Wanna join me?

An Experiment in Denim

I don't think I've put on a pair of jeans all summer. My daily wardrobe consists of t-shirts and draw-string shorts. Sometimes I even pair up a tank top and a simple skirt.

So with fall in the air and an upcoming trip to the northeast, where it will surely be a bit cooler, I've started planning what to pack in my mind. It will require long pants and sleeves, so I decided today to slip on a pair of jeans my butt hasn't seen since March.

If you haven't pulled up your favorite jeans all summer. Stop what you're doing now and go into your closet. I'm happy to say mine will be packed for the trip. They fit with no problems. If I wanna look my best in them, continuing on my ever-so-bumpy weight-loss journey will be best, but they do fit.

My point is this: Counting points is one way to measure, so is the number on the scale. But putting those jeans on today and looking in the mirror was just the test I needed to take.