Building a Healthier Me

I know that I’m not alone in my quest to get more in shape physically. The diet and exercise industry is a multi-million (or perhaps billion) dollar industry because so many of us enjoy eating and may have a slightly skewed idea of what a healthy diet looks like. We grew up eating “meat and potato” meals and being told to “clean our plates” or we would have no dessert.

Americans are more health conscious now than ever and I guess I’m jumping on that bandwagon. I’m tired of always being tired and I’m ready to do something about it. This is not the first time I have attempted to lose weight and this is also not the first time I’ve called it a “lifestyle change” instead of a diet. Whatever I call it, the goal is still the same.

I work for the Head Start Program and the 5 Head Start Schools in my county have all entered a kind of competition. We all received pedometers and will be recording all of the steps we take each day. The school that takes the most steps will receive a trophy and bragging rights. I figure this is a good way to motivate me to take more steps every day. When I am reminded of the number of steps I’m taking, I am much more likely to get up and move. In the 9 hours I have had the pedometer, I have taken 5,978 steps. Ten thousand steps a day are recommended for weight loss. I’m short of that today, but I will shoot for it for my first full day tomorrow.

I never thought I would resort to taking diet pills of any kind, but I have been feeling more and more like I need to have some help jump starting things. I bypassed the regular diet pills and opted to try a detox program. It is intended to boost energy and “clean out my system” in just 7 days. I am about to wrap up day 3 and actually do feel like it is living up to its promises. I am more conscious of the foods that I’m eating (even if they aren’t always the best choices) and of my portion size.

Tomorrow I will record my starting weight (it’s bad for moral to get on a scale at night). I’m not expecting amazing results but eventually, I would like to drop 30-40 lbs. This would put me back to where I was when I graduated high school. I guess I’m not alone in wanting to achieve that goal either!