Last year just after we dropped our daughter off at college, my husband and I started a count of how many days we could go without ordering pizza. We didn't count going to a pizzeria or a local pizza joint, just days when there was no pizza delivery to our house. I lost a few pounds doing this.
Slowly, we stopped eating like teenagers. We tried new vegetables and new cooking methods for preparing them. We are still working on grilled vegetables - for some reason, we just can't seem to get grilling veggies just right. However, I have become a master at roasting veggies in the oven! Next, we also cut out as many processed foods as possible. I learned to make several dishes from scratch or we just quit eating those dishes all together.
Me? I started walking. The spring of my daughter's senior year, I walked about 10 minutes 3 days per week. That was all I could do. Now, I walk or use my recumbent bike when the weather isn't cooperating. an average of 38 minutes 5 days per week. My minimum goal for exercise is 150 minutes per week, but honestly I am not really happy unless I get in 165 minutes. I even tried yoga! I don't include this as a daily practice, but Tuesdays are now Yoga Tuesdays.
Right now, I am working on cutting down on my beer consumption. This is a tough one because my husband and I are beer connoisseurs. But, I figured out how many beers I have on a worse case scenario week (one with parties, football games, holidays etc..) and then cut back 10% from that. I keep a count on a little chalkboard sticker in my kitchen. The first week, I lost a pound. When that 10% cut becomes easy, I will cut another 10% and then another until I am in a weight loss zone.
The point is that I feel better now than I did in my thirties and forties. If I am tired I sleep, If I need to walk or work out I just go. If I don't want pizza, I don't order or even go out to get it. My life is becoming more about ME. After the last child's trip out of the nest, I am rather enjoying this.
Slowly, we stopped eating like teenagers. We tried new vegetables and new cooking methods for preparing them. We are still working on grilled vegetables - for some reason, we just can't seem to get grilling veggies just right. However, I have become a master at roasting veggies in the oven! Next, we also cut out as many processed foods as possible. I learned to make several dishes from scratch or we just quit eating those dishes all together.
Me? I started walking. The spring of my daughter's senior year, I walked about 10 minutes 3 days per week. That was all I could do. Now, I walk or use my recumbent bike when the weather isn't cooperating. an average of 38 minutes 5 days per week. My minimum goal for exercise is 150 minutes per week, but honestly I am not really happy unless I get in 165 minutes. I even tried yoga! I don't include this as a daily practice, but Tuesdays are now Yoga Tuesdays.
Right now, I am working on cutting down on my beer consumption. This is a tough one because my husband and I are beer connoisseurs. But, I figured out how many beers I have on a worse case scenario week (one with parties, football games, holidays etc..) and then cut back 10% from that. I keep a count on a little chalkboard sticker in my kitchen. The first week, I lost a pound. When that 10% cut becomes easy, I will cut another 10% and then another until I am in a weight loss zone.
The point is that I feel better now than I did in my thirties and forties. If I am tired I sleep, If I need to walk or work out I just go. If I don't want pizza, I don't order or even go out to get it. My life is becoming more about ME. After the last child's trip out of the nest, I am rather enjoying this.
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