Lifestyle Change?

We all know that the popular term for any weight reduction plan is "Lifestyle Change."  It is more that just a euphemism.  It is reality that lasting weight loss is a result of permanent changes in behavior, both in diet and exercise.

I freely admit that in the past I have given lip service to making a "Lifestyle Change" knowing deep inside that once I got to my goal, I was going to eat cake, or ice cream or potatoes, etc.  Exercise might continue if I looked really cute in my exercise clothes and it didn't interfere too much with the rest of my life.

As I've grown and learned myself better, I know there are certain things that I will not do.  I will not eat food from a place like Jenny Craig or NutriSystems.  I won't eat frozen meals from the grocery store, so this isn't a slam against those places.  Some people do quite well with them.  I just isn't for me.  I always wonder what is really in that meatloaf. Even if it says "all beef" on the label, there are still lots of parts of a cow, I really don't want to ingest.  I know I need to mostly make my own food.

I also know that no food can be 100% off limits.  It is all I want.  If I allow myself anything I want, any time I want, I am freer to focus on healthier choices.  I think, I can have ice cream later.  I need to eat broccoli now.  As silly as it sounds, it works.

So, eating whatever I want, in amounts that I want, whenever I want is my weight loss plan!  The real key for me seems to be eating my big meal in the middle of the day.  Simple enough.  NOT!  As much as I love my Granny Plan, it has rocked my world! 

Since I work from home, I am free to structure my day as I please.  When 65MD and I agreed to do this a few years ago, I promised not to work 24/7.  I try very hard to keep my paying job, work day within the same confines as his.  My days were loosely - work at my paying job in the morning to early afternoon.  Household chores were next, which segued nicely into evening meal prep.  That isn't to say that things were totally separate.  I'd toss in a load of laundry while printing a large report.  Or grab something out to thaw for supper at some natural break point in the day.  Lunch was often something grabbed quickly and more often than not eaten at my desk.  Not so any more.

I have yet to find a pattern that works.  I am still eating my big meal in the middle of the day and 65MD takes leftovers for his lunch the next day.  I'm flipping my day.  I'm trying to do household things and meal prep in the morning.  The whole time I have thoughts nagging at me about work.  Did I remember to do this?  Don't forget to make that call.  Plus my work is spilling over into the afternoon after 65MD gets home.  He's not complained.  In fact, he's fine with it.  I just feel like I've reneged on my agreement.  Since he doesn't care, neither should I.  

I'm sure in time, this will feel as natural as my previous schedule.  Then, I'll have to figure out how to fold in going to the gym.  Because of parking, it is better for me to go in the afternoons, say around 2:00.  Pre-Granny diet, that would have been fine to do two or three days per week.  Now, that is my prime work time.  I might just have to suck it up and go one day per week and see how that works out.  For now, I'm sticking with therapy most days and Wii the others.

BTW, I got my new laces yesterday.  My next order of business is to earn a PhD in engineering so I can figure out how to put them in my shoes.  I got two pieces of elastic type laces and four pieces of plastic and no instructions!  YouTube, here I come.  If I can't figure it out.  I've got a nephew that is a genius when it comes to things like this.  I'll put him on it on Sunday when he's here.

This is more than a lifestyle change.  This is a lifestyle upheaval!  It is one I am willing to make.  It will truly make a difference in my life and it will be worth all of the time and energy it takes to make it work.