I hate roosters

Thanks, Lori, for asking us to say what's helpful and important to us in our weightloss journey. I needed to remind myself. The single most important thing for me is remembering that this is a lifestyle change. It's a DECISION that I make everyday to be healthy. (Some days that's harder than others)

Here are some things that have helped me be successful:

- tracking my calories. I use livestrong.com and it works pretty well, particulary if I track everything that goes into my mouth throughout the day and not just at the end of the day. It's really easy to forget stuff and it's amazing how quickly the forgotten calories can add up.

- drinking water. I try to drink three 32 oz. bottles of water a day. Seriously drinking water is huge.

- Also for me, staying positive is really important. Part of this is exercise. My attitude toward life is sooo much better when I'm exercising regularly. Endorphins are *awesome*! And part of it is knowing that even if I don't do everything exactly right (and when does everything go exactly right?) there's always tomorrow. I get to start over everyday. There's no sense is kicking myself for eating something I maybe shouldn't have if I've already done it. What's done is done. And if you keep trying everyday and tracking your calories and realizing what you're putting into your body you're going to want to make healthy choices.

- Lastly, planning ahead. I don't really cook much ahead of time like Lori does, but knowing what I'm going to cook and making sure I have the stuff on hand ahead of time is very helpful. Stops me from changing the plan from homemade chicken tostadas to Wendy's because I'm missing an ingredient.

What I eat:

- Fruit. I generally eat about 3 servings of fruit a day. I also eat veggies, but I'm not as good at getting a lot of servings of those. I try for at least 1-2 a day.

- Low-fat cottage cheese. Love this stuff, especially with fresh fruit.

- Eggs. Great source of protein and they are delicious with salsa and cheese. I know egg whites are the better choice, but I usually just eat the yoke because egg whites gross me out.

- half of a whole wheat english muffin with 2 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter. Sure peanut butter isn't the best thing for you, but if you just have the 1 serving, it's also not the worst. And I am unwilling to give it up, so that's that.

- lots of chicken and lean hamburger. And fish. prepared in all different ways. cookinglight.com is a great resource for low-cal, healthy recipes.

So my goals for today are:

-go to pilates (check)
-drink 3 bottles of water
-make healthy choices

I will not be doing our Friday weigh in, but I will do the Monday weigh-in. Hope to see you all there!