Hasta Luego, Amigo

Today I say "hasta luego" to my good friend, Diet Pepsi. We have been close for a long time. This friend has literally filled my days for as long as I can remember. I remember getting eight pack bottles of Diet Pepsi and Tab when I was in college. I remember drinking Coke Light in Spain. When I went to Nicaragua two years ago my big concern was whether I'd be able to drink it at least once a day (I was able to most of the time!). Every work day has started with a Diet Pepsi. Every lunch, and usually every afternoon. At restaurants I do refills at least once and one to go. I probably drink 40-60 ounces a day, on average. The only time I cut out diet pop like this was when I was pregnant and as soon as I gave birth my first request was for a Diet Pepsi! So why am I doing this? Well, I keep reading articles that talk about how bad it is for you - aspartame is bad, it leeches calcium from the bones, it makes you three times more likely to become diabetic, and it actually makes you crave sweets and eat more. Instead of just cutting back I want to do an experiment to see what differences I encounter by eliminating it from my diet for awhile. Lent seemed like a perfect timeframe to do it. I want to see if I can lose weight better, if I feel less bloated, and if I retain less water. I also plan to drink more water so we'll see what benefits that has. To increase my chance of success, I have made my plans well known on Facebook and with my co-workers and now here. What I think will be most difficult is just breaking the habits - a DP every morning (I'm going to drink tea), DP at restaurants (I'll save money!), and just the DPs to get me through the day. I'm also worried about getting bad headaches from the withdrawal. I'm hoping that by drinking some caffeine with the tea that I can avoid it. But, if not, I have my extra strength Tylenol on hand.

So, I say "hasta luego," not goodbye. We'll be together again . . . but not with so much frequency, no matter what.

PS - Someone should let the Pepsi Cola company know in case they see a drop in stock price over the next few weeks!

Fat Tuesday

Today is "Fat Tuesday" or Mardi Gras, the day before Lent. Since my last post I haven't done much in losing weight. I've been sick again with a cold which has kept me from exercising. I just wanted comfort food. Now, I'm feeling a little better and have decided that Lent is the perfect time to focus on really making some changes. If I keep in mind that the focus of these changes is for a six week period, I think it will be easier to face. Plus, I can measure results at the end of the six weeks and really focus on some goals.

The first goal will be around exercise. Since I'm feeling better I need to get back exercising. My goals is to do 150 minutes of exercise per week. At the end of 6 weeks I will have 900 minutes of exercise, at least.

The second goal is around tracking my food. My goal is to track every day everything I eat, no matter what.

The third goal is around water. I will drink at least 48 ounces a day, which will put me at 2016 ounces in 6 weeks.

The fourth goal, probably the biggest, is that I am giving up diet pop for Lent. This is going to be VERY hard as I have been addicted to it for a long time. I know it's really not good for you. I want to see what happens if I stop. Will I lose weight? Will I have less sugar cravings? Will I have less bloat? Will I have to go to the bathroom less? It will be interesting to see.

So for today I'm loading up on my Diet Pepsi before I say goodbye, at least for now!

Losing with Lost

After dealing with a cold for two weeks and not being able to exercise and eating a ton this past weekend, I decided to start fresh today. I reset WW - my starting weight, my goal weight, and my weigh-in day. I also pushed myself to exercise today and I was able to do more than I thought. It's cold and windy outside do I had to do the treadmill. I mostly walked and at a slow pace - 3.0. What really helped motivate me, though, is  I watched an episode of Lost on my iPad via Netflix. The episode is 40 minutes long which is what I want to do at a time and made the time past quickly. I also got 16 oz. of water down. So, by losing with Lost, I can stay motivated to kill two birds with one stone!