75 Medium - Week 1

This last week, Chad and I started our physical/mental fitness challenges. He is doing the 75 Hard Challenge and making sure to adhere to all of the rules. I am doing the 75 Medium Challenge which is not as strict but still a challenge. The rules I'm following are:

• Track all food eaten each day, stay under 1800 calories 
• Do at least 45 minutes per day of exercise 
• Drink at least 100 ounces of water per day
• Read at least 10 pages of any book each day 
• Take a progress picture once a week

So far, it is going well. The hardest past is the 10 pages of reading because I keep putting it off until the end of the day. I have fallen asleep more than once. Making sure to get in enough exercise isn't too hard, but it is a bit tricky when I work in the temple after work. Last Tuesday, I walked 3 times for 15 minutes. I think I'm going to have to do it that way each time. I don't know how else to fit it in. The rest is a bit easier. 

I know I need to make changes in my life. I am the heaviest I have ever been. Not trying because I don't want my clothes to get too big is stupid. At the rate I'm going, everything people have bought me this summer for graduation and birthday will be too small by the end of the year. My hope is that by doing this challenge, I will have new, healthier habits that will continue through the foreseeable future.

My Odd Dilemma

 I have been struggling with what may or may not be a strange dilemma. I want to lose weight. I hate the way I look in pictures, and I am close to the largest I have ever been. I have a plan to once again start the 75 Medium challenge after I get back from my trip for graduation. (Chad will be starting the 75 Hard challenge again, but I don't think my body can take two 45 minutes workouts a day right now.) It would be wonderful to prove to myself that I can take control of my eating and exercise habits, and my hope is that it would be something I can keep up with for years to come. (The past has proven otherwise, but I would like to give this a try.)

So what is my dilemma? I just bought a few new dresses and stuff for the cruise I went on a week ago. I like these dresses and want to still be able to wear them. One of the dresses is already a bit too big and needs to be slightly altered on top. If I start losing weight, will I have to completely give up this dress that I just bought and like. The other dress is more like a t-shirt dress, so I will probably still be able to wear it if it is too big at least as a swimsuit cover up or pajamas. Some of the other clothes that I bought would have to be replaced. This has been a reason for me to sabotage my efforts to lose weight in the past. 

Even though these are the thoughts that are in my head as I think about doing this challenge, I will try it. I have about 4 weeks to try to rid myself of these self-sabotaging thoughts, and I will do my best to do so.