Today is day eight of my ‘New Year, New Me’ mind frame! I will have to say so far pretty good! Nothing has been quite as hard as I expected it to or even as hard as it has been in the past. Maybe I really do have my mind frame in the right place this time around. Lets start with the goodbye 3.5. Yep, I have lost 3.5 pounds this week (Well, 3.6 if you want to be technical! I started the year at 171.6. I am now down to 168. That is very promising!

How have I done it? Pretty easily actually. Other than eating a bit healthier than normal, the only thing I have really changed so far is drinking water. I used to drink nothing but sweet tea. And when I say sweet tea, I mean we use 2 cups of sugar in a gallon! Between tea and my monster energy drinks, I was drinking an insane amount of calories that I never really thought about. So this week, I gave both up! For my energy drinks, I have been drinking a glass of Crystal Light Energy. Other than that I have only drink Ice Cold Water. 8 cups a day! it was super hard at first, but I’d have to say it’s getting easier. I actually drank 11 cups today (and I’m still awake so it could be more!)

I have eaten more veggies and tried to think more before eating. I have been far from perfect and have even had a chocolate covered cherry every night. But I didn’t want to burn myself out to fast and become a failure. Especially since I am not only tackling the weight loss goal, but the no smoking one as well! But I’ll get to that update next. I have learned that I can eat the same foods as the rest of my family if I do it right. Like tonight, hubby wanted brats and fries.. So I made them. We usually top our brats with cheese, tomatoes, and mushrooms. And of course the fries smothered in cheese. Tonight, he ate that. I ate my brats a new way. I made a plate full of salad greens of all kinds. Sliced my brat into pieces on top. Topped the entire salad with the mushrooms and tomatoes in place of dressing and sprinkled a bit of feta cheese on top. It was delicious and oh so healthy! I even skipped my chocolate cherry tonight and had a bowl of mango and kiwi instead. I feel great!

The next few steps are to cut back on even more of the breads and starches and incorporate exercise. I hate exercising so this should get interesting! I wanted to regain a bit of my breathing skils before starting on this goal. As of today I have not had a cigarette since before midnight on December 31. I’d estimate that I smoked a good 15 or so cigarettes a day. Didn’t sound to bad at the time.. not even a whole pack or anything right? Well it hasn’t been a full 8 days since I quit, but at 15 a day that means I have skipped 120 cigarettes so far! Now THAT does sound like a lot! It has been hard. The nicotine patch hates me so I had to stop using it and do this with pure will power. But I’d have to say I haven’t really even felt a strong need for them (I really did know it was time to quit) Once I get past this disgusting coughing up, light headed, runny nose stuff that seems to be following, I think I will be great.

So, that is my week 1 results! I am so ready to tackle this head on! Check back next week to see how week two of my New Year, New Me mind set is going!  I hope it is a continued success story!