The Plan!

So the moment we have all (shut up, I am going to pretend I have followers until I actually have followers and then they'll feel included when they go back to read the earlier entries... Or I won't get any followers and I'm just a sad, sad girl. ;)) been waiting for is right around the corner.
Tomorrow marks the first day of my 50 weeks to lose 50 lbs. As promised, here is the plan I intend to follow:
(Please note: As I go along, I may make changes to what I am doing and will update then... this is just a basic idea of what I have so far).

FOOD:
Stage 1 - Detox Phase!
I personally don't buy into a lot of the "detox" stuff that's out there and think that if you are going to take on any kind of detox, you should really do your research first. The fact is that our body does it's own detox and some any chemicals or hot pepper drinks or whatever are not going to really do us any good... HOWEVER...
I am going to follow the Phase I Detox of the "Fat Smash Diet" for a couple of reasons:
1 - I am a big time sugar addict. I know that if I have to cut out all sugar COMPLETELY for 10 days, I won't crave it like I do now. When I've tried to just cut back on sweets in the past, it's been my downfall and cutting things out completely seems to make that easier.
2 - It will get me into the habbit of planning out my meals more carefully and since it's super strict, will only get easier once the ten days are up.
3 - I like the idea of jump starting your body with a bunch of whole, nutritious foods that will tell your body, "Hey look... we're doing something different now, deal with that digestive tract!"
4 - The structure of it will be good for me, I think. With the kind of "eat anything you want" Weight watchers type diets, I always go too far.. or just don't eat.
5 - It was featured on the "Celebrity Fit Club" and I believe everything I see on TV. Just kidding.

I will outline what this phase means in another post.

After the Detox, I am going to gradually add back in foods that I wasn't allowed on the detox like animal protein, etc. What I really want to focus on is eating food that benefits the enviroment and will be doing a lot of research into eating locally, seasonally and organically. At this point, I am still planning on eating meat (chicken, beef and fish) but will be aiming for all organic, free range products. I will also continue to try to educate myself on the best way to "eat clean" in my life so that I can eliminate a lot of the preservatives and other crap that is in so much food that I eat now.
Until I can do it without thinking, I will work off of calories and limit myself to a certain number per day. I will also aim to meet certain nutritional values (eg. calcium).

EXERCISE:
Oh God, I hate exercise. I always have. You won't be seeing me take on P90X in the next 50 days, I can guaruntee you that.
I do have a gym membership but the hours suck and, because I hate exercise, I always find reasons not to go.
What I think will be easier is that my husband bought my a recumbent exercise bike for my birthday back in October. I use it sporatically, but I will build myself an actual exercise plan.
For the first 10 days, while I am "detoxing", I will aim to do 30 minutes of cardio 3-5 timesper week. I figure 3 will be plenty in the beginning and, as I get into the habbit, will increase to 5. Once I am past the ten days, I'd like to be able to maintain at least 30 minutes 5 times per week. I may increase this later and I will add in strength training.
The other thing I'd like to do is to start regularly taking my dog out for a walk at the same time every day. I need to decide if I should do this solo as soon as I get in from work or wait and do it with hubby after dinner when he'll be home too.
As I get my exercise plans on track, I will update to exactly what I am doing and how it's going.

Off to do some healthy food shopping!

Water, water everywhere... but can't be assed to drink.

Well, Happy New Year everyone!
It is officially 2010 and I continue to get ready for my "Lose 50 in 50" challenge.
I have a more detailed plan for once I actually START my challenge, but I figure maybe I can ease my way into it by making little changes now.
One of the universal agreements between all the different weight loss and healthy living plans is how important it is to drink enough water.
I actually really like water and used to drink enough water but have gotten out of the habit, so that is my first mini goal: Drink enough water.
The standard is normally drink 8 glasses of water per day, but I found - during my last "get healthy" kick - that there is actually a calculation for how much water you should take in every day, based on your weight. Now that I have looked into it a little more, it looks like there are quite a few theories out there... Some say divide your weight in pounds by 2, and drink that many ounces per day. Others say multiply your weight in pounds by 2/3, and drink THAT many ounces per day.
Either way, it looks like you should AT LEAST drink half your body weight in ounces... So if 8 ounces of water is a glass, this may be more or less than the 8 glasses normally recommended.
So I am not ready to disclose my weight in this blog yet, but let's just say I have quite a bit of water to drink.
There are lots of tips online for how to drink more water, but I think I just need to get into the habit of it.

Anyway, there we go. I'll report back in along the way about how it's going.

Back to work tomorrow after Christmas holidays... Oh, joy.

The Coming Attractions...

Hello Blogosphere,

It is New Year's Eve and I am sitting under a pile of blankets on my couch, watching a really old episode of Dawson's Creek, which is making me all kinds of nostalgic for my melodramatic teenage years. 2009 was a big year for me with an equal share of good and bad, but I have higher hopes for 2010. It seems fitting that this New Year's, I have chosen to not make one resolution to guide me through the year but to make a challenge for myself that will go hand-in-hand with the other changes I hope that 2010 will bring. The challenge that I am giving myself, and would be happy to do along with any other bloggers out there, is this: Lose 50 pounds in 50 weeks.
My challenge is not only to successfully lose this weight in a healthy and long-term way, but to record my journey and share with others my experiences.
So stay tuned, world wide web... I will begin my challenge on January 10th, 2010... 2 days after my husband's 30th birthday. My goal will be to write at least a little blurb every day once I begin my 50 weeks. In the meantime, I will do another post a little background about me and another about what the plan is for these coming 50 weeks.
Happy New Year! Look out 2010... I have weight to lose and a blog to write!