Cleaning Up

So today Tammy and I spent much of the afternoon in Nashville doing some shopping in the Green Hills area. Tammy got to experience the wonderful Trader Joe's for the first time. We had a great time looking and shopping for healthy, organic food selections. I hope that Murfreesboro gets a Trader Joe's one day. The selections are great and the prices are more affordable than one might think. Much better than the prices of our next stop...Whole Foods Market.

This is the first time we've been to the one in Green Hills. It is very swanky with all that crunchy, granola feel you typically get at a Whole Foods. Despite the prices and the swankiness we journeyed through the store and found some really good options for the Eat Clean direction I am taking my everyday diet. The best buy and something I have really wanted to try for a long time was Bison meat.

After a long day of shopping we came home and grilled up the Bison steak along with some veggies. The meal was excellent. Bison is the same texture as beef just with a richer flavor and much leaner and cleaner as Bison is grass-fed and most commercial beef is not.  Even though I've only recently taken on the Eat Clean philosophy, I find myself feeling much better and not nearly as hungry during the day. I continue to make the small steps, but as long as the foods I get to eat are like the Bison I had tonight then I believe the Eat Clean way of life will the easiest change I've ever made.

A Rewarding Journey

As mentioned in the previous post, I am developing a rewards system as I lose weight. I got this tremendous idea from a friend named Heather. Tammy had read a blog posting Heather wrote detailing a system of fun rewards for every 10 pounds lost to keep her motivated. When Tammy asked me to read the blog I instantly knew that was for me. I mean come on! Who doesn't like getting gifts for doing a good job?

So my brain went to stormin' to figure out what gifts would I like for each ten pounds lost. After a while I still had nothing. I found that major milestones were easy to develop gifts. Obviously the ultimate goal is a trip to an island. The halfway point will be a weekend getaway. So as it stands I have two trips as rewards and not much else. This is definitely a work in progress and I am happy to take any ideas from anyone who may read this.

Below is a breakdown of the rewards for pounds lost:

  5-Book
10-
20-
30-
40-Weekend getaway
50-
60-
70-
80-Hawaii or some other tropically island!!

Thinking of gifts I would want is not easy!!

Some Changes

Change is hardly ever easy, but often times it is absolutely necessary. That is where I find myself, particularly my health...or the lack of it. I am drastically overweight, constantly getting headaches, out of breath just going upstairs, and staring a family history of Diabetes in the eye. So it is here on this blog that I will chronicle the changes I will be making to not only create accountability, but hopefully set an example for someone else going through a similar situation.

I've actually made one change already and it was to this blog. The name of the blog has changed (former name was "A Little About a Lot"). The blog was started two years ago as a way to just have fun and hone some writing skills that have served me well in my Masters degree program at University of Tennessee. But as you may see from the last posting date I have not been on here in quite a while thanks to school, laziness, and forgetfulness...the last two reasons I look to change in my life as well.

The new name is inspirational in nature for me. I am in the process of developing a reward system as I lose weight with the ultimate reward being a vacation for Tammy and me to Hawaii or some other island vacation. I have a tall order as that means I have to reach 80 pounds lost, but I know I can do it!

I started at the New Year eating better and less, but I had a difficult time developing a plan of action. After losing five pounds I got my first reward...a book on eating clean. I've had to be honest with myself and accept that my eating habits are killing me. This is the key change for me. I have friends who are eating clean and the results are amazing. Add some exercise in there and there is no reason I cannot reach my ultimate goal of losing 80 pounds.

The steps along my path have begun! Here's to change!!