Step 1: Overhauling My Eating Habits and Figuring Out What *I* Want

I'm reading a few books to help me figure out and focus on my goals. More than just "I want to lose weight" or "I want to be healthy" - WHY do I want to do those things? Do I want to run a 5K when I turn 40? Do I want to limit my reliance on a car and depend on my bike more for local transportation? Do I want to get more involved in community activities that might require physical effort? Do I want to take advantage of this recent geographical transition and start working towards a new career?

It's going to take me a while before I get to the core of what I really want, but it's definitely some combination of the above. In the meantime, I want to start working on things RIGHT NOW (being March first and all), and the best start is an overhaul of my eating habits.

I work well with lists. Ask my husband (or my similarly off-kilter brother) about the lists I make for packing, for grocery shopping, or for leaving the house on a long trip. When I can compartmentalize tasks and check them off, it appeals to my sense of organization. I'm really *not* an organized person, but I try to be. Hence the lists.

In one of my books, I came across a two-day meal plan. It's certainly not meant to be something you stick to every day, just an example of the right combination of proteins, produce, and grains. But because I need some rigid structure in these first few days/weeks of meal planning, I figured I'd just go with it. I used the plan as a grocery list, and I'm going to stick to it verbatim for at least 4, maybe 6 days. There's nothing offensive on it (I hate it when meal plans say to eat fish - I know it's good for me, but goddammit I hate fish), it's relatively simple, and it'll keep me on track for coming to terms with (1) how much good stuff I need to eat and (2) how much bad stuff I need to avoid.

When Joe and I lost weight before our wedding (almost fifteen years ago now), the key for us was measuring. It was easy to "eyeball" portions of chicken or rice - easy enough to get wrong. So we measured everything from peanut butter to salsa, and it really worked for us. Of course, going to the gym did a lot too, but that's another step in this process.

First and foremost, I need to be able to wake up and feel great in the morning. I need to know what I'm working for every day. I need to know that I'm moving towards something amazing, and it'll take some time.