How to exercise at least once a week for a three months
How I did it: Really, it took me seven years of failing at dieting and exercise to finally get this. I even changed this goal many times trying to make it simple enough for me to stick to.
Finally in August 2008 I decided to forget everything except exercising at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes and improving my diet in simple ways.
Today I stepped on the scale and found that I had officially lost 31 pounds. I am so excited about this!
Now I know the importance of regular exercise--and like brushing and flossing--it is just not optional.
I also know that while my diet was decent before, tweaking it in a couple of areas was so important to my success.
I went way past the 3 months I set for this goal. In fact, it's been 7 months. However, I do not think of this as a goal to start and stop now. I enjoy exercise, and will be running in my second road race next month!
Lessons & tips: 1. Weighing myself ONLY once a week at the same time of day each time gave me good feedback on my progress.
2. In the beginning I thought about how my body was improving instead of how hard the exercises were.
3. Cutting out high fructose corn syrup and all processed food was one key to my weight loss.
4. Including more fruits, vegetables, nuts, and beans made it impossible to eat too many starchy foods.
5. Made a commitment to cut out butter and mayonnaise and replace it with olive oil.
Resources: Watching the Biggest Loser for motivation
Listening to Jillian Michaels' podcast at the gym
Reading Success Stories in Shape magazine
