1 week down...............

So they say that the first 2 weeks are the hardest. What they don't tell you is that the first week is actually HELL ON EARTH! Starting a healthy life and getting back on track is hard when there are remnants of your old life everywhere. That delicious bag of potato chips taunting you with its colorful wrapping. It calls to you as you look in the pantry for something healthy to make for lunch. You deceive yourself by thinking if I just stay to the portion size it will be fine. That's what portion sizes are for right? WRONG! 11 chips, who can eat JUST 11 CHIPS? Apparently not this girl. I justify. . . horribly. "That one was broken so it's only 1/3 of a chip. These aren't uniform in size so these two smaller chips equal 1 normal chip." Devil chips with their flashy wrapping and delicious goodness. People, the struggle is real! And lets not even start in on bread. I'm absolutely convinced that my local grocery store is out to sabotage me. Their bakery is right next to the produce, RIGHT NEXT TO IT! I can smell the baked goodness as I'm pawing through brussel sprouts. My eyes wander longingly over to that corner as I put kale in my cart. It beckons to me like a long lost friend promising happiness and comfort as I'm perusing peaches and plums. So I have made up my mind. While I'm in my weekend state I'm going to just have to shop somewhere that has their bakery at the complete opposite side of the store. I'm serious. I just feel to fragile to test myself with those kind of vices. It's a problem. So on a more serious note I did have success this last week despite my stumbles. I did a lot of research and found that water is going to be my best friend. Our bodies are made up of about 60% water. Every system in our bodies depend on it whether it's to flush toxins out of vital organs or to help carry nutrients to our cells. I was surprised by how much water we lose from our system on a daily basis. Even when we breathe we lose water, that's crazy. I can tell you for a fact I have not been good in the past about making sure that I'm hydrating myself enough. So this was the first thing that I decided to focus on. And spoiler alert it was harder then I thought it would be. I know what you are thinking. "Really, Tye? Drinking water is hard for you? You are such a pansy" And my answer would be, "Um Yeah lay off jerk face!" Sure I drink when I'm thirsty, or have a glass of water with a meal but as I added it up I'm way under what I should be drinking every day. I had to force myself to be aware of how much I was putting into my body especially on days that I am more active. So an average healthy adult woman should be drinking about 2.2 liters of water a day according to the Mayo clinic. That's roughly 9 8oz cups. Well, as we all know I'm neither average nor am I healthy. I'm fabulously fat curvy. I need to be drinking more along the lines of 3 liters of water because of my size. Now if I add in exercise to my day I need to account for the extra water loss, so now I'm up to a gallon of water. Yep you read that right I need to be drinking a gallon of water every day. Believe me when I did all the math and then opened up my fridge to look at my gallon of milk for size reference I couldn't help but laugh. It seemed impossible. The first day I made it about half way through the gallon, meaning I didn't even get in what I should just be drinking on a daily basis with out exercise. A little discouraging but I wasn't about to give up. I had to come up with a way to consciously remind myself to drink water. So I pulled out my trusty Jack Skellington water bottle and started toting it around with me everywhere. In the car, at the store, doing chores in my house. It has been so helpful! I also got a gallon water bottle and marked it off so I would know how much I need to drink and when. Doing this helped tremendously! Now for the disclaimer: You are going to need to uhhhhh ummmmm tinkle........ a lot. Like prego lady a lot. You have been warned so don't come complaining to me when you have to use and icky public restroom because you are getting in your necessary water. It will pay off I promise! How do I know this you ask? Today I weighed in at 252 lbs ! WHOOT WHOOT! (Insert fist pump and happy dance!) That's 4lbs down in just 1 week and all I have changed is eating healthier and drinking the water that my body needs. Did I have days that I screwed up and fell back into nasty habits? You bet I did. But I just woke up and started the next day like a new day and put the previous day behind me. I have found that having a positive attitude and surrounding myself with others that have a can do attitude has been really key this last week. All right so on to week 2. I promise that I will drink all my water everyday. I will avoid eye contact with all baked goods and flashy dressed bags of chips and make healthy eating choices. Just gotta make it over that 2 week bump and I will be able to pat myself on the back and set some new goals!