Slim Down 2009 Plan of Attack

I've had a couple of people ask me what I have been doing and so I am here to unveil my "Plan of Attack", or more lovingly known as my lifestyle change.

First of all, I cut my calorie intake down. I have not had a soda in 14 days!! Woo Hoo for me!! I know that made my calorie intake go down drastically. I have been drinking only water or herbal tea (sweetened with honey), no large sweet teas from the golden arches, no soda, no juice (it has a LOT of calories in it) and only a little milk (changed from whole, to 1%) with my cereal. I am doing that for 30 days. After the 30 days I’ll go back to having milk and occasionally juice. Sweet tea will only be a “treat” and soda is banished FOREVER. I have also added back into our diets more fruits and veggies. The kids eat a lot of fruit and veggies, but I had kind of exchanged them for, say, chocolate, and that has not proved to be a good thing. So I now eat no less than 5 servings of fruit and veggies a day, compared to the, hopefully, 1 or 2 it was.

Second, I have greatly increased my activity level. Sure, we SAHM's get a lot of moving done, but that doesn't give us the same benefits of actual exercise. I don't currently like any of the cardio DVD's I have used in the past, so we are basically turning up the music and dancing like crazy people (me and the kids). Then I also have gone to playing at least 30 minutes a day of Wii Tennis and also Wii boxing. Both of those give some cardio workout. The big thing though, and it's what makes those inches melt away, is strength training. No, I'm not pumping iron, but I am doing a lot of anaerobic exercise, working major muscle groups (eg, crunches, heel raises, etc).

Third, I joined Sparkpeople.com again. I joined up in the summer of 2007, then got pregnant with Daniel and the weight control flew out the window and here we are again. Spark people is a free online weight loss mega site. It has calorie tracking (which is a key to weight loss), fitness tracking complete with calories burned, nutrition plans (I follow my own), articles on health and fitness, exercise videos and a lot of other helpful information. The thing about Spark people is the camaraderie and support. You find teams to join up with and participate in challenges and find strength from those around you. I really like it. You should check it out, even if you have no weight to lose, you might find the nutrition info interesting.

So now that you are wondering when this post will end, let me sum it all up and give you a list of the exercises I do.

Calorie Intake:
Stopped the soda and sweet tea pipeline to my stomach
Added more fruit and vegetables
Smaller portions
Added mega water intake (I drink between 80 and 100 ounces of water a day)

Exercise: (current level of activity)
25 minutes of cardio 4 times per week--this is the minimum, it's usually everyday (not including Wii)
Toe Touches (I am up to 75 a day)
Crunches (30 a day)
Side bends (120 a day)
Wall Push-ups (easier on the knees, 30 a day)
Leg lifts with stability ball (40 a day)
Squats (20-30 a day)
Bi-cep curls with resistance band (25 each arm)
Tri-cep kick backs (30 a day, both arms)

I think that completes the daily list, there are few others that I don't do everyday. There you have it. The plan of attack for the great Slim Down '09. I am looking forward to sharing this journey.

Edited to add: Since I typed this over the last two days, I have an update!! I weighed this morning at the doctors office and I am down 7, count 'em 7 pounds this week!!! That makes a total of eight pounds in just under two weeks!