That’s my new motto.

It’s too hot for a walk. So what? That’s what all those exercise DVDs in the cabinet are for. No more excuses.

The dishes are piling up in the sink and I’ve got six loads of laundry to wash, dry, and put away. SO WHAT? Do a little here and a little there. It will get done. It’s not going anywhere. No more excuses.

Snoring Daddy made hot wings again! So what? Just because he’s eating something doesn’t mean you have to. No more excuses.

The kids have been at each others throats all week. Money is low, and so are the groceries. We need to go to the store to stock up on fresh produce and healthy snacks. I have a thesis to research and write and I still haven’t finished all the cleaning and rearranging projects I had planned at the beginning of the summer. But it doesn’t matter, because there will be no more excuses.

I have set goals. I know how much weight I want to lose. I know what I want to be able to do physically. I have set smaller goals, mini-goals, of losing ten percent of my body weight at a time. Losing just 10 percent of your weight significantly improves your health. And now I have a goal of losing as much as I can by the first week of November when I’ll be going to Las Vegas for the first time. I want to make that trip a time to celebrate what I have accomplished this year: writing and defending my thesis, graduating from my Masters program this coming December, and losing a significant percentage of this excess weight. That will require no more excuses.

Even though it has been too hot to take a walk, and I haven’t managed to get out in the early morning or the late evening, I have exercise DVDs and I’m using them. No more excuses.

I’m still going strong, and I am determined to make these changes permanent so that I won’t ever again have to write about how I lost weight only to gain it all back. No more epiphanies that I never follow through and take action on. Each time I’ve done that I feel myself turning more and more into my Father with his constant talk of making healthy changes and never following them through to the end. I am not my Dad.

This is it. No more excuses.

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That’s all I need.

I used Google Maps Pedometer to find out the distance of the route I walked through the neighborhood across the street today. It’s a gravel road full of ruts and mud holes and it includes some steep hills that force me to make an extra effort that gives my walk that something extra. All I need is 45 minutes a day of alone time to get away, just me and my mp3 player, and walk that 3.35 miles.

Oh and I also need a stick. Several of the neighbors allow their dogs to run loose.

Yesterday when I walked that gravel road, I marveled at the peace and quiet and the expanse of sky, while I walked past banks of wildflowers all along either side of the road. You just don’t get that in the city.

Today I watched a couple of hawks making lazy circles in the sky. That is one of the perks of living in Oklahoma, you get to live out the lyrics of our state song.

If I could get up early enough in the morning to watch the sun rise while I walk, it would be such a beautiful way to start my day. Unfortunately I don’t function that early.

Oh what a beautiful morning, indeed.

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Starting today I’m going to be without our Wii and Wii Fit for the next two (or more) weeks. For the last week or so we’ve been getting a “communication error” with the Wii balance board and after calling Technical Support at Nintendo they are having us send in the console and the balance board to determine what the trouble is so they can repair or replace it.

Now I have to find some other ways to keep up my exercise daily. I’ll do it. Somehow. But it won’t be quite as fun as it has been.

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I had an email this week from a reader who was concerned about the amount of weight I had reported losing in my first two weeks. She cited the recommendation from health and diet experts that one should not lose more than an average of 2 lbs a week because it can be dangerous and it’s nearly impossible to maintain.

It’s a valid concern. And as I composed my response, I realized I should address this issue here for everyone.

First of all, let me correct my earlier report. For some reason I miscalculated that first two week loss. It was actually 12 pounds in the first two weeks with something like 7-8 in that first week alone. I am extremely overweight and tend to lose a lot at first. I’m staying in the calorie ranges I need to be in (1400-1750) and getting lots of fresh veggies and fruits and lean protein and whole grains. I also allow myself some indulgences by finding healthy or lower calorie substitutes. It’s not about denial. Denial and strict limitations just don’t work in the long run and I usually quit within a week or two if I try those kinds of strict diets.

The first week is when I lost the bulk of that weight. It’s a lot of water weight because before I wasn’t drinking water like I should have been, instead I drank lots of diet coke. Sometimes as much as 6-8 a day. I stopped drinking the diet cokes completely. I haven’t had one since May 25th. This is one restriction I need to stick to. They give me headaches, I get dependent on them, they affect my moods, and they make me crave sweets. So. NO MORE DIET COKE.

Once my body started getting what it needed in the water department, it decided to stop retaining every drop of fluid I took in for fear I wouldn’t give it anymore.

I know it is dangerous to lose more than an average of 2 pounds a week. As of today, after 20 days of eating right and exercising 30-90 minutes nearly every day, I have lost a total of 15 pounds. So last week I lost 3 pounds.

I do tend to lose closer to an average of 3 pounds a week until I get into the low 200s. (Yep. I’m laying it all out there. I’m well over 200 pounds.) That’s when my weightloss really slows down, because I’m not carrying so much weight anymore–which is what burns so many calories and causes me to lose a little faster.

I have a long way to go before I get to that point.

If you were concerned about the rate of weightloss I was reporting and my ability to sustain it, I want to thank you for your concern. I do appreciate it. I see people pushing themselves to lose 5 pounds a week and I worry about them. This is one of the reasons why when The Biggest Loser first came out I was dead set against the show. While I now find their stories inspirational, I am still concerned about how fast they lose weight, even knowing they are under constant medical supervision.

It’s recommended that you exercise a minimum of 30 minutes a day and if at all possible increase your exercise to 60-90 minutes a day. Some days I’m closer to the 30 minute mark and that’s okay. I’m not pushing myself. I’m just glad to be excited about something and enjoying it for once. So when I get over 60 minutes it’s the frosting on the cake, because I’m having fun while I do it.

I’m actually taking this weekend off from formal exercise–I’ve got a lot of other outdoor activities going on instead. We’ve been mowing our monster lawn today–we still aren’t finished even after over two hours of working on it together, with Snoring Daddy on the riding lawn mower and me on the push lawn mower. Everything is finished except the fenced portion where the dogs are. That’s a big area by itself and I’ll probably do it tomorrow evening.

This post is meant to reassure those of you with concerns and answer any questions others might have about how I’m losing weight. I have spent a lot of time learning the right way to do this. I’ve just always had trouble putting that knowledge into practice in the face of stress and temptation. This time I’m determined to do it and sustain it. I have to make these changes permanent. I have to get off the yo-yo and stay off it for good.

I use Spark People to log my nutrition and exercise. They have a lot of great information on nutrition, fitness, and motivation. They are vehemently against fad diets and recommend a lifestyle change centered on good nutrition and getting active. There is also a strong community of members and experts on the forums. The site has teams you can join based on interest, geographical location, goals, and pretty much anything else you can think of. The message boards alone are a great source of motivation for many of the members.

If you are interested in checking it out, it’s totally free but if you do sign up please tell them that Gonnabehalfofme referred you. That’s me.

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Yikes! I just realized that I promised to do a meme that Karen Sugarpants tagged me for OVER TWO WEEKS AGO. Dude. Talk about letting stuff get away from you.

I’ve done similar versions of this one but I can’t deny Karen, even if it means that I’m posting nearly three weeks after the fact.

Here’s the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I watch Days of Our Lives. Not only do I watch it, I record it on our DVR so I don’t miss anything. I’ve been watching it since college. It’s my guilty pleasure and I don’t care if you think it’s stupid.

2. I have tunnel vision. I tend to get interested in something and focus exclusively on it and have difficulty diverting my attention to other things. If I try to multi-task, I get distracted and suddenly it’s like I have ADD and I’m flitting from one thing to the next desperately trying to remember what it was I was going to do first. I get more done when I have tunnel vision though because I focus until it’s DONE instead of chasing after the next—oh look! A kitten! What was I saying again?

3. I hate the Incredible Hulk. Always have. Always will.

4. This is the current animal count in our house. 3 dogs. 7 cats indoors (3 are kittens). 3 cats outdoors. 2 rabbits (outdoors). 11 fish. Oh and 1 stray cat who we don’t know where he belongs, but he comes round and pisses off our dogs and eats the outdoors cats’ food.

5. We recently watched Hairspray for the first time (I never got all the way through the Ricki Lake version) and I found myself identifying with the Edna Turnblad character. Yes. That would be John Travolta’s character that he played in drag and in a fat suit. Like Edna, there are times when I want to hide in my house because I don’t want anyone to see me so fat. Also, I loved her relationship with her husband and how he made her feel attractive.

6. My favorite tv show during the Summer is So You Think You Can Dance. I wish I could dance…

I’m tagging:

akaMonty because I adore her so.

Mommy Matters because Christine was one of the first bloggers I added to my blogroll and she really inspired me when I first began blogging. I’m so glad she’s gradually come back to blogging. I’ve missed her!

Chicka Nuts because Kris always entertains me with her randomness.

Color Me Complicated because it’s Miss Anne. There is no other explanation needed.

Does this mean I’m a grown up? because Catt has always been one of the funniest bloggers I know and even though she doesn’t blog as often as she used to, I’m hoping to get her to play along. Also, she’s on one of my teams at Sparkpeople.com

Simply Sassy who is not only sassy but extremely sweet.

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