DietBet Week 1 Done - Eliminating Excuses

I'm one week into my weight loss efforts, and so far I'm happy with the results. I weighed myself this morning, and I'm down 6 pounds! That's pretty impressive for one week.

My overall goal is to lose 7.3 pounds, so as long as all of that stays off, I'm almost there. The site has a nifty graphic that shows you how far along you are. Here's mine:

That's not me in the photo, by the way. I'm not sure who that is.

I have 18 days left to meet my goal. So far I think I'm probably pretty far ahead of most people, but there's plenty of time to backslide too. My personal goal is to lose more than 4% if possible. I know a large part of that initial weight loss is likely water, both from not eating that healthy before I started, and because I started my period two days after the initial weigh-in. You know how some women put on a few extra pounds right before their cycle? Yep, that's me. Of course, I'll be back in the same position at the next weigh-in, so it all evens out.



Honestly, I haven't been as good this first week as I wanted to be. I've been watching my food, but not exercising. I have a lot of excuses:

1. I'm commuting about 45 minutes each way right now. Add in working 10-hour days, and that's a lot of time not available for exercising. 
2. I don't take very many steps at work. I'm working in a small family practice office this month. I move from room to room, but honestly, it's only a couple of steps in between each. Then I'm sitting down, talking to the patient and charting on the computer. I've thought about pacing in the room during the exam, but I think that would make the patients nervous. 
3. The practice is very busy. I haven't really had time to take a break and walk around outside in between patients. Yes, there's lunch, but mine have been about 20 minutes, and I haven't taken that time to walk around outside. 
4. Seeing 25 patients a day is draining! I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but it is. so add in the commute, the stress of a new work environment, and by the time I get home I'm beat. I've been telling myself I'm too tired to exercise. That has to change. 
5. It's dark in the morning and dark when I get home. There are no street lights where we live, so I don't want to walk outside in the dark. What's that? Exercise inside? <cough, cough> Who does that?

Each one of those excuses seems reasonable, doesn't it? But when you put them all together, it's just a bunch of excuses keeping me from my goal. Since my commute isn't going to change, nor is the workload, or the time the sun rises and sets, I'm going to have to change myself. I haven't thought about it too much, but here are my initial responses to those excuses:

1.  The long commute really is hard. Try to work in some exercise during the day, dance to the radio in the car, walk around the parking lot when you first get there and before you leave, anything to get moving. 
2. The small office is another hard one. I did try walking up and down the hallway, but it doesn't add up to a lot of steps, and feels awkward since there are other people around. Maybe do some quick squats in the office? Stand while charting some? I'm going to have to figure this one out. 
3. Take a break and get outside! Even if it's just five minutes, that's got to be better than just sitting. When I have a short break, instead of checking my phone, I can try to duck outside for some air. 
4. Get over it. Yes, I'm tired, so is everyone else. If I'm not going to exercise in the evening, I'm going to have to get up earlier to do it in the morning. I vote for evening, so we'll see how that goes!
5. Yes, it's dark and scary at night. There's this thing called a DVD player, and I have plenty of workouts on disc I could do after the kids are in bed.

This week presents another challenge. My husband is starting a new job in the morning! That's such great news, and I'm really proud of him. But, he's out of town all week for training. So, it's just me and the boys. So I'll have to pick up both boys, handle dinner, getting ready in the morning, homework, bedtime, laundry, etc. by myself. I suppose it'll force me to be more active, but I'll also be more stressed. We've done it plenty of times before, but never when I was on a diet. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I won't be too grumpy by the time bedtime arrives.

This week I'm going to work on eliminating excuses! What's your goal for the week?