Points My Way

Weight.  Or more specifically weight loss. Uh!  A topic I almost get annoyed at myself for discussing.  But let's face it.  It's something that dominates my thoughts most days, and I'm guessing it's something that's on a lot of your minds too (considering I'm assuming most of you are women).
Weight has been an issue for me pretty much all of my adult life.  I have gained weight, lost, it, gained it again, lost it again, got pregnant and gained big time, etc.  To attempt to keep this short and sweet, here's where I stand on my weight loss journey.  I gained A LOT of weight when I was pregnant with Levi.  I lost pretty much all of it, with the exception of about five pounds.  But I was good with it.  I've always maintained the belief that you should focus way less on the number on the scale than how you look...and mainly how you feel about how you look.  And for the most part, I liked the way I looked (except for maybe in a bathing suit...but who does?!?), so I decided to loosen the reins a bit!  Summer happened, our cruise happened, our Florida trip happened, and here I am a few months later knowing that I've gained a few pounds back.
 I have yet to step on the scale because honestly, I can just tell by the way my clothes are fitting (revised: I did finally reluctantly step on the scale: I'm up about 10). They're tighter than they're supposed to be, and I have a major case of dun-lap in most of my pants.  Luckily, we're not at out of control levels or anything (I mean, the pants do still fit!), but it's time to make some changes.
I've been there and done that with the dieting thing often enough to know that I needed something a bit more motivating than just logging calories or Weight Watchers points this time around if I was actually going to stay on track. In that vein,  I started thinking about all that goes into losing weight and all the potential stumbling blocks, and I created a daily point system for myself.

• 1 point for drinking at least 72 oz. of water a day (because not only does water help keep me from eating, but it's amazing how much cleaner I feel if I drink it.  When I was teaching I would drink water all darn day (usually over 100 oz!), but recently I've been turning to sodas or just not drinking at all, so I want to recommit to my water...)
• 1 point for working out (as much as I hate it, got to do it if we're trying to lose weight...or even just maintain weight)
• 1 point for being at/under 1200 calories for the day (which also means I have to log what I eat)
• 1 point for sticking to just my 3 meals and 1 snack for the day (I am very guilty of sneaking in handfuls of Goldfish or a bite or two of the kids' peanut butter and jelly/grilled cheese, etc, but not counting them in my daily eating...let's face it, those calories probably add up to a pretty substantial number, though!)
• 2 points for making a healthy choice while eating out (yep, bonus points for this one, mainly because I think I'll need the extra motivation!  We eat out a lot, and even though we do, I still have a hard time turning down a less healthy choice if I really like it.  Hopefully this will help...)

I created a little calendar for myself, hung it in my closet, and each day I calculate how many points I have earned and then my running total.  I have given myself the incentive that at 50 points I get to buy a nail polish or accessory or something in the $5-$10 range.  Nothing crazy, but enough to get me excited!

The system may appear really stringent, but I don't actually plan to earn all my points every day!  I'm actually a pretty competitive person, though, especially with myself (I guess my childhood swimming career was actually good for something), so I'm thinking it will provide that extra motivation I need sometimes to make healthy choices.  A week in, it seems to be working.  I even held off from eating cookie dough when I was done making cookies for Colton's class (I did later eat half of one of the cookies, but that's beside the point)! We'll see how this new chapter unfolds...