A new year...a new blog

So, for Christmas I got the wii fit and it got me to thinking about a few things. Namely my struggle with my weight. I didn't grow up overweight, but I became so in my late 20's and lived that way for a decade. I didn't realize it for a long time and it honestly kind of snuck up on me. I'm not going to lie, I love food and I think eating is one of the greatest pleasures in life. But...food was killing me and I definitely don't want to die from an obesity related illness. So about 18 mos ago I started to make some real changes. I was going to be forty and I wanted to live to see my kids grow up. I realized for me that obesity is a disease. A disease that I have to manage like any other disease for the rest of my life. I probably will never be cured. I will always need to be aware of what I eat, why I eat, when I eat and how I eat...forever and for the rest of my life. I will always need to exercise to help me manage my weight and eating. So, as I was thinking, I thought I would give myself a gift. I'm giving myself the gift of time to take care of my health. I will take time each and everyday to promote my health and well being. I'm also issuing myself a challenge for 2009. A challenge to adopt a healthier and consistent lifestyle. I say consistent because I will go along really well for awhile and then something will happen and I will drop off on some important area. I'm very good about exercising at least three times a week, but I've been awful about keeping a food journal and drinking enough water. I've plateaued with my weight loss for the last three months and I suspect that keeping a food journal will have me pinpoint some areas I need to work on and get a better handle on things. So, what's my plan you ask?
1. Exercise a minimum of five times a week.
2. Eat five servings of vegetables/fruits a day
3. Drink eight 8oz. glasses of water daily
4. Give up something that's preventing loss...for me there are 2 items I know are not good. Occasional fast food & sweets. I'm going to start with giving up fast food and begin eliminating the sweets until they are no longer a part of my diet.
5. Stop eating 2 hours before bedtime.
6. Keep a food & activity journal daily. This can be paper, daily plate or sparkspeople.
7. Work on Dr. Beck's workbook, doing one step each week for the 6 weeks.
8. Maintain a calorie intake of 1200 calories/day
Here's how I think that will break down
Breakfast -200
snack-100
Lunch-300
dinner-500
snack-100
I can eat back 25% of calories burned from exercising.