It’s been a couple of months since I started this lose weight – get healthy campaign. I find things are changing inside of me as I progress on this journey.

In the beginning it was very, very hard. Sometimes it was overwhelming. All I thought about was food. What can I eat? What can’t I eat? Naturally I wanted what I couldn’t eat and that want would just sit there and nibble at the edges of my mind. Planning meals, making shopping lists, shopping and then prepping the food (cleaning and dividing it into individual serving containers or baggies) was an all-day – two day affair! When it came to being active there was much more internal resistance. There were always a million reasons to put it off one more day. In retrospect, every day was filled with struggle.

Today I look forward to walking. I’ve been remiss this week and I’ve missed it. Who would have thought it was possible for the Couch Potato of the Year to crave, yes crave, activity. I’ve found myself running around at work much more often than ever before. I send documents to print on the printer down the hall and go pick them up immediately. I take my papers to the recycle bin throughout the day instead of collecting all of them and making one trip at the end of the day. Likewise with documents that need to be shredded. If the restroom is occupied I walk to the other side of the building and use the one over there instead of waiting. I actually feel the need to move my body.

If I’m not eating right I find myself thinking about and wanting fruits and vegetables. I don’t know why those are the first things to disappear from the menu whenever I slip up, but they are. Now that I’ve adopted the philosophy that this is a lifestyle change, there are no forbidden foods. That is both good and bad. Good because it takes away the cravings associated with foods that are off limits. Bad because it means I have to make sure I don’t eat too many less-healthy foods during any week and that I keep my portions under control. I find it helps tremendously to log in my food intake and calories every day. I’m finding a new balance. I eat healthy most of the time and I indulge once in a while. It’s working for me and makes it possible to attend office parties, birthday parties and eat out with the family just like we all do in real life.