The First Few Weeks

I want to catch you up on the difficulties and results of first few weeks, as I’ve already been changing my life for about a month and a half. The first 2 weeks have been the hardest so far.

Reason #1: I’d get cravings for chocolate, ice cream, candy, popcorn… anything unhealthy. One thing that I’ve noticed over the last month and a half is as I’m eating healthier, I’m craving unhealthy things less, and I’m craving healthier foods more. I had a bit of a shock when I was craving cucumbers, bread, and pasta rather than junk food.

Reason #2: Friends and family didn’t understand that I wasn’t eating fatty foods and would ask me to eat some with them. I remember the first night of this change in my life, I had a friend staying the night with me, and she wanted me to eat poutine with her. I remember fighting with myself (and her) saying that I’d have a nice spinach salad instead… and trust me, it was hard to say “no”. But, I think that was an important step. Now I know that I can say “no” to the foods I want even when there is outside pressure to eat them.

Reason #3: Since I was living at home for the summer (I’m a university student), I had little control over what foods were around and had less control over what I eat than I do now. (I have moved back to university now, and I love living on my own). If you’re living with others, it does get easier. Once you’ve been sticking with it longer, and people see that you’re serious, they will (at least in my experience) be more understanding and purchase/cook healthier foods.

Although the first few weeks were tough, I know that they were possibly the biggest step I could have taken towards my goal. Those 14 days proved a lot to me – I do have a lot of willpower, I can say no to junk foods, I can eat the types of meals and foods that I’m used to and still lose weight. Afterall, with just changing what I eat and when, I lost around 8 pounds, and was about 13% of the way through!

Over the next few days, I will get into more detail about specific aspects of my lifestyle change which are helping me to obtain my successes. :)