20 Pounds by 4th of July

I realized that I haven't really been working towards anything as far as my weight loss goes.  Yes, I want to lose weight, but I haven't been setting any goals for myself.  So today, I decided that I want to drop 20 pounds by 4th of July.  That's 7 weeks from today.  It's going to be difficult, but I know I can do it.  I think I need to jolt myself back into reality and back into being on plan.  I've been really sloppy and lazy lately.  I know I can't accomplish this goal without a plan of attack, and even setting mini goals along the way.

Step 1: get the eating under control.  It may sound easy, but this involves tracking every bit of food that enters my mouth and staying within my points.  I also need to cut out all of the crap I've been eating.  And we need to quit going out to eat on a whim.  Or at least I need to stop ordering the high fat stuff.  If we go out to eat, it's grilled chicken and veggies, or a salad for me.  I will also be limiting the amount of junk food enters the house, and buying more fresh fruit since it's coming into season.

Step 2: move more.  We all know I hate to exercise, but I know that I'm never going to be able to lose weight and keep it off without it.  So bring on the gym.  I'm going to focus more on cardio than weights because that's what will take the fat off.  My goal is to go to the gym twice a week so I can do different cardio equipment, like the arc trainer, eliptical, or bike, and then I will walk at home either on the treadmill or outside 3 more days a week. 

Step 3: have a contingency plan.  Lets face it, life doesn't always go according to plan.  There are going to be nights that I don't want to cook, or don't have time to cook.  There are going to be days when I don't feel like working out.  I have to be able to work around these obstacles without throwing in the towel.  First, I will make sure that there is always a low-point food option in the freezer for when I don't want to cook dinner.  I'm also going to make sure that I have menus planned in advance so I don't have to wing it.  On days I don't want to work out, I'm going to make myself do 10 minutes.  If I'm not feeling it after that, I can quit.  But more often than not, once I've been doing it for 10 minutes I want to keep going.

Step 4: take my meds as prescribed.  This sounds like a no-brainer, but I have issues in this department.  While I'm not diabetic, I am insulin resistant and therefore need to take medication to lower my insulin levels.  This directly affects my weight loss and I haven't been taking it like I should.  I honestly just forget to take it.  I'm going to pull it out and sit it on the kitchen counter where I can see it instead of keeping it hidden away in the medicine basket. 

I'm going to make this work, come hell or high water.  I just have to.