One Step at a Time

One of the things I love about Vtrim is that they help you to incorporate lifestyle changes slowly so that you get a chance to live into them. That is SO important for me. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, during the first week on Vtrim you don’t make any changes in your diet or lifestyle at all. Instead, you focus on gaining an awareness of what, when, where, and how you eat by tracking everything you put into you mouth.

At first, I thought this chronicling of bad habits was a waste of time and wanted to get to the “real” part of the program – changing my life. But it didn’t take long for me to see the wisdom of this approach. Beth, my Vtrim facilitator, explained that if I didn’t understand what I was usually consuming in the way of calories (not to mention where those calories came from) that it would be hard for me to make changes that would last.

The goal was to be a nonjudgmental observer, a detective of sorts, so that I could learn my weaknesses and uncover my blindspots. And you know what? It really worked. I was astounded at how many calories I was actually taking in. There were other patterns I noticed as well – eating large amounts late at night, not eating at the table, gorging on ice cream (a food I seem to have little control around), and not eating enough protein. Although these things were initially really hard for me to look at, I found that if I removed the judgment and negative self-talk, they were simply information, data, that I could use any way I chose.

All that new information helped tremendously when I began the 2nd week of the Vtrim program – reducing calories AND tracking my food intake. As my last blog indicated, I had a great week and lost four pounds while eating great food. Not a bad start, right?

Now I am starting Week 3 of Vtrim – beginning to incorporate regular exercise into my weight loss program. Once again, the idea is to make gradual changes, to get used to scheduling some focused exercise into each day by starting with small, manageable goals like walking 10-15 minutes a day. That works great for me because when I try to take on more than I can handle early on, I get discouraged and tend to give up. But hey, walking 10-15 minutes a day is something I can do. More importantly, it’s something I can do over and over again which is, after all, the goal.

So, I’m pulling on my walking shoes and heading out for a walk. I’m starting with 15 minutes a day, but before you know it, I’ll be logging 20 miles a week. You know what they say – a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lookout world, here I come!