New Plan

Snapdragons in my front yard.

I've been trying to get my eating under control so that I can lose weight for nearly three years now, and haven't had any success. I believe it was Einstein who said that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. So instead of just continuing to do what I've been doing and getting more and more frustrated and angry with myself, I'm going to take a different approach.

I know what my ultimate goal weight is, and I'm still planning to get there. But since right now that means losing about 20 pounds, I need to break this into smaller increments. I know that if I start experiencing some success, it'll motivate me to keep going. I also know that if I think in the shorter-term, it's easier to commit to eating right. So my plan is to start tomorrow and eat clean for 10 days. I know I can manage 10 days, and that the scale will start moving in the right direction again. Then I'll do it again for 10 days, and again after that, etc.

It is going to be a challenging time because my cousin and his family are in town and we'll be having dinner with them nearly every night. But if I make good choices during the day, I should go into dinner with enough calories that I can eat a reasonable meal.

I'll be checking in with my progress on Wednesday, August 5th for my first 10-day cycle. At that time I'm hoping to report that I ate 1300 or fewer calories each day, and that I've lost three pounds. If I stick with this plan, I will still be able to reach my goal weight in time for Halloween and the theatrical release of Crimson Peak (my reward for hitting my goal). But I'm hoping by mentally approaching this differently, it won't feel as overwhelming or daunting. Wish me luck!

This is totally unrelated to the rest of my post, but I'm super excited because Netflix just added the original Nightmare on Elm Street to streaming. The movie reminds me of my childhood and sleepovers in my best friend's basement. It's also a very unique horror movie that is just plain enjoyable to watch. So I've been watching a few minutes at a time on my tablet in between loads of laundry this morning. The other exciting development is that I ordered a large print of a photo I took of Kylemore Abbey when we were in Ireland from Shutterfly. It turned out beautifully and looks so nice on our dining room wall. I've got a couple of smaller, canvas prints on order also and am very excited to see those on my walls!

Hanging on the dining room wall. You can see the corner of the chandelier also.