Better Tuesdays

Last Tuesday we were in Dallas with the AHA doing our fitness assessments as we gear up to the begin the Go Red Better U program on June 1st. So, we’re dedicating Tuesdays to becoming Better Us. Each of the three mamas will dedicate a Tuesday post to what we are doing to change our lives as we strive to become better “U”s.

I have the honor this week!

When I returned from Dallas I realized that I am in really, really bad shape — I’m not just talking about the extra 20-25 pounds that I’m carrying around (which is bad enough!), but also my cholesterol levels are not where they should be (HDL; LDL – I don’t know which is good), my BMI indicates that I’m officially ‘overweight’, and I have very little stamina. It was the wake up call that I think I’ve needed for a while now. So, I can’t wait until June 1st, I have to start making some small changes right now and then step it up as we progress through the program.

Here are my changes thus far:
- I can’t believe it’s not butter rather than butter – Both my hubby and I have started using it; it’s a little odd tasting, but I’ll stick with it a little longer.
- Egg beaters but I haven’t yet made eggs.
- Whole grain english muffins instead of bagels – I’m so sad about this one because I honestly believe that I could live on bagels and cream cheese only.
- Yogurt and fresh fruit for snacks – This is not too bad because I like yogurt but I’m never been a snacker and I think it’s well settled that six little meals are better than three big ones, so I would like to have yogurt and fruit for a few of those little meals.
- Light soups – vegetable based and not the yummy creamy ones that I love so dearly. This has been a little hard because who wants italian vegetable over corn and chicken chowder?
- Low fat frozen entrees – I hope to have these for lunch instead of just grabbing whatever I can find.
- Wearing a pedometer to track the number of steps taken on a daily basis – I wore one yesterday and I fell below the ideal 10,000 mark. I was about 9,000 steps so that’s not too bad. But, I went shopping and to the grocery store today – not my typical day, so hopefully I can find ways to add some steps during the day.
- The biggest little change that I’ve made is engaging my hubby in a discussion about healthy eating – that’s what I’m most proud of.

These changes are small but hard because I’m trying to change the way I look at food and exercise. I’ve never understood why I’ve put on so much weight because I don’t eat a lot – but in the past week I’ve come to understand that it’s not only how much I eat, but what and when.

So….here’s to a healthy and better me and hopefully a healthy and better you!