Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, but much more rewarding.

My awesome employer has a wellness committee called Revive Wellness. They offer a lot of wellness incentives for the employees. I just received a free stability ball today for my office. One of these perks is a program called Naturally Slim. It is not a diet plan. It is a 10 week program that consists of educational tools/videos to teach new habits and ways of thinking about food. Did you know that 75% are truly only hungry twice per day? The majority of people are not truly hungry until 4-6 hours after waking yet we've been trained that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Most people eat out of habit or eat because it is "time to eat". This happens to me often. We typically eat dinner early because kids, bedtime routine, just want to relax, blah blah blah. I am not always hungry yet I find myself pressuring myself to eat because it is dinner time. There's also times that I just have no idea what I want to eat. Either everything sounds good or nothing sounds good. This just means that I am not truly hungry (or I am TOO hungry). I am happy to complete the lessons, journal, and learn new-to-me techniques for losing weight. I started the program today. I know it will take at least a week to have consistency thinking in a new way. The program started today and ends in 10 weeks.

I wouldn't necessarily say that I am a super competitive person, but let me tell you how I always made my mile time in high school athletics. I have always enjoyed sprints and plyometrics vs. "long distance", but it was required in softball especially during off-season. So there was this girl named Courtney. She was really short and had these tiny little footsteps when she was running. She was my pacer. I always made sure to stay near her because she always made her mile time. Then I would sprint past her for the last 100 of the mile so that I would beat her. She never knew that I was competing against her--at least she never said so. Thanks Courtney for always making sure I made my mile time, lol.

To appeal to my competitive side and the fact that money is a good motivator, I also joined a Healthy Wage weight loss challenge through my employer. It is a 12 week challenge with 4 teammates that starts on May 1st. The goal is to be the team who loses the most weight (percentage). There are monetary prizes--which is motivating. The top three teams will win: $10,000, $5,000, and $3,000. How awesome would one of those prizes be? If you lose 10% of your weight, but didn't win the top three teams then you get your $35 registration fee back.

I have "officially" lost 3 lbs since April 10th so unfortunately, those lbs do not count for either of these two challenges. Darn, lol. I just figure that I have lost weight in the past, but never kept it off so I need to do something different. I have been eating well over the last couple of weeks so I am striving to keep that up while implementing the lessons I learn during this 10 week program.

I LOVE bell peppers. I always buy one of each and sometimes I don't eat them because I don't cut them up. I decided to go ahead and chop all of them up for easy grabbing. We had pesto caprese paninis last night. They were delicious. I brought ham and cheese lettuce wraps, eggs, avocado, string cheese, and yogurt today (for breakfast, lunch, and snack). I am still drinking coffee with one creamer.

Tomorrow, I am going to follow the Naturally Slim recommendation to wake up and drink 20 oz of water. I usually bring my breakfast to work and eat at my desk. I am going to drink water in the morning and see when I naturally reach Level 3 hunger. Some people don't even eat breakfast--in terms of the meal time not breakfast items--but then they think, "Oh I didn't eat breakfast" so they use that as an excuse to eat a huge lunch. Our stomachs are only the size of a loosely closed fist. I have to train my brain to realize this. I want to eat satisfying foods that I like that are healthy for me.

I am also striving to leave work each day with a minimum of 5,000 steps. So far, I have been doing well. It's a little bit strange to walk the floor that my office is on because it is so small, but it is a good way for me to get steps in, stretch my legs, and give my eyes a break from my computer. I make sure to walk at least one around around the floor before and after going to the restroom. I also get a few laps in every hour, before lunch, and after lunch. I also take the stairs to go get water a few times a day.

For both programs, I have to weigh on the start date and the end date. Of course, I'll be weighing along the way--can't seem to break that habit. I look forward to seeing where I am in 12 weeks.

I hope you'll hang in there for an update.