So, what's my plan for this year? First of all, it definitely helps to have a plan and think about it.  Since the mental back-and forth battles are the most challenging (and tiring!), if you plan ahead and then think about what you can and will eat, can and will do as exercise, can and will do when you sit down to relax -- it really helps.  (and if this blog sounds a little lecture-y, it's because these are the things that I have to tell myself over and over again to stick with the program!)   The eating plan from last year is a definite winner.  It calls for eating 5 or 6 times a day with protein at each time.  It also called for adding calories after a certain amount of time which absolutely goes against the grain of everything you think about dieting, but it works! You don't want your body to go into starvation mode by cutting too many calories and you don't want to walk around hungry all the time because that will backfire and then you will eat everything in your pantry.  I also eat everything - and by that I mean that I don't eliminate any food groups.  This isn't supposed to be a strict diet for six months - this is supposed to be healthy eating program for life.   Cooking on the weekend and getting my food ready for the week is also important.  On the weekends that I didn't, I could tell that it was easier to grab something (or two somethings) that wasn't the healthiest of choices.  And since I still have family at home that aren't the slightest bit interested in having anything with chunks of vergetables in it (the word they use is "contaminate"), and I personally prefer food that is contaminated with a lot of veggies - having it ready to go makes cooking the rest of the week much easier.    I did join Fitworks gym mainly because I know that strength training is important and I want to take some of the classes that they offer.  I also need the flexibility of working out when my schedule allows and that's pretty tough some weeks.  In another blog I'm going to write about my experience with the spinning class.  All I will say is now is:  oh.  my.  gosh.   One day at a time! Barb