One of the most powerful things you can do when you’re trying to change a habit is to tell people about it.  It’s worked for people quitting smoking and for those coping with alcoholism.  Now it’s my chance.

I won’t make excuses for myself about why I’m overweight.  Obviously, I ate too much and exercised too little.  My weight has bounced up and down ever since I was about 40.  I seem to be able to manage my weight only when I am getting regular cardio exercise, and my favorite sweat-producing exercise is using a Nordic Track.  I had one when we lived in the US, and I really hated to sell it when we moved to Mazatlán.  A while ago one was advertised for sale on the local message board, and I snapped it up! (No, that’s not me pictured above!)

I was under the mistaken impression that all the additional walking we do around Centro as part of our normal lives would help me slim down and be fit.  It’s good for you, but it just doesn’t do the trick.  Beer and quesadillas when friends gather at the beach didn’t help, either.

So for the last week I have been keeping track of what I am eating and what exercise I’m doing using a tracking program called Diet Controller.  (I tried some online ones, and they were too slow and full of advertising.)  It is amazing to me what the act of tracking what I actually eat and do does for me!  I am eating really well, lots of interesting things like pita pizzas, vichyssoise, stir fry, etc.  We’ve only eaten out once, visiting Pura Vida, where I had a vegetable smoothie (tomato, peppers, celery, cucumber, spinach) and a burrote.  I just ate a little less the rest of the day.

To keep the pace up on the Nordic Track, I downloaded a program that analyzes  iTunes to tell  what beats per minute the songs have.  Using that information I made a playlist  with all the 150 – 160 bpm music.  It is great.  So my workouts are going well, and I am getting into sweating in a big way!

There are also lots of opportunities for exercise here and there that I am taking advantage of when I can – the most obvious is swimming in the ocean, of course!

I’m down 4 1/2 pounds so far.  I know most of that is probably water since it’s my first week, but I still feel very encouraged.

I hope the power of disclosure will help keep me on track.  Now I had better go get another glass of water, right?