Lifestyle Change needed, badly

I’ve decided to lose 25 pounds by the summertime – the end of June to be exact.

I think I can do this, but only if I stop drinking which I’ve been doing a lot of lately. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t drink to get drunk, but I do have a beer or two after work, then I’ll have a drink of Amaretto (or two) in the evening after dinner while knitting or watching tv or whatever.

Ah, amaretto…. How I love thee…. such a beautiful amber color, sitting in my little wine glass… swirling around before I take a sip...a nice warm fire going down my throat, to warm my belly. Ah.

25 pounds… such a small number, yet so big in the context of weight. I’m not obese, but I’m no spring chicken anymore either and I should get started on getting healthier again.

So, I’ve started on healthier living for the past couple weeks, while cutting my Amaretto intake down. From 2 drinks down to one and a half, down to one, down to my bottle is finished and I’m not going to buy another until I lose 25 pounds. (Well, maybe a small bottle to treat myself at the 10 pound lost mark – I’ve got to give myself something to look forward to don’t I?)

I’ve started to walk to and from work on a daily basis. It’s 45 minutes each way. Plus, I take the stairs whenever possible (and have 3 sets of them in my home so it seems that I’m always going up and down them). I’ve been eating smaller portions at mealtimes, and I’ve been eating healthier foods as well. I’ve cut out the junk food from my diet, not that it was ever a problem for me. I’ve also cut my caffeine intake down to one coffee in the morning (instead of 2 morning coffees, and then one in the early afternoon). I’ve started drinking peppermint tea with a little splash of honey to take my coffee craving away (does it work? Some days it does, some days I really want that second coffee but stay away from it – it’s not the coffee so much as the 2 sugars and ¼ cup of half and half I put into it.

I’ll still have the occasional ‘lite’ beer or glass of white zinfandel, and as long as I’m eating healthier and exercising, I should be able to meet my goal.

Today I also signed up on a ‘food diary’ site. OMG, it takes longer to find the bloody stuff your eating in their database than it takes to eat it!  But, I want to get an idea of the calories in and burned and this seems to be a good way to do that. Wish me luck.