Budgeting My Food Choices: Is It Possible?

Well, I listened to the wrong voice last week and thoroughly enjoyed my birthday week. Thankfully, birthday dinners and treats only happen once a year. While I did use many of the freebie coupons I received from various restaurants, I also said "no thank you" to many of them.

As Thanksgiving approaches and my goal to lose 10 pounds to be at 207 by the end of the November looms, it means finding, creating and tweaking weight loss techniques that will work for me.

Although indirectly related to weight loss, one of the tasks I've been working on lately has been budgeting. My goal over the next couple of weeks is to try to figure out how to buy healthy foods yet stay in a reasonable budget. I often complain that unhealthy food options are cheaper, but I realized that I haven't actually done a lot of investigating at the grocery store.

With a little bit of research and if I plan out my menu for the week, I truly believe I can move from processed, quick-fix foods to healthy, homemade alternatives while still staying fiscally savvy. My tactic for this week is to use up the food in my kitchen so that my next grocery shopping trip will serve as a fresh food start.

While my food choices are still hindering my weight loss progress, I am slowly turning the gym into something I enjoy instead of something I dread. Other than running my first mile in a very long time a few weeks ago, I have also managed to complete 15 minutes of straight running! Also, I noticed that after my workout my body is tired, but I am not completely winded. Instead of gasping for air, I actually feel good when I leave the gym!

I am consistently running a mile when I hit the treadmill. I never thought there would be a day when I actually enjoy running, but I can honestly say that I find myself looking forward to running days. I know that I am still in my very beginner runner stage; just a few weeks ago I was complaining about running. I am finding that there is something so satisfying about seeing the counter on the treadmill hit one mile. My next running goal is to hit the one and a half mile mark.

It is crazy to think that in January I could barely run 30 seconds at a time. Other runners always told me to keep at it and to not give up. Well, I kept at it and hated every minute of it! I gave up a few times along the way, but 10 months later I am running consistently. It may not be much, but I can confidently climb onto the treadmill and run a mile. It did not come easy, and I have a long way to go towards my goal of completing a 5K, but the goal doesn't seem so far away.

I may not be a success story -- yet . However, I am finding small successes along my long journey. I am just a woman with a goal to get healthy. I don't have a personal trainer. I don't have a personal chef. I don't have endless hours a day to dedicate to my fitness, although I wish that I did.

I make mistakes along the way, but I am also learning a great deal from this process in terms of which foods to eat, which foods to limit and how create a lifestyle that is manageable for me. Is going to the gym seven days a week realistic for me? Not really. Is cutting out every food that I love going to be a change that I can live with for the rest of my life? Absolutely not. Applying nutrition and fitness principles and making them work is the key to finding what is manageable and doable for me.

More on Tipping the Scales:
Signing a Contract With Myself
The Art of Self-Control
Losing Weight 10 Pounds at a Time

After decades of dieting only to gain it back, two That's Fit readers have decided to finally rethink their relationship with food and exercise over the next year to move toward a lifetime of fulfilling, healthy living. Come by every week as Ashley and Lee share their successes and challenges as they tip the scale.