Item number one on my BlogHer Bucket list was:

1. Lose at least 2 dress sizes

The plan so far might seem pretty loosey goosey (omg I’m starting to sound like my mother) but here it is:

1. Just say no

To the office snacks, that is. We often have extra food left over from receptions and coworkers will come and deposit really fattening stuff for us to munch on. So I’ll make a couple of batches of Katie’s Muffins, use the sandwich method to prepare lunches and that should keep me going with the goal of bringing all my own food to the office.

2. Fill up on veggies

My caveat to item 1 is that I can have office snacks if they’re veggies, and sometimes if they’re fruit (honestly, fruit doesn’t do a whole lot for me unless it’s berries or exotic fruits). But no dip. I work across the street from a veggie market so it’s not a problem to get fresh fruits and vegetables. So I’ll fill up on veggies before having my main meal. Except breakfast and veggies will be included in the breakfast.

3. Eat breakfast within an hour of getting up

For those of you who have followed WeightWatchers, you’re familiar with this. Eat within an hour of getting up to jumpstart your metabolism (and the milk in my coffee doesn’t count!). I’m pretty bad at breakfast so every couple of days, I’m going to mix up a batch of green smoothie and have that within an hour of getting up. Because I’m up at half past dark (only when it’s the middle of summer though – the rest of the time it’s still dark), I usually have a second breakfast around 10 or 11 am which is a breakfast wrap (that I will be making myself either on the weekend or at work in the microwave).

For the week I’ve been doing pretty well at having a piece of toast with peanut butter and marmalade within an hour of getting up. This keeps me going until 10 or 11 and then I have my wrap (an egg scrambled with quinoa, veggies and a bit of cheese).

4. Make sure I have a protein at every meal

I find that for me, protein is key to not feeling hungry, so I need something really solid at every meal even if it’s just a bit of protein in my salad.

5. Do something exercise-like every day

This is the hard one for me. Like I said, I’m lazy and I have a real problem sticking to an exercise program even if it’s the 30 day shred. So I’m going to change it up. When it’s nice at work, I’ll go for a long brisk walk – there’s a loop along the seawall I can do that’s about 5km (Google says 6, but I’ll call it 5). When it’s not nice, it’s an exercise video.

On weekends, when we take the poptart out, have her dad come along to the pool so I can go for a swim afterwards or do an exercise video while she’s napping. We’ve moved the Wii down to the office so I can use that there too. I also have a bunch of apps (100 pushups, 100 situps, etc) for my iPod Touch so I will do those as a last resort.

For the last few days, I’ve restarted doing the 30 day shred at work. For me, it’s a matter of just getting off my ample ass and Doing It Already. I have decided I just Do Not Care anymore and keep my stinky workout clothes in my desk with a fabric softener sheet.

6. Friday evening to Saturday evening is free

Except for eating breakfast within an hour of getting up and doing something exercise-like on Saturdays. I can have wine, I can have sweets, I can have potato chips and cream cheese (nature’s perfect food, you see).