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After yet another trip to to the beach without a beach body this year, I’ve been feeling like I need to make a change. While yes, I know a beach body isn’t the key to everything, I also feel like I’ve been neglecting my needs a little bit lately– I haven’t been watching what I eat, I’ve been snacking a lot, and I haven’t been drinking much water. With the fact that I don’t remember the last time I took exercising seriously, I’m just feeling like some change is due. Do you ever feel that way, like it’s time to make some changes? Well, I’ve broken my plans down into some manageable steps, and it starts with showing you how to be sure you’re drinking enough water!

A pretty common guideline that my doctor suggested was to take my weight in pounds, divide it by 2, and I’d have the number of ounces I needed to drink in a day… for example, if I weighed 150 pounds, I’d need to drink about 75 ounces of water a day to be truly properly hydrated. I know that I’m nowhere near that number, so I went to the store and found the biggest water container I could find. I picked up this one, which holds about 32 ounces. I love glass containers because I feel like they stay a little bit colder and don’t get that plasticky taste, but you can pick any container you like, including one you have at home!

Once you’ve got your jar, grab a permanent marker! Then, mark every inch on the water bottle (or mostly, I just measured top to bottom on my jug, and divided that by 6. Since my jug was about 6 inches tall, it worked out to be roughly an inch). Marking 6 places will cover 12 hours of the day– depending on your sleep schedule, size of your bottle, and water intake goals, this may mean you want to plan 1 refill (covering 12 hours of the day total) or 2 refills (covering 18 hours of the day). I decided to just mark out 12, while planning that I’d probably be drinking additional water out and about without my bottle.

Once you’ve drawn your lines, all you have to do is add the times on your jar– from about an hour after you wake up, plan to drink a little bit of water each hour. Essentially, it breaks up your hydration goal into manageable chunks, so you’re not reaching the end of the day and thinking “Oh no! I didn’t actually drink water today!” Having a jar with marked water intake helps me because I can look at the time and think “Have I really been drinking enough?” and then attempt to make sure I’m getting the right amount of water.

To maintain your markings, you’ll want to hand-wash the container just to be on the safe side, or use a dishwasher-safe sealant from your craft store to paint over the markings! Otherwise, if they start to fade a bit, you can re-draw them with your permanent marker.

It’s really easy to work on this project– way cheaper than the pre-made ones you’ll find all over the internet– meaning you can invest the money you saved into things like workout DVDs you’ll actually use or healthier food choices!

But a long look in the mirror told me that water intake was really only part of what I needed to work on. I talked to my doctor to get a plan in place for how much weight I needed to lose to be in a healthy weight range for my height and body type, and then I talked to my orthopedist about which exercise programs would be suitable considering my osteoarthritis diagnosis. By talking to them, I was able to arm myself with a plan and set goals– manageable, bite sized goals of weight loss that add up to my ultimate goal to lose 50 pounds. Taking a look in the mirror made me realize I’m not where I want to be, but that I could be if I drank enough water, managed my diet, and made sure to exercise. That said, who among us hasn’t tried once, twice, five times to lose the weight and struggled?

I was really excited to find alli® weight loss aid on the shelves at my local store for that very reason– that I struggle when it comes to losing weight. While alli® weight loss aid isn’t going to lose the weight for me, it does help by blocking 25% of the fat that I eat from being absorbed into my body. It’s the only FDA approved over-the-counter weight loss aid on the market.

Because I’m an overweight adult with a Body Mass Index of greater than 25, and because I’m not pregnant or breastfeeding, I’m a candidate for taking alli® weight loss aid, which doesn’t replace diet or exercise, but simply enhances the benefits that I’ll get from better eating and more conscious exercising*.

Basically, I take one capsule with each of my 3 main meals of the day, then take a multivitamin at bedtime. The startup guide and “read me first” information (start up guide link) is really helpful in giving me ideas to plan out my day, plus the website has some recipe ideas to help get me started in making sure I’m planning out good meals that will help me lose the weight.

For every 5-10 pounds that I lose with my diet and exercise, alli® weight loss aid can help me lose 2-3 more pounds on top of that, meaning that I’ll have a little bit more of a push moving forward.*

I’ve mentioned above how I plan to drink more water using my new water glass with time markings on it, but I also plan to change my diet in a few ways.

First, I really need to work on my nighttime snacking; during the day, I don’t tend to crave snacks, but at night, it seems like I go into a free-for-all where no food is safe from me wanting to snag it. I plan to curb this by setting myself up with a few smarter snack options, since I know I get that craving feeling at the end of the day– by making sure I have healthier choices, I’m not fighting with myself over those moments, but giving myself an alternative behavior. Hopefully, by changing what I’m eating, eventually I can reduce how much I eat at that time, too.

I also plan to be more conscious about my meal planning. For the most part, each week I have a list of meals I’d like to make, and just pick whatever sounds good or whatever I have time for… but a lot of times that means I’m looking at the clock thinking “Oh no! It’s dinnertime and I didn’t lay out anything for dinner!” which gets me into the habit of fast food, leftovers, and snacks instead of a meal. So, I’ve taken time to plan out my meals for the next two weeks, and even set helpful calendar reminders that will help me remember to set out what meats need to thaw in advance (instead of having history repeat itself with me forgetting to get dinner prepared).

Finally, I really want to focus on exercise. I’ve been talking with a couple of friends of mine who understand my struggles with osteoarthritis, and I’m still looking for the workout plan that will fit my needs the most. Until I find the right fit, I’m spending time walking with my son as we go on small adventures around town, being sure to stay within my doctor’s guidelines for physical activity.

The most important thing to me is making sure I have a plan, so I hope you’ll follow along with me as I share some of my successes (and potential less-than-successes) with you over the next month or so. In the meantime, I would love to see YOUR water intake glass, so be sure to tag me on social media if you decide to make one, too!

What have you found helpful when trying to lose weight? Let me know in the comments below, then check out the myalli website for more information or visit the social hub for more great ideas (link)! You can even snag a coupon to save on your purchase here.

 

 

*alli® (orlistat 60 mg capsules) is for weight loss in overweight adults, 18 years and older, when used along with a reduced-calorie and low-fat diet. Follow label directions. In studies, most people lost 5-10 pounds over 6 months.