It's been two months now since I left California for Texas. I'm as settled as I'm ever going to be, and therefore have no further excuses for poor nutrition. The move is officially over.
The culture shock is nowhere more dramatic than on the plate. The regional diet of Texas is so vastly different than California's. In San Luis Obipso, there were 3 donut shops in town. In Dallas, I saw 3 donut shops on one single intersection! I'm not kidding.
It's not that you can't eat healthy in Dallas. It's just that the fried, fatty and fabulous foods are in so much ostentatious profusion here. Even my weekly Toastmasters meeting is held in an All-U-Can-Eat Chinese buffet. Try making a speech with the aromas of fried shrimp and wontons wafting through the room.
Food is everywhere! What's a weight-watching girl to do?
Answer: go back to the basics.
WATER. Use the 8x8 Rule. 8 glasses of 8 oz each, which is approximately 2 liters per day.
FRUITS & VEGETABLES. At least 5 per day. And I don't mean starches, no matter what Texas restauranteurs try to tell you.
ACCOUNTABILITY. Any method of counting and rating your food intake will do. My personal preference is the Weight Watchers point system, but lots of people are using My Fitness Pal successfully, too. The third-party weigh-in at Weight Watchers is the objective scorekeeper I need.
DAILY EXERCISE. It was 103 degrees when I got here in August, but October is a perfect month to be outside, even in Texas. Whatever it takes to get exercise every day is worth it, for mental as well as physical fitness.
I'm on a campaign to get to my "race weight" by the end of the year, in time to ramp up training for the Cowtown Marathon on March 1. Care to join me, for the weight loss campaign, the marathon or both?
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