I need a pretty big kick in the butt! A little background... I was on a pretty good weight loss kick leading up to my vacation, and then we went off to my hometown for 12 days and I went soooo off track it's not funny! I was walking every day, so that was good. Anyways, while my boyfriend and I were there we were offered jobs. My bf would advance his career by 5-6 years and would nearly double his salary in 2-3 years, and I would be guaranteed a promotion in 2-3 years as well. It's very tempting, but we've have to give up a lot of our lifestyle. So thats what's on my mind, I am trying to make this very hard decision. With that on my mind I just can't seem to get on track with the dieting, not too sure if the decision making is related, or maybe I'm just still in vacation mode?

Diet wise I don't feel like I know what to do either! So if you don't mind I'd like to run what I've been thinking about by you all..
-No fast food
-Exercise every day - burning 500 calories a day... although not too sure about a reliable site to calculate this... input would be nice
-Drink less calories.
-10 servings of fruits and veggies a day (leaning more towards the veggies)
-Limit eating out

I have been exercising every day, and went shopping for some fruits and veggies today. Now I just have to eat them! Thanks for listening to my babbling, I think people around me are getting tired of me talking about this decision I'm trying to make.

-Aimee

Sounds like a good plan to get back to basics. Good luck making your decision!!!

Aimee, good to see you posting again. Looks good but I would also recommend writing all your food down as well. It always gives me a very good idea of what I have been eating during the day.

Hi Aimee. Moving and changing jobs are major events in our lives. Although they can bring excitement, they also can bring a large dose of stress. Are you using food to relieve your stress? It might be time to be creative and come up with some alternatives. Journaling and meditation are working wonderfully for me. For some people, exercise is a great stress reliever. In the meantime, I would make sure to get plenty of rest each night.

Regarding your plan, it looks really healthy to me. I'm not sure about the calorie expenditure on exercise. Maybe you can concentrate on your perceived exertion level instead. Are you just a bit short of breath? Do you have to push yourself to keep going and finish your time?

Regarding the babbling...well, babble away! We like babble.

Just curious why would you have to give up your lifestyle if you moved? I've moved approximately a bazillion times in the past 21 years of life. lol... so moving isn't really a big thing for me. It sounds like a great career advancement for both of you, but will it make you happy? Moving is stressful, and thinking about moving is probably even more stressful. Just be aware of everything that you eat. I started journaling my foods...just writing what I eat and when. Even if it's two grapes or a bite of this or that.. I'm becoming aware becaues then I think "i have to write this down" sometimes it makes me think twice before I eat something that's not going to help in weight loss efforts. As far as your diet plan works it sounds good.. I'm doing a similar plan. I'm drinking around 8 glasses of water a day. Cooking healthier, and eating out less often. Eating more fruits and veggies. And I'm going to gym about 5/wk.. each time burning 600 calories. Also if you have the wii.. the wii fit is a fun way to exericse and track your progress. ok I've written a book. lol sorry! Anyways, good luck with everything & let us know what you decide to do!

Hi Aimee! Sounds like y'all have some big decisions coming up! When you say give up your lifestyle what do you mean? Are you currently city dwellers that would go back to the country or something like that?

Thanks everyone for replying! Makes a girl feel warm and fuzzy inside

What I mean by change of lifestyle is that we currently live in Vancouver, which is a big city by the ocean, lots of walking trails, its pretty mild all year around, the coldest I've seen since moving here is -14, and that was this winter, which is an odd temperature for us! It averages around 4 degrees C. There are lakes everywhere, about 20+ beaches within 1 hour of my house, lots of hiking trails really close by as well. The city we'd be moving to is Winnipeg, winter starts in October and ends in April, winter temperature is -20, but goes to -30 easily. The closest lake is 1.5 hours away, but there are two rivers running through the city. Also, we live in the mountains now, and would be moving to flat lands. A lot of the things I do here I just couldn't do there, so thats what I mean by change of lifestyle.

midwife- I thought the basics was the best place to start, and it feels like I'm starting small! I'll need all the luck I can get... thanks!

carol - I have been so bad with posting lately, before we left on vacation is was a mad dash to get everything done, I really haven't had time to do more than read things on here lately. I carry a journal around with me all the time to write down what I eat, it's very handy!

Rhonda - I have been walking a lot, 45 minutes a day, and thats definitely helped. I am pushing myself, but not to a point my body can't handle. One day I was so deep in thought I ended up walking longer than I thought.. but its helping me to really process things. I really want to thank you for pointing out that it's a stressful decision, I hadn't really thought about that before you posted! I guess it's possible that I am stressed out.

nik - I have also moved more times than I can count, 3 of those times I was moving across the country, and most of the other times I was moving across the province, so the moving part feels easy. I'd also be moving back home, so it makes me wonder if I'm not moving forward in life, but more backwards? I dunno, I know thats what my mom thinks... so it makes me think.

Jen - Winnipeg is definitely a smaller town than Vancouver, metro Vancouver has 2.1 million people, vs Winnipeg has just over 700,000, with a small town feel.

Phew! How was that for a small novel?

-Aimee

Oh frick. There is NO WAY I'd move to Winnipeg (aka Winterpeg) from Vancouver. I PERSONALLY couldn't do it. I like in Prince George which has a very similar climate and it sucks balls big freaking time.

Okay now that I got that out

Plan plan plan. Plan all of your meals, incorporating all of your fruits and veggies. Find a way to make drinking water more palatable. I put flavoured de-caf tea bags in mine. Love it.

I know you can get back on track

cfmama - Thanks for the vote of confidence! I am gonna do a mega grocery shopping trip on Friday, that'll make a big difference! Now, would you make that move for money? We'd go from making 80,000 a year combined to 150,000 a year combined. We'd nearly double our salary's... its a toughie for me! Me likely money

-Aimee

Well, I've moved all over the world, following the money. Money is nice, when you know how to manage it. Getting more money can also lead to thinking, "Hey! We've got more money! Let's splurge a little!" And pretty soon, you're in debt.

Think about how your life will change in pursuit of the money. Will you be spending a lot more time at work? What will that do for your relationship? How are you going to manage both? What will you do for fun in the new location? What do other people do? Will being indoors more during the winter trigger eating?

Just playing devil's advocate...

Georgia

70,000 more? hmmm... invest in a good snowblower and GREAT snow tires (Blizzards rock.) We come to Winnipeg the odd time (and Vancouver OFTEN) we should arrange a 3fchicks meeting

cfmama - I didn't even know you were a fellow BC girl! I'm technically in Coquitlam, which is pretty darn close to Vancouver, 30 minutes or so... Why do you go to Winnipeg?

Georgia - part of the exciting news is that we'd be spending less time GETTING to work and so it would almost be like we are spending less time at work. It takes him almost 2 hours to get home from work, it really sucks. Those are some good questions.. I haven't even thought of some of them.. food for thought.. no pun intended

-Aimee

Wow...what a hard decision. All I can tell you is really make a list of pros and cons with both places, compare living expenses, activities, etc.....if y'all are doing ok on the money you both are bringing in now I wouldn't really consider that factor unless these jobs are total dream jobs and worth everything you'd lose out on in your current community. Good luck girlie! When we moved to the small town we live in now...although a bit forced....I don't regret it. I love the participation here but then again I have small children. Besides it's only 30 minutes away from my hometown of New Orleans.

As for getting back on plan it sounds like you have a good re-start plan. I'll also echo Carol's advice in writing everything down you eat. Not to make you feel guilty but to really help in reigning in the areas you want to improve on. Also maybe try planning out meals ahead of time to help get you back into your routine You can do it!