Getting Fit: No Carb? No problem!

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I will admit it. I love greasy, junk food and I exercise sporadically. This is just no good! I'm 25, and I'm starting feel certain aches and pains in my body. Insert ear piercing scream here. It's time to make changes. I have said this a billion and one times, but this time I have you all as my accountability buddies. What is it that spurred me to this challenge? I'm currently taking Behavioral Medicine, and we usually have a case study in which we have to design a treatment plan. Well, we got a case study on obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. It was a slap-in-the-face-get-your-shit-together wake up call! The sad thing about it was that while we were discussing treatment plan, I was totally craving a BigMac from McDonald's. Ha ha!

Today, a couple of girls and I were discussing diet and exercise. They pretty much challenged me to a week of no carbs for a week. This will be especially difficult for me as carbs make up probably 75% of my diet. But, I have a plan. Because behavioral management such as reinforcement has been proven to increase behavior, I will be implementing one for myself:

1. Make a baseline. For the week of 05/31/15, Sunday, I will be keeping track of my carbohydrate intake. I'll record the following: day/date, time, setting, food/type intake, water intake, and exercise. I will be focusing more on setting and food/type intake for the week.
2. Set a realistic goal for the day. This will depend on how many times I eat carbs on a daily basis. For instance, my goal can be just 1 meal with carbs for the day or 1 type of carbs for the day.
3. Create a schedule. Make a schedule of when and where to eat. That way, the behavior will only occur at a certain place and time. This will help make the behavior into a routine, as well.
4. Find a reinforcement and a buddy. My reinforcement or "reward" for meeting my goal for the day is a makeup item in the "online" shopping cart. Since we all know I'm broke, I'll purchase the makeup from LA Girl (I've been eyeing that concealer for a while now!). I'll ask my man-friend to help me be accountable for my actions. For my negative reinforcement, I will remove use of social media (who can survive?!)

It's  not an exhaustive behavioral plan, but for now, it will do. Note that I will be replacing carbs with protein. You are welcome to join me for this challenge. Let's keep each other motivated!

P.S. This is definitely starting the next day, because I ate Burger King for lunch. Oops, my bad!

Best,

Aly