Weight Loss - one step at a time (3 simple steps to start)

Hello all!  In this post I am sharing what my current status and goals are, and a little further down 3 simple steps to get you started with your weight loss goals.

So I have a goal to lose 50 pounds by July 1st, 2014; that's about 10 pounds per month.  My eating habits have improved greatly since the holidays and now I am getting back to incorporating exercise.
First off I am searching for food options I don't have to cook or prep.  Right now I prep about 75% of my meals and I would like to bring the number down to at least 50%.  I currently prep about 3 times per week because unfortunately I share a fridge with 2 other people so as you can imagine, it gets pretty crowded in there.  Food prep takes time for me, and it's time away from working out.  I'm looking into some healthy, low-calorie frozen options which I can just nuke in the microwave, and of course keep some live food options (raw fruits/veggies) for snacks and weekends.

I'm not a fan of working out.  I would prefer to lose weight by taking naps if I could (hehehe) but that's not gonna work, at least not for my goals.  So I'm taking it back to when I first moved out here.  Back in December 2012 when I first moved to San Diego I walked A LOT.  I wanted to learn the lay of the land so walking helped me discover some "go-to" places.  I walked up and down the city of San Diego and lost 10 pounds in about 3 months, just from walking and cutting soda, and juice out (without changing my eating habits).  I figured if I could lose 10 pounds just from that, imagine how much more I could lose if I ate better and exercised more.  So I joined Beachbody and lost another 12 pounds in about 2 months (22 pounds lost as of July 2013).  My weight fluctuated since the holidays but I'm aiming to get back on track. I have been walking 2 nights per week for 20-30 minutes, and 2 other times per week doing Focus T25.  In a previous post I mentioned which were my favorite workouts from T25 (you get a bunch of different DVD's with the program), so I alternate those.  In addition, I recently purchased a sauna suit to help me sweat more when I'm "working out".  I wear it when I walk and when I'm doing T25.  I've been doing this for about a week and already noticed my belly feels a lot less bloated.  Here is the suit I purchased:

Just an FYI, I read in the reviews the suits run a little small, so get a bigger size.  I am between a 2x and 3x, and bought a 4x.  It fits me big but not uncomfortably so.

So if you're looking to lose weight but don't know where to start, start one step at a time:

Bitch, please! Where's my cheeseburger?

There are some days when I struggle with food, especially right before I get my period (yes I said "period" on my blog, whoa!).  I occasionally go on these crazy food binges.  I don't really go for sweets usually, I prefer savory over sweet, but when I get THAT feeling, I go in!  I'll go for "junk" food QUICK, especially my go-to comfort foods such as pizza, french fries, and chocolate chip cookies (can you say Cookie Monster)?

So I just give in to my occasional binge craze (since it doesn't happen often) and to try and avoid the madness I like to do what I call the "Saint/Sinner" technique.  Basically I'll be a Saint Monday through Thursday (avoiding processed foods as much as possible, drinking more water, incorporating more veggies, among other things), and Friday through Sunday all bets are off; I allow myself to be a Sinner those days.  I see these binge fevers as my inner child (my cutie-pie fat kid) having a tantrum.  She's like, NO MORE VEGGIES, WHERE'S MY BURGER BITCH?! So my Saint/Sinner technique works for me so she can stop trippin' so much.  Like today for example, it's Friday but I was "sinning" a little too much this week.  But ::sigh:: my little girl is not satisfied.  So what I think I'll do is try to compromise with her today.  I'll let her have that cheeseburger if she lets me add a salad on the side.

Let me know, have you ever experienced "tantrums" like this? If so, what do you do to get through?

By the way, have you checked out my FREE E-BOOK? It's called "Greens on the Side" and will help you get started with your weight loss goals in just 5 easy steps.  Check it out!