Lose 20 pounds

Okay, I’ve been fooling around for weeks, not losing any weight and I have finally bent and started writing down everything I eat. Not just pretending to know what it is – writing it down. I also discovered through this web site that I should be consuming less than 1600 calories each day if I want to lose weight. Since 1600 is not very much, writing it down will track it much better. Now I look forward to progress.

The course of true weight loss never did run smooth – or something like that. I haven’t weighed myself for the last 2 weeks and this morning I discovered that I am almost at 135. Effectively, I have lost 1/2 pound since last time. I am therefore not sure if I am going to meet my target of end of March for the 20 pound loss. However, I am still going in the right downward direction and I am encouraged by that. The sun is melting the ice outside even if it is still below freezing so I think I will be able to ride my bike by the end of March too. I think I will aim for 5 more pounds by the end of March which will get me below 130 for the first time in years. And I’ll be happy with that as an interim goal.

Only down 8 pounds from the start but still going down and not up so am happy with that. My birthday is next week so I must not succumb to temptation. I am still trying to change my attitude about eating and food – don’t think about it all the time! Also, have run into a discussion elsewhere on menopausal women and how they should not be too thin because fat holds estrogen which you need. Am not menopausal but am 48 (next week) BUT will NEVER be “too thin” whatever that is! For my size (small boned 5’2”) 125 pounds is plenty fat. I used to weigh 110 as an adult (in my 20s) and I accept that I will never see that again.

I weighed myself this morning at the gym and I am now down 7 pounds from where I started. I am pleased with my progress, especially given last week’s little blip with the cold. Still going to the gym at least 3 times a week and watching everything that goes in my mouth.

At the end of week 4, I didn’t lose any more weight this week – I’m down the 5 I was as of last week. Possible reasons:

I had a cold and missed two sessions at the gym
I have been snacking on trail mix, which has a nice crunch but packs more calories per ounce than something like rice cakes (note to self – get rice cakes)
I stopped writing down everything I put in my mouth and maybe I have stopped being so mindful

But I went to the gym this morning and I’m using the elliptical which burns as many calories as running. I’ve added a five pound weight to some of the machines on my usual circuit so I’m lifting a little more than when I started. We’ll see next Monday when I weigh in how this works.

I’m two days late at the weigh-in but I’ve lost another pound as of today and am therefore down 5 from the start. The single biggest change has been eliminating alcohol from my diet. The second biggest is that I am back at the gym at least 3 days a week. I have become more mindful of the calories I consume but I am too aware of food. I need to push food to a place where I am not always thinking about what I can or cannot have. If I’m hungry, I should eat. If I’m not hungry, I shouldn’t be thinking about food. I can keep myself busy with work and hobbies and thus distract myself but I’d like to get to a place where the default in my thought processes isn’t food.

From the day after new years. But I first weighed myself at the gym on Jan. 6 and from that date, I have now lost 4 pounds. It has been WORK but I am pleased with the progress so far. I just have to repeat this 4 more times and I will have lost the 20 pounds!

I have been keeping track of everything that goes in my mouth and I have been to the gym three times a week. I weighed myself today and I have lost a solid 2 pounds since January 5. The reason I can’t have any wine, not even a glass is that I need every calorie I can have to be a useful one. I’d have to go to the gym every day to be able to have wine and I think, since I sleep better and feel better anyway without it, I’ll just stay on the wagon for now. But that’s my “worst” feeling of deprivation.

So I went to the gym for the second time yesterday. I’ve also been keeping a log of everything that goes in my mouth. I learned to do this with Weight Watchers and although I am not bothering to add up points or calories, it makes me mindful of the food I eat. I have decided to resist weighing myself but once a week. The scale at the gym is the accurate one and I weighed myself when I started last Thursday. Unfortunately, yesterday I noticed they had changed the scale (as they do from time to time for some inexplicable reason) to the metric scale. Ack. I don’t like to weigh myself in kilos.

I am finally back at the gym after nearly 4 months away (due to many things including 3 viruses in a row and puppywalking.blogspot.com). I walked the treadmill for 10 minutes at 3.8mph, then went around the weight machine circuit then did 15 more minutes on the treadmill. I also weighed myself for the first time since September and was aghast. I’d already quit drinking on January 2 to cut out the empty (but oh so wonderful) calories. When I saw what the scale read, I decided then to add this (back) to my 43 things. Now I will use this to keep track and motivate myself. I know I can lose 2 pounds per week but I also know it gets more difficult the more I lose so my time limit will be the end of March – more than just 10 weeks (2×10 = 20).