Participate in a 43T Weight Loss Sprint

seeing as how it took so long. But still I’m feeling celebratory: I have conquered those 8 pounds!

Whew! Seemed as if it would never happen.

on the scales today I’m -7! So, again, I have just 1 pound to go for the Sprint. Yay!!!!

However, I’ll still need my newfound resolution, as I want to lose at least 7 more pounds after that, to reach my “lose 17 pounds” goal & get closer to my ideal weight.

Off to jog along the lakefront with V! She had never done regular exercise before coming to live with us, but this week she has begun going out to jog/walk. I feel really good about inspiring her even when I was in a bit of an exercise slump!

because of the addition of a person to our household. Having yummy dinners together, sometimes including wine or beer &/or dessert, has seemed important as a means of welcoming her & building our household community. Also I’ve been having trouble getting to bed in time to get up & exercise before work.

Internally I’ve done a lot of processing: Do I really want/need to lose more weight, given that I’m very healthy & my current lifestyle & hormonal state don’t make it easy to drop pounds? The answer is yes: I just don’t feel like myself, & my clothes would fit & look better if I trimmed down a bit.

It helps that in the past few days V has taken to exercising regularly herself. Even though we won’t usually be doing it together, it’s nice to have solidarity at home. :-)

So, having taking a two-week de facto hiatus to welcome V, I am publicly recommiting myself to this goal. Tomorrow I’ll get up earlyish, weigh myself, & go out running. I’ll return to keeping my suppers minimal (lunches already are), drinking just half a glass of wine or half a beer when either is included, & avoiding desserts except on Sundays.

I ate vast quantities of food while I was away (June 28 to July 3). However, I betook myself to the beach bike path for jogging/running three of those days. As of this morning, I was one pound up from my prior low—not bad at all, considering. So I again have two pounds to go for the Sprint.

pound down! One more to go! Hurrah!

I can’t tell you how happy I was this morning to see my weight, finally, two more pounds down. So for the Sprint goal I’m -6 with 2 more to go.

1. journaling food & activity at FitDay
2. cutting portion sizes, especially for starchy foods, to make sure calories are not excessive (staying between 1200 & 1500 most days)
3. BUT letting myself enjoy lots of fruits & vegetables
4. changing my bedtime
5. getting up earlier to exercise before work

Let’s keep at it, teammates! The shared effort is really helping me persevere.

unless I consistently go to bed earlier than I have been. My new bedtime is 10:30: from now on, if you see me at 43T past 8:00 Robot time (which is 10:00 my time), give me a virtual pinch, OK? Right now doesn’t count, & anyway I’m putting the computer to sleep now! See you tomorrow! :-)

(www.fitday.com) to keep track of my eating. It’s a bit time consuming, & sometimes one just has to cut corners (no way to figure out exactly how to count the made-from-scratch Cambodian noodles I had at church potluck yesterday!). But it has already been very helpful in the last few days; I’ve become aware that what I have been eating is more calorie-loaded than I had supposed. Now I’m cutting many portion sizes.

I’m also trying out supplements recommended in You on a Diet: chromium to boost metabolism & magnesium for building bone/muscle. According to FitDay, my regular diet seems to have been a little low in these nutrients, so it can’t hurt.

but I know why: I’m still not getting much extra exercise. My life these days just doesn’t have much space for it.

Not for the faint of heart, but I would love it if those with an intellectual curiosity about the dynamics of weight loss/gain would read this article in the NYTimes. Actually I was hoping that Monotreme would comment on it, since he’s a scientist & works with Weight Watchers on the side, but he’s taking a break from 43T at the moment.

I see the clear evidence that one’s weight must have a genetic component. But that doesn’t explain to my satisfaction why obesity has increased so much in the last 20 years. It can’t be that only obese people are reproducing!

I have seen over & over again that people who had been living in other countries gain considerable weight after they have moved to the U.S. & lived here for a while. There just has to be a strong lifestyle component to weight—& surely keeping weight off after one has lost it isn’t really as hopeless a proposition as this article makes it out to be!

Please read the article & post comments. I am trying hard to understand this.

in the midst of your exercise routine (also known as interval training) can really accelerate your weight loss & cardiovascular fitness, whether you’re an accomplished athlete or are just emerging from couch-potatodom: a NYTimes article.

I’m inspired!