Lose 30 pounds

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 143.5
This Week’s Weight: 141
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: –
Calories Burned Goal: 600
Calories Burned: -

Wow, have I really been at this for 17 weeks? It sure doesn’t feel that way. I’ve been a terrible slacker lately though. I haven’t worked out in over a week. Not to say I haven’t been active but no real cardio to speak of. I’ve not eaten too badly though, considering the holiday. So that’s probably been my saving grace. I plan to get back on track this week though. I had a bunch of holiday/family stuff pop up the last couple weeks that distracted me but has since been taken care of. And my depression has gotten significantly worse, probably because of the weather. But I’ve been feeling better the last couple days and I have a check-up soon, so I’m not going to let that be an excuse not to work out. Besides, exercise is supposed to help with depression so I should be making a special effort to keep up with it, if only to help my mental state. I can tell I wont be meeting my goal of loosing 30 pounds, at least not in the time frame I set. But I feel OK about that. I think if I keep trying, I will get there eventually. And that’s not a feeling I’ve ever had before when attempting weight loss. So I’ll just keep going and hope that eventually, I make this lifestyle – healthy eating, regular exercise – a habit, rather than a goal.

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 143.5
This Week’s Weight: 142
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: –
Calories Burned Goal: 600
Calories Burned: 608

Well I’ve obviously been slacking on my SparkPeople program. The week before last was really bad – I only managed to work out twice that whole week. This past week was better though I’m still not getting 5 days of exercise in. I’d really love to work up to that this month. Barring a miracle I wont be meeting my goal of loosing 30 pounds by the end of the year. But I could get close. According to today’s weigh in I’ve lost 12 pounds, which isn’t even halfway there. But it’s huge compared to all the other times I’ve tried losing weight. So I’m just going to keep moving and hope I hit a stride eventually.

I decided last week that I’m not going to use the Nutrition Tracker for the time being. I’ve been using it since I started and it seems my caloric intake is pretty steady. And since my diets not going to change any time soon, I just don’t see the point. I know my diet isn’t healthy nutrition wise – not enough fruits and vegetables by half. But I can’t purchase my own groceries right now so I just have to eat what’s available to me. When I can start buying my own food again, I’ll probably start tracking again so I can determine whether I’m meeting my nutrition goals. Until then I’m going to skip this time consuming step.

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 143.5
This Week’s Weight: 147
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: 10,332
Calories Burned Goal: 600
Calories Burned: 551

According to my numbers, last week was definitely not a good one. I didn’t really think it was that bad until I ran the numbers. Way too many calories & not enough exercise. And I weighed 147 this morning but I’m not too worried about that. I always weigh a lot the day after I eat a bunch of crap, like on Halloween. Plus I started my cycle this morning so I’m terribly bloated. I expect my weight will seem higher this week. Now if I weigh next week and it’s still 147, I’m going to be terribly disappointed. But I’ll worry about that then. I feel like I can get back on track this week pretty easily. The only concern I have is that I don’t usually feel well during my cycle and I’m afraid I wont feel like exercising. I going to follow the “something is better than nothing” mantra and just work out as much as I can tolerate. If I get started, I usually end up working out for longer than I intended anyway. Hopefully I can make that work for me this week. I don’t want to use one bad week as an excuse to give up.

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 146
This Week’s Weight: 143.5
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: – 9373
Calories Burned Goal: 600
Calories Burned: – 514

I tried something new this week. I was reading a Daily Spark blog by coach Nicole about the tool she uses to stay motivated. It was the Monthly Tracking Calendar. She said it helped to see her progress. If she saw a lot of missed exercise days, she was motivated to work harder. And when she saw that she was meeting or exceeding her goals, it made her feel great about her progress. I used to do something similar in that every day that I was active, I put a silver star on my calender. But I think the small size and color of the stickers made it difficult to see. Plus, I became so used to seeing them that their meaning no longer clicked when I looked at the calendar. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try Coach Nicole’s method.

Of course, I don’t have $12 plus S&H to buy an actual Monthly Tracking Calendar. So I decided to see if I could use what I have on hand. I ended up just using my regular calendar and marking off boxes in each date to represent my goals. It ended up working pretty well. I couldn’t help but notice when I missed a goal and I definitely felt good when I saw a couple completed goals in a row. So I’m going to keep with this method and see how it goes.

Anyway, I’m cautiously optimistic about my progress. I lost a bit of weight this week and I did pretty well with exercise. Even on days I didn’t actually work out, I was doing something that kept me active. I still have a long, long way to go. But I’m feeling much more positive about my plan than I have in weeks. I just hope I can hold on to that feeling.

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 145.5
This Week’s Weight: 146
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: -
Calories Burned Goal: 600
Calories Burned: -

Another week of fail. I’m really annoyed with myself. I keep coming up with excuses for why I’m not making progress but I just haven’t made the effort. And I have absolutely no excuse for not making this goal a priority. I’m not working right now so I have plenty of time to concentrate on this. In fact, I should be doing this now because if I get a job – HA! – I’ll have even more difficulty making time to work on this. It just doesn’t make sense. I always sabotage my weight loss efforts with crap like this and I’m sick of this. I’m tired of doing this over and over again. I was looking over my old journals from college recently and they’re the exact same entry over and over again! I need to lose weight! Oops, I didn’t exercise or eat right! I need to lose weight! Oops, other stuff got in the way of my efforts. I swear, sometimes I think I want to be miserable. I just can’t stand the idea of another list of New Year’s Resolutions being topped by, “Lose weight.” This year, I want to see, “Maintain weight loss.” I just need to stop making BS excuses and do this.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Einstein

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 145.5
This Week’s Weight: 146
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: -
Calories Burned Goal: 600
Calories Burned: -

I’ve had a terrible time keeping up with my program lately. I thought this past week would be better but I got distracted planning for a yard sale. I was fairly active because I was hauling stuff around for hours each day. But I didn’t keep up with my calories nor did I do any additional cardio. I’m quite lucky that my weight has been stable despite my inconsistency. I’m disappointed because I know it will be virtually impossible to meet my goal now. Losing twenty pounds in twelve weeks is virtually impossible unless you’re doing something unhealthy. However, I have made some progress and I have a really good idea of what I’m doing wrong and how to change things for the better. So now I just need to get busy implementing those changes. Maybe I wont meet my current goal but if I keep trying, I know I’ll get there eventually.

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 147.9
This Week’s Weight: 145.5
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: 9276
Calories Burned Goal: 600
Calories Burned: 645

This week wasn’t much better than last. I have no excuses this time though. I didn’t feel like doing anything so I didn’t. I sort of fell down on all fronts this past week. I’m going to try and do better this week. It wont be easy because I still haven’t managed to break any of the bad habits that I need to. But I just have to keep trying. And I need to focus on the success I’ve had so far rather than on all the mistakes I’ve made. I’ve almost lost 10 pounds. And I’ve lost inches off my hips and thighs (though that raised my hip-waist ratio). And some of my clothes are looser so it’s like I can’t SEE the results. It’s just very hard to break the habit of negative thinking when it’s essentially my default. But that kind of thinking has never served me well so I shouldn’t give into it now.

Mini-Goals:
Wake up early enough to eat breakfast.
Eat breakfast
Limit calories to between 1200 & 1400 a day

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 146
This Week’s Weight: 147.9
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: 8618
Calories Burned Goal: 600
Calories Burned: 606

Major fail this week. I started taking a new medicine for my IBS which made me really groggy and sleep late. My “friend” was visiting and I just generally felt like crud. I’m disappointed that I already gained weight from last week because I did meet my weekly goal for calories burned and caloric intake. I figured at the least I would maintain last weeks weight. Anyway, I’m just gonna have to get back on the horse this week. I’m not going to try and “catch up” from last week because I think I’d probably just hurt myself. I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. I still have the issue of missing breakfast due to sleeping late that I need to work on. For a multitude of reasons, it’s vitally important that I get a normal sleep schedule down. So I’m going to try very hard to get started on that this week.

Mini-Goals for 09/20 – 09/26:
Wake up at 8am
Eat breakfast
Limit calories to between 1200 & 1400 a day

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 149
This Week’s Weight: 146
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: 9,095
Calories Burned Goal: 720
Calories Burned: 826

Progress at last! Oddly, I didn’t really do anything different this past week. I’m not going to try and over-analyze how it happened though. I’m just going to keep plugging away. And I need to keep in mind that 3 pounds in one week is not to be expected every week from now on. At this point I’d be happy to just lose one pound a week, as long as it’s consistent! But what will really be the ultimate test is maintenance. Will I be able to sustain this loss or will I blow it like I did last time? Guess we’ll see next week.

Mini-Goals for 09/13 – 09/19:
Wake up at 8am
Eat breakfast
Limit calories to between 1200 & 1400 a day

Starting Weight: 155
Last Week’s Weight: 149
This Week’s Weight: 149
Calorie Consumption Goal: 8,200 – 10,150
Calories Consumed: 10,502
Calories Burned Goal: 720
Calories Burned: 736

Well it’s way too early for me to have hit a plateau so I must be doing something wrong. I was fairly active last week but I could step that up a bit. And I really do need to add strength training. But I think the main problem is still food. My calorie intake is all over the map. Some days I don’t make it to 1000 and others I’m nearly at 1800. I’ve really got to start making an effort to stay in the 1200 to 1400 range. And I’ve got to start eating breakfast so I can jump-start my metabolism. I’d also like to try and start meeting my nutrition goals. The only thing I ever get enough of is fat, which really isn’t helpful. I need better carbs and lots more protein.

Also, it’s crucial that I re-establish my sleep pattern. I’m not getting to bed early enough which causes me to sleep through “breakfast”. Plus, sleeping so late so often really limits my activities. I end up having to choose between exercise and other tasks. And not having a sleep pattern can depress your metablism, something I’ve got to improve if I want to succeed. I’m hoping to hit the bed around 10pm tonight so I can get up around 8am. I have a lot of trouble falling asleep so if I manage to actually fall asleep by midnight, I’ll have gotten a solid 8 hours of sleep. That’s my hope anyway!

Mini-Goals for 09/06 – 09/12:
Wake up at 8am
Eat breakfast
Limit calories to between 1200 & 1400 a day