lose weight

I’ve lost enough weight that I am back in the normal weight range. I still want to lose more but I have decided to focus on the goal of being healthier. I imagine if I strive to be healthier that losing weight will follow.

I have totally fallen off track on this goal. I haven’t lost any weight in at least a month. I quit working out regularly. What started out as a short break turned into a rather long one involving regression into old habits. Fast food, Frappucino’s, soda, and too much coffee with real cream and sugar. I’m lucky I haven’t gained much weight back. It must be because I did get a workout in here and there, just nothing comparable to before. So tomorrow I am back in, and I am going to give it my best.

For the first few months I was really obsessed about this. Checking every online dieting community I could find several times a day, counting every calorie, etc. Now I just don’t think about it as much. This could be good or this could be bad. My weight loss is slow, but when I look back it was always slow. It doesn’t seem to make too much of a difference whether I obsess about it or not. I take that back, I feel much calmer now. I feel confident that the weight will come off, at the same time I know it will be at least four more months before I reach my goal weight. I am trying to practice patience and have trust in myself. I know what is good for me and what is bad for me, maybe it isn’t necessary to count the calories all the time?

I reached my halfway point today! I have lost 15 lbs and now I have 15 lbs left to go! I am so happy that the changes I have made to my eating and exercising habits are showing. I feel so much better about my body. Plus I seem to be in a good mood more often. I knew that taking care of myself was important but I guess I just never believed that eating healthy and exercising would really make me feel very different. Now I believe! I have been experiencing a feeling of contentment consistently, and that is unusual for me.

I’m looking forward to the 2006 Discovery Health Channel’s National Body Challenge. I actually signed up for the 2005 challenge and proceeded to do nothing! :/ This year will be different! Registration begins online December 30th. If you sign up prior to January 17th, registration includes a free eight-week membership to Ballys. The challenge begins Jan 14th and ends eight weeks later on March 11th. Registering for the challenge gives you access to an “online customized meal plan, a personalized activity and weight tracker, extensive information from doctors and health and fitness experts, a free eight-week membership to Bally Total Fitness, and online recipes.” I looked online and found a Ballys about 6 miles from where I live. I usually work out at home but I’m hoping to taking some classes at Ballys. My weight has not been coming off at a very fast pace at all. I’m hoping that this challenge will help me get to my goal weight. Hopefully by Jan 14th I will have 14 or less pounds to lose.

I actually surpassed my first short term goal this week! All the hard work is paying off. Less than 20lb’s to go before I reach my long term goal.

SW: 145
CW: 134
GW: 115
Height: 5’1”

I’m happy to be back on the downward trend. It has taken me five weeks to lose five pounds. I am happy with that (though I still have nagging thoughts that I could do better). Average calories for the week 1285 daily (26% fat, 43% carbs, and 31% protein). I think eating more calories a day helped get my metabolism going again. My latest exercise program is to do a jog/walk combination three times a week increasing the amount of time I spend jogging each time, alternating with three days a week of doing a 55 min workout with an exercise dvd that includes strength training. Today I bought a heart rate monitoring watch that should help me be aware of when I am in my target heart rate zone, calories I am burning, and etc. I’ve promised myself not to purchase any more workout equipment until I’ve lost at least ten more pounds. I have yet to reach my first short term goal of 135lb’s, at which point I think I will reward myself with a copy of House Of Leaves. I’m looking forward to that :).

:( Needless to say I am disappointed that I gained approximately a pound this week. What I did wrong: last weekend I did not exercise or watch what I ate. Eating right and exercising throughout the week was not enough to counteract the poor decisions of last weekend. When I did workout my heart wan’t really in it, which means I probably didn’t burn as many calories as usual. My calorie intake averaged out to 1100 a day (38% fat, 36% carbs, and 26% protein). Even though my calculations come out to 1100, I think it is safe to say I probably underestimate my calories by at least a 100 a day, so I’m still getting the recommended 1200. I bought some new exercise dvd’s and heavier weights to add variety and intensity to my routine. My goal for this week are not to slack off this weekend, eat less fat, and up the protein and water consumption.

I’m very happy that I lost 2 pounds this week! :)
My calories for the week averaged out to 1130 daily (30% fat, 35% carbs, and 35% protein). I had higher calories during the weekend and lower calories during the week. I am still working out every day. I think I lost more weight this week because I focused on doing more cardio exercise. My goal for this week is to maintain the 2lb weekly weightloss. I’m getting close to my first short term goal of 135 lb’s :). I’m thinking of buying a book as a reward when I get there.

This week I lost one pound and approximately one inch from my waist. I exercised an average of 45 minutes daily. Six days this week I alternated between the firm workouts (body-sculpting, aerobic body-sculpting, and calorie blaster). Two days this week I jogged/walked the three mile trek around my neighborhood. According to my fitday reports I averaged 1100 calories daily (31% fat, 37% carbs, and 32% protein). I think I would have lost more weight if I hadn’t gone overboard at Applebee’s with appetizers and chicken fettuccini alfredo last Saturday night. I need to learn to enjoy eating out occasionally without ordering fattening menu items. I still need to focus on drinking more water and eating less fat. I am considering following the menu plan that came with my workout video’s. Maybe I’m not getting the proper combination of foods.