Well, the kids are back in school. That means establishing another daily routine. This is really important for me. I thrive on routine :)
My last update to the group was on July 30 and I have had success since then, but before I give all the stats I want to confess that there are spans of days where the scale is very discouraging. My brain likes to see a daily, steady decrease in weight (even .2 lbs would be fine). But it doesn't seem to work that way. My weight loss pattern seems to be a week of dramatic loss followed by up to 2 weeks of barely a change; maybe even a gain. Throw in a monthly cycle and WOW it seems really unpredictable. I believe the problem we might have with establishing a new healthy lifestyle is that the results are not as steady or as fast as we need them to be to stay motivated. It would be really easy during those periods of plateau and or gain to say "this isn't working, why bother, I quit." My "self-talk" has been: "Just Keep Swimming" ~ "Stay the Course" ~ "Don't Give Up!" When I follow my plan, weight loss is inevitable... it takes time and determination but it does happen.
I monitor my daily calorie intake closely, but I do have occasional events where I allow some "splurging". When this is only occasional I find it does not have a negative effect on my goal and even seems to help. Because of this I will actually plan in days or meals of higher than usual calories.
I am still faithfully doing my Curves workouts... 3 days a week... haven't missed since vacation. I believe this is really important for my metabolism and so that my weight loss is fat and not lean tissue. (the Curves plan monitors fat lbs lost vs. lean tissue lbs lost)
So here are the numbers...
Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today August 26 237.4 lbs 35.06 bmi
30.6 lbs down! (almost halfway to my first goal)
REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight"
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy"
Short term I want to see my weight/bmi decrease weekly. Achieving "Overweight" and then "Healthy" are my ongoing longer term goals..
These are my updated plans/guidelines...
1. eating 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day
2. continue Curves 3 times per week
3. water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
4. monitoring myself with Fitday
5. no eating after 7:00pm (I found this to be key!)
Some have asked about my fruit & veggie goal...
here is a typical day's fruits & veggies:
(all this is usually before dinner time then more veggies with dinner)
1 banana
1 apple
1 orange
12 grape tomatoes
12 baby carrots
4 celery sticks
1 piece of fruit in season (peach/pear/nectarine/plum, etc)
4oz Mott's all natural applesauce (ingredients: apples & water... No sugar,
hfcs, or other sweeteners! check the label before you buy!)
