Checking in. Again. Sigh.
Things aren't going great, but they aren't going too bad, either. I guess the honest answer is that, for right now, I'm maintaining.
We started a "Biggest Loser" style weight loss competition at our office and there are 7 of us competing, so I'm doing my best to use that as a source of motivation. After this week's weigh-in, I'm second-to-last, but I'm not going to let that get to me. It was our first week of competition and some of the people had staggering week 1 numbers. I'm convinced that slow and steady will win this race, so I'm still going to fight for it.
I set two big goals for the 9-week duration of the competition.
1. Lose 18 lbs., or 2 lbs. a week on average.
2. Don't have to pay the "weight gain" penalty in any week.
I know that goal #2 will be easy, but goal #1 is going to take my all my willpower and discipline to take care of. I'm not off on the best foot, having only lost 0.4 lbs. last week, but I know that I can make up the difference with one big week. I'm hoping this week will be it!
Aside from the competition, I've decided to start setting other goals for myself. Each goal will cover 7 days and I will reward myself if I make my goal. Then, I will set a new goal for the following 7 days, but will only reward myself if I maintain the first week's goal as well as accomplish the new one. Typing it out makes it seem complicated, but it's really not. My hope is that this will lead me to build, develop and retain the skills I feel are necessary for a healthy lifestyle. My first 7-day goal is to keep a VERY detailed consumption log. I think my biggest weight loss gaff right now is my unconscious eating. I'm sure that recording every item that goes into my mouth will help me to see unhealthy patterns and get to work on fixing them. My reward for reaching this first goal is a pretty, new food journal from Ivey's.
Well, that's the update for now. July didn't go quite the way I wanted it to, but that's my own fault. I will see to it that August goes better.
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Getting there
Wow, April is almost half over. I'm really not sure what the outcome of this month is going to be. I've made a lot of changes, but things have still been challenging. For example, I've worked out every night this week except for tonight, my planned rest day. My eating last Friday through this Wednesday was horrible, though. It started with Chinese food and then snowballed into a DQ chocolate dipped cone, quite a bit of food, including dessert at our Sunday School class' Easter Picnic, Whoppers, sodas, donuts and some cookies. Finally, a FB post that revealed our office didn't have a great week for weigh-in and the ensuing responses (mostly a "pass the buck" game between myself and my office-mates), I decided to just shape it up already. And I have. Two CLEAN days. What do I mean by clean?
Diet: I've transitioned into a pescetarian lifestyle. My reasons for doing this are solely based on my health right now. I'm going to have a clean, veggie and seafood-filled couple of days to start. Our mini-vacation starts next week, so I'm just going to play it by ear while we're there. It's not a place known for its seafood or vegetarian fare. After that, it's clean eating until the end of May, when we're in So. Texas for family-visiting. We'll be spending time on the coast, so I'll be devouring the seafood there, but I will probably bend for some REALLY GOOD meat. For example, MM and I are planning on visiting our college town and we'll probably stop at the little BBQ joint there. It's the best not-home-grilled BBQ either of us has ever had, so I will definitely yield for some brisket. I will not, however, break my pescetarian ways for a Whataburger. It's just not worth it!
So far the lifestyle change in regards to my eating habits has been easy. I love veggies and legumes, so most of my meals have come easily. I've already developed two new recipes to replace some of our "meat" favorites. The great thing about that is that I'm able to cook MM's food as usual and mine is a twist on the original that can be prepped and cooked right along side of his. That's going to be my main goal; not create extra work for us through this lifestyle. The slightly harder part is the seafood, but I've been stocking up on some good quality frozen fare that will do.
Exercise: Early in 2009, MM started "training" me. What I mean by that is that he gave me an "approved" and "not allowed" food list and set up my workout regime. We both feel the eating changes are going to be for the best, but my workout routines were definitely lacking. We're back to that system with MM "training" me 3 - 4 days a week and I pick a lower-intensity workout on the alternating days. It has worked really well and I know I'm getting a great workout.
We have a HUGE back yard, so one of the workouts he gives me is a game of "tag". That's right, we play tag. My goal is to not be "it" when the timer goes off, usually at 20 - 25 minutes. If I'm not "it", I get to walk a few laps and then cool down. If I'm "it", I get the pleasure of sprinting a few laps or doing a push-ups until I'm at failure. Have you played "tag" as an adult? It's a great cardio activity and it's total-body. Short bursts of sprinting, turning on a dime; it's all wonderfully taxing on my body. THAT'S a great workout, if you ask me.
At this point, I'm definitely not on schedule, but I'm not giving up. I'm just going to keep at it until I get myself down to my goal. I know it's doable. Today at work I had to ignore the temptation of breakfast burritos, cookies, a mini-candy bar that was a gift from a coworker, sodas and a huge hunk of delicious-looking meat that MM grilled for himself (I had grilled eggplant, yellow squash, tomatoes and red bell peppers). I got through that without feeling like I was missing out, so I can get through hundreds of days more, if that's what it takes. I'm going to get there...one way or another.
My weigh-in this week was 194.8. My goal is to be 182.8 by the end of June. I'm sure I can make it if I keep this up. My goal reward is going to be Volume One of The Amory Wars, a comic trade book I'm dying to get!
Diet: I've transitioned into a pescetarian lifestyle. My reasons for doing this are solely based on my health right now. I'm going to have a clean, veggie and seafood-filled couple of days to start. Our mini-vacation starts next week, so I'm just going to play it by ear while we're there. It's not a place known for its seafood or vegetarian fare. After that, it's clean eating until the end of May, when we're in So. Texas for family-visiting. We'll be spending time on the coast, so I'll be devouring the seafood there, but I will probably bend for some REALLY GOOD meat. For example, MM and I are planning on visiting our college town and we'll probably stop at the little BBQ joint there. It's the best not-home-grilled BBQ either of us has ever had, so I will definitely yield for some brisket. I will not, however, break my pescetarian ways for a Whataburger. It's just not worth it!
So far the lifestyle change in regards to my eating habits has been easy. I love veggies and legumes, so most of my meals have come easily. I've already developed two new recipes to replace some of our "meat" favorites. The great thing about that is that I'm able to cook MM's food as usual and mine is a twist on the original that can be prepped and cooked right along side of his. That's going to be my main goal; not create extra work for us through this lifestyle. The slightly harder part is the seafood, but I've been stocking up on some good quality frozen fare that will do.
Exercise: Early in 2009, MM started "training" me. What I mean by that is that he gave me an "approved" and "not allowed" food list and set up my workout regime. We both feel the eating changes are going to be for the best, but my workout routines were definitely lacking. We're back to that system with MM "training" me 3 - 4 days a week and I pick a lower-intensity workout on the alternating days. It has worked really well and I know I'm getting a great workout.
We have a HUGE back yard, so one of the workouts he gives me is a game of "tag". That's right, we play tag. My goal is to not be "it" when the timer goes off, usually at 20 - 25 minutes. If I'm not "it", I get to walk a few laps and then cool down. If I'm "it", I get the pleasure of sprinting a few laps or doing a push-ups until I'm at failure. Have you played "tag" as an adult? It's a great cardio activity and it's total-body. Short bursts of sprinting, turning on a dime; it's all wonderfully taxing on my body. THAT'S a great workout, if you ask me.
At this point, I'm definitely not on schedule, but I'm not giving up. I'm just going to keep at it until I get myself down to my goal. I know it's doable. Today at work I had to ignore the temptation of breakfast burritos, cookies, a mini-candy bar that was a gift from a coworker, sodas and a huge hunk of delicious-looking meat that MM grilled for himself (I had grilled eggplant, yellow squash, tomatoes and red bell peppers). I got through that without feeling like I was missing out, so I can get through hundreds of days more, if that's what it takes. I'm going to get there...one way or another.
My weigh-in this week was 194.8. My goal is to be 182.8 by the end of June. I'm sure I can make it if I keep this up. My goal reward is going to be Volume One of The Amory Wars, a comic trade book I'm dying to get!
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