Checking In

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.