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Friday, February 11, 2011

Fess-Up Friday - Not So Bad

My confession is that I don’t have that much to confess and I find that totally awesome. Sure I nibbled here and there, had an extra portion once or twice. Life did what it always does and swung wildly out of control. My car broke down, leaving me unable to do my outside job one day and dependant on a friend for transportation the next day. The upheaval caused me to have to switch gears and work on writing instead. While I enjoy writing, I had spent hours prepping a crock pot dinner, making lunches for my family and putting together paperwork for my outside job. I had to completely change tracks in order to be productive Tuesday, something that usually stresses me and causes me to reach for food for comfort. I managed to avoid this habit!

Wednesday, I was out with friends all day and the tress of not knowing what was wrong with my car, how much it would cost to fix and how much work I would have to do to make up that amount was killing me. Still, I didn’t get the hot pretzel I was craving or the French fries with my steak for dinner. I made it through the day well under my calorie and carb targets. However, because I was out so much, I didn’t exercise.

We had snow Wednesday afternoon and evening. By the time my daughter got off work, she felt unsafe to drive to my house and pick up her daughter. So when I awoke Thursday morning, I had an adorable little surprise still sleeping at my house. Thursday was to have been my replacement work day. Again, I had made the necessary preparations which this time included driving my husband to work so I could have his truck, a truck that rattles and thunders and makes me nervous to drive. I sound like such a psychotic but you’d have to drive this truck to understand ;).

My son stayed with the baby so I could do my job. She was still there when I got home and stayed the whole night again. I got no writing down, when I really felt compelled to write. I had learned my car was ready and would cost $487. The third day of stress and I hadn’t exercised for the last 2. The good news is I really hadn’t eaten badly.

Somehow, in spite of the stress, I made it through. And I lost a little weight! Today, I weighed in at 246.5, a 2.2 loss from Monday and a total loss of 7 lbs since January 3rd. I lost in the last 5 days than I have in single week since starting this year.

Earlier in the week, a friend asked a group of us what we were going to do to ramp things up in February and my answer was to try to pay more attention to my carb intake, to lower it. That’s what I’ve done. I’m not actually counting carbs or shooting for a particular target number. I’m just trying to make low-carb food choices. And for me, that seems to have helped.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Monday: Progress Report

Well, I have finished 5 weeks of my life-style change and I’m beginning week 6. So how have I done? Not too bad. I’ve lost 4.9 lbs as of today, which brings me to 248.7. My weight has wavered 1-2 lbs throughout the process but it is slowly edging its way downward.
I haven’t rechecked the measurements because, well, 4 lbs when you’re as big as me isn’t enough to make much of a difference in measurements. My clothes don’t feel any looser yet either. No point in bringing myself down.
What has improved is my endurance or stamina. I can exercise for longer periods or at higher intensities than before. When I started taking Zumba classes 4 weeks ago, I was only able to do about 30 mins worth and at less than half the intensity of the instructors. The last 2 times I went, I was able to complete the full hour and I had short bursts where my intensity matched the instructors. Overall, I’ve seen my ability to perform the moves improve each week. I go again tonight and I’m anxious to se what I can do.
Even the exercise I do at home is ramping up. When I started on January 3rd, I was happy to complete 20 minutes of exercise at each session. Now I can do 30-40 mins on my Wii Fit programs and last night I managed 45 minutes on the treadmill. Granted, it was at a very low speed (2 MPH), but my heart rate was elevated for 45 minutes, burning calories and improving my cardio-vascular performance!
I have seen the progress and I know I will get better. The weight is sluggish to come off but it is coming off at a rate of just about 1 lb per week. Of course I wish it would happen faster. I’d love for it to fall off all at once. However, I will be happy if I can continue to average 1 lb per week. By the end of the year, I could be right at 200! I never thought I’d be happy to say I weigh 200 lbs! Lol! Who knows, with a little luck, I might even break that barrier.
How has your first month gone? Got any tips to share?

Circle 8 Anthologies Featuring my Short Stories