52 pounds in 52 weeks

I recently read about Ed Ugel's book "I'm With Fatty: Losing Fifty Pounds in Fifty Miserable Weeks."  He details his journey attempting to lose 50 pounds in 50 weeks spurred by a medical issue.  Reading about his journey and others, I realized that my problem, like so many other people, is that when I start to lose weight, I get discouraged because I'm so far from my goal.  Fifty weeks is a long time, but fifty pounds is a lot of weight.  And, one pound a week doesn't seem that difficult to lose.  That's 1/7 of a pound per day, which is equivalent to 500 calories that I would need to exercise to burn off or eat less.  I weighed 212 pounds as of earlier this week.  At 5 feet 7 inches, that gives me a BMI of 33 which puts me in the obese category.  A healthy BMI is 20-25.  According to the BMI calculator I used, a healthy weight for me would be 128 - 160 pounds.  What do you know, I'd have to lose 52 pounds to reach the healthy weight range.  Therefore, my resolution for 2012 is to lose 52 pounds in 52 weeks.  I'll start on January 1st, my weeks will be from Sunday to Saturday, and I'll either update here or on twitter (@Megggara) with how I'm doing.

I'm found several blogs out there where people have attempted the same thing but the blogs only lasted a few months, or even weeks.  I've also had trouble sticking with blogs or tweeting as you can see from previous entries.  Hopefully, I'll use these tools to keep me accountable.

If you have suggestions on how to lose a pound a week or if you want to join my weight loss adventure, let me know!

Consumed

Geez, it's been a while.  I skipped a week of running.  I started week 4 of Couch to 5K and it killed me.  So, I decided to take a break and pick back up with week 3. 

I've also been consumed with a new business venture that I've been thinking about and got started with this week.  I'm really excited about it!  I'm hoping this is what will help enable me to become a stay-at-home mom!  Go to www.eveventure.com/meghan to request more information.  I'd love to share and enable you to reach your goals too!

Just Keep Running!

I just finished workout 1 of week 3 of Couch to 5K!  It went great.  This week, we jump from the longest we've run of 90 seconds to a full 3 minutes.  I just had to keep reminding myself to just keep doing it.  Eventually, it will be easier and I'll be at my goal of 3 miles in 30 mintes 3 times a week!

Hello Again!

My goodness!  I did not think I'd go a whole week without posting here and I went even longer!  Sorry!  This last week was my husband's first week at a new job.  Longer hours and a much longer commute have reduced the amount of family time we have in the evening.  It also reduces the time I have to work on things after my son goes to bed because we are continuing to keep him up later than we'd really like so that he can spend more time with my husband.
On to progress with the five endeavors...
We went to church yesterday and I really did not want to at first.  But, I figured that eventually, if we go often enough, it will become a habit and I'll want to go.  I'm glad we did go because I enjoyed the sermon of the day and we got to visit with an old coworker of my husband's that he hadn't seen in years. 
I think we've figured out a plan to work towards me being a SAHM.  As soon as we can, we'll start living on my husband's paycheck only and saving mine.  Once we know that will work, I'll go part-time at work to ensure that I won't miss work too much and that I really do want to stay home with my son all day, every day.  I'm sure that I do, but it will be good to reduce my work in stages.
I've also put out an add on Craig's List looking for typist work to do from home.  Hopefully, I'll get a few jobs that way just to make a little extra money.  And, I'm still thinking about that life coaching course.  I do want to do it, but I'm planning on waiting until October to sign up for it.  Maybe that will be my next 30 day project!
I've been doing a terrible job tracking my food or sticking to a plan.  However, I've continued with the Couch to 5K program!  I just finished Week 2!  I think I'll probably repeat week 4 a couple times to increase my speed.  Yesterday I ran at 4.3mph, which is slow, I know, but it is what I can do right now.  At the end of the program, I'd really like to be running at 6mph for 30 minutes, so that will take a bit of work.  I'm really proud of how I've stuck with it and I'm confident that I will keep it up.
I didn't get too much done around the house, other than some work on my son's room.  But, I've ordered a notebook to help keep my organized and doing small tasks everyday.  I read about the notebook on someone else's blog, but I don't remember where.  I also bought a tablet pc that was available on Woot for pretty cheap because the company is out of business.  I'm hoping to use it for tracking coupons, grocery lists, meal plans, family schedule, and our budget/expenditures.  I'll let you know how it goes.  I've already found a few good apps to help me on my way!
How do you stay organized with all that life throws at you?

30 Days!

In an effort to improve my life all around, I've started my own personal 30 Day Organizational challenge after seeing the one detailed here.  I'm documenting my experience during this challenge on my other blog.  So come check it out!

Percolating

Last night I completed my second workout of the Couch to 5K program.  Compared to the first workout, it was harder in some ways and easier in others.  I knew I could push through the pain of my body protesting to the exercise I’ve so long avoided but I didn’t have the sheer excitement and anticipation I enjoyed for the first workout.  The walk/run went well and I am looking forward to my next workout tomorrow.  

I did receive my workout plan from the exercise specialist at the weight loss program at work and I was incredibly disappointed.  Basically, everyone got the same paper that listed different equipment and how long and at what setting you should exercise at to increase duration from 15 minutes to 45 minutes over a 12 week period.  I was hoping for something a little more individually tailored.  Needless to say, I’m going to stick with my workout plan and not use theirs.

On a different note, I’ve been trying to come up with a plan for endevour number 1, trying to merge the desires of being a SAHM and making money.  I briefly considered the different medical type jobs that are possible from home (trascription, billing) and decided they weren’t from me.  Then I read about people doing paralegal work from home.  For a while in my life, I wanted to be a lawyer, so that sounded good, but it seemed like you could only do that work from home after working in the field for years.  That isn’t helpful when I want to start at home ASAP, not in 5 years.  Then, I was flipping through a book, 101 Businesses You Can Start with Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms and Dads, and it mentioned a career as a life coach.  As I read more about it, I started to get really interested.  Actually, a life coach sounds like exactly what I need right now to help me succeed with my five endeavors, but I’m trying to coach myself instead.  Life coaching sounds pretty neat, helping people to achieve the goals they set for themselves to make their lives better.  I’ve been looking into a few courses that I could take electronically and I’m trying to give the idea some time to percolate so I can figure out if I’m interested because it is a new idea or because I could really see myself becoming a life coach.  For now, I’m definitely leaning towards the latter.  If you have any resources or insights you’d like to share on life coaching, I’d love for you to do so!

And So It Begins

I did not wake up yesterday intending to start anything new in my life.  And I'm not sure what triggered my realization that thinking about/wishing for/planning for weight loss doesn't actually make you lose the weight.  It also doesn't get you fit.  I've done a lot of dreaming and visualization when it comes getting a healthier and trimmer body.  The problem is that I'm always looking toward doing something about it but not actually doing something about it.  I've made attempts in the past, but usually they go hand-in-hand with disclaimers and conditional statements about how it is ok if I don't follow an exercise plan to the letter or if I take a cheat day on a diet multiple times a week. 
It suddenly became so clear, so obvious.  If I want to lose weight and get fit, I need to actually do the exercise along with my following a nutrition plan closely.  I said before that "someday" I want to be able to run 3 miles a few times a week and I'm "thinking" of starting a program to get me there.  Seriously?  What is that?  I've had this running goal for years.  Many, many years.  I usually get ahead of myself when I start a program to work my way up to running that much but I alter it and end up getting burned out.  No more. 
Yesterday was Day 1 of Week 1 of Couch 2 5K.  It was late, I was tired, and I starting getting scared that I wouldn't be able to do it.  But, I got on the treadmill and started going.  A few minutes in and I was smiling.  I was still smiling when I was done even while my feet were aching because they hadn't been put through a work out like that in a very long time.  It felt amazing.  I wanted to write you about it last night so I could fully capture my bliss but it was late.  Really late. 
I hadn't been able to figure out why this time is different until right now.  I am confident that in approximately 9 weeks, I will be running 3 miles 3 times a week and that makes all the difference in the world.

Losing It

Today, let’s talk about endeavor number 3, how to lose weight and get fit.  At my work, a 12 week weight loss program is offered for $100.  You get your money back if you meet your weight loss goal and they cap your weight loss at 12 pounds.  Wednesday started week 3 and I’ve lost 2 pounds.  I’m on track for the 12 pound weight loss but I’d like to lose 20 pounds instead and I’m not on track for that. 

So far, the program is pretty neat and consists of 1 hour long classes each week.  After reviewing a survey I filled out before the first week, they provided me with a nutrition plan.  I get a set number of starches, proteins, fruits, vegetables (although they encourage us to eat as many as we want), fats, and milk.  They also list a minimum amount of water I need to drink every day.  This all was delivered to me in the form of a booklet that I fill out each day and boxes to check off for each type of food I’ve consumed.  For example, there are 6 starch blocks and once I’ve checked them all off, I’m supposed to be done with starches for the day.  And, surprisingly, half a cup of pasta is one full starch.  Needless to say, I’m struggling a bit with limiting myself in that catergory.  The booklet also has room to fill in exercise each day.  At the end of the week, I turn my book in and I get it back the following week with comments from the instructors.

This past week, they did a fitness assessment during the class.  I was classified as “good” in sit-and-reach and grip strength, but my waist is too large.  Shocker.  This assessment will be used to build an exercise plan for each of us in the program that we'll get next week.  I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with. 

At the moment, my exercise plan consists of walking every other day and both weekend days for a minimum of 15 minutes.  I’m aiming to turn this walking into running eventually.  I really want to get where I can run a few miles (3?) several times a week.  Once I get regular exercise times built into my week, I'm thinking of using the Couch to 5K schedule to get myself from walking to running.

My intention is to share my progress with you throughout this weight loss/fitness journey.  More to come on how hard/easy it has been to follow this nutrition plan.  For now, I just wish that peanut butter m&ms were low calorie and fat free!

And this is me...

Earlier, I gave you hints of who I am.  I figure you deserve a more thorough introduction and an explanation of why you want to be my friend. 

Six and a half years ago, I moved here, away from all my friends and family, for my job in the engineering field.  It was an exciting time!  I met my husband in the same training session that facilitated the post-it conversations I mentioned before.  My husband, M, and I got married over 4 years ago.  We welcomed our son, W, into the world in December of last year. 

Motherhood is not what I expected.  I love it more than I thought was possible!  One of the many things I’m trying to sort through is my deep, very strong desire to become a stay-at-home mom versus the fear of losing financial stability or a comfortable lifestyle for my son. 

The other items I’m trying to juggle are:

1. SAH Mom vs work (mentioned above)

2. How to manage my household using weekends and the limited time I have after I get home from work during the week

3. How to lose weight and get fit

3a. How to fit exercise into my already stuffed schedule

3b. How to stick to a nutrition plan when sometimes I really just don’t want to cook

4. How to avoid losing my religion in the bustle of everything else.

5. And above all else, keeping as much time as possible to spend time with my son and husband.

We’ll call these my five endeavors.

I’m hoping that you, as my friend, will help me in these efforts.  Items 1-3 have been huge stressers for me recently so I plan on writing to you about these a LOT.

If you want, I’d love an introduction of who you are!  Let me know in the comments.

To New Friends!

Well, hello.  We are going to be friends.

I sat next to a girl I barely knew in a training session for work over 6 years ago and said that same thing.  Today we are still great friends; she is even my son’s godmother.  She and I sat together for that 6 week training session passing post-its back and forth to get to know each other better.  We’ve gotten older and are both married and starting families now.  In general, we’re busier and have less time for our post-it conversations. 

That’s where you come in!  Lately, I’ve realized that I just don’t seem to have enough time in a day/week/month that matches up with my friends’ time.  But I still need an outlet, a sounding board, and really, a source of contact outside of work, my husband, and my son.  So, thanks for taking on that function and becoming my new friend!