Goals

Following bendoeslife's example, I've listed out some goals I'd like to accomplish this year.  2012 should be a big year for me fitness-wise.  Here they are in no particular order.  As I accomplish each goal, I'll update this list.

1. I want to weigh 150 pounds or less. (currently 213)
2. I want to fit into a size 6. (currently 16/18)
3. I want my hips to measure less than 40 inches. (?)
4. I want my waist to measure 32 inches or less. (?)
5. I want to wear a size 34 bra. (38/40)
6. I don't want my thighs to touch. (They do.)
7. I don't want to have to squeeze into any adult-sized chair because my hips/butt/thighs are too big. (I do.)
8. I want to run a 5K. (Not yet.)
9. I want to run a 10K. (Not yet.)
10. I want to regularly run 3 miles 3 times a week. (Not even close.)
11. I want to regularly run 5 miles once a week. (Not even close.)
12. I want to run a mile in under 8 minutes. (Ha.)

Food

I was going to log my food intake here, but I'm not going to.  Maybe I should, but for now I'll stick to logging my exercise.  I got up early this morning and completed week 2 workout 2 of the couch to 5K program.  I was able to run at 6mph for 2.5 minutes again.  Wednesday, I'm hoping for three minutes.  At the end of the 2.5 minutes I was really, really tired, but not as bad as Saturday morning.  So that is something.  Saturday morning, I completed week 2 workout 1 of C25K AND I did Baby Boot Camp.  It was a lot for the morning, but I'm glad I did both.
Also, I got on the scale this morning and it said 213.0 so I'm hoping my weigh in yesterday was at the top of a water/big dinner the night before swing.

Unfortunately...

I did not make my weigh in this week.  Actually, I weighed in at 214.4 pounds.  Exactly what I was two weeks ago.  That means that next Sunday, I need to be at 211.4 pounds. 

Since I started running this week, hopefully continuing that will make weight loss easier.  I really need to watch what I eat though.  So far today, I've had a glass of OJ, a big bowl of cereal, and a couple left over bites of my son's waffle with peanut butter.

I also hope that I can reliably blog about how this is going.  We'll see.

Inspired

Last weekend I was visiting my parents so I wasn't able to weigh in on my scale.  I lost a pound while there and was super excited but then I stopped paying attention to what I was eating.  This morning, when I did a quick check, the scale read 214.0 pounds.  Not good.  I think some of it might be water weight because I've been focusing on drinking more water, but it still isn't good. 

Recently, I've been reading bendoeslife.tumblr.com.  I have been so inspired!  I'll let you read about his journey on his site, but it inspired me to decide that I would get up yesterday morning and run a 10 minute mile.  I haven't run in a long time and I wasn't running that fast then.  Needless to say, the 10 minute mile didn't happen.  But, I ran on my treadmill at 6 mph for 2 minutes and then completed the first day of the couch to 5K program.  Since I have a 5K scheduled for March 24th, I better get moving on that training.  So, every day that I run, I'll start out at 6mph for as long as I can, at least as long as the last time, and then do the next day of the couch to 5K program.  I hope to be able to run a mile in under 8 minutes but right now that seems impossible.  I also secretly want to run a 10K.  There is one on April 28th.  I put it on my calendar but probably won't register for it until I complete the 5K race.

I was hoping to get up early this morning and run but that just didn't happen.  Tomorrow, it definitely will. 

One Down and Fifty-one to Go!

I had grand plans of blogging and tweeting regularly about what I was eating and how I was burning enough calories to lose one pound each week.  Then, I took reality into consideration!  I'm a full week and two days into this journey and I'm feeling good about it.  I'm trying to make small changes as I go.  Changes I can stick with.

Here are the stats:

My first weigh in on Sunday, January 1st: 215.6 pounds

My first completed week weigh in on Sunday, January 8th: 214.4 pounds.

I lost 1.2 pounds!  This could have been more but I had a big hamburger and fries for dinner Saturday night.  My goal was one pound and I made it.  Even on weeks when I lose more than one pound (hopefully I'll have those), I still plan to keep to the goal of (at least) one pound each week.  That way I won't slack off.

If you are working on a weight loss goal this year, I hope it is working out well for you!

Day 1 of 365

Well, it is Day 1.  Unfortunately, I didn't do so good in the watching-what-I-eat department in the last few days and my official start-of-the-year weigh in is at 215.6 pounds.  Fortunately, today is a new day and a new year and my 52 pounds in 52 weeks challenge begins now.  I'm excited because I know that if I stick with it, this time next year I'll be at my goal weight.  I just have to stick with it.  Help me out.  Keep me accountable.  Don't let me slack off or give up.  Thanks.

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!