Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The Beginning

The key to losing weight is to eat less and exercise more. Sounds easy right? But daily struggles get in the way. We grab something easy. A processed snack, fast food, or food that doesn’t need to be prepared. It becomes a way of life, and before you know it we’re shopping at Lane Bryant.

I have done most
fad diets, the grapefruit diet, the seven day diet , 3 day diet (you can have ice cream on this one), Weight Watchers, L.A. Weight Loss, Atkins, South Beach – the list is endless.
They all work for a while but what it boils down to is: Eat healthy, cut down on processed food, watch portions and exercise.

"Don’t start on Monday." This was something I heard in a Weight Watchers meeting and seems to make sense. If you start at the beginning of the week and the first day doesn’t go according to plan, then you may decide to wait another week and start next Monday. I’m starting on Friday. Might as well jump in with both feet.

My goal is to lose 25 pounds by Labor Day. That's 15 weeks (108 days) and works out to be just over 1 1/2 pounds a week. Although I need to lose more than 25 pounds, I thought this was an attainable goal for me and so this is the goal I'm starting with.

First things first.
Pictures - I took full length pictures (and side view) so that I can see a difference, and no you don’t get to see them. I may reconsider in September, but for now they will stay in my “Less of Me” folder.
Charts – I like to visualize a goal and have set up a chart in Excel which will show my progress. I’ll post this periodically.
Bathroom Scales – These aren’t fancy but I will use the same ones throughout, and I’ll weigh first thing in the morning to be consistent.
Measuring – I’ll dust off my tape measure, find out exactly what my measurements are and document those.
BMI – My
BMI is currently unhealthy and needs to be between 18 and 24. Check your BMI here.
Cholesterol, LDL, HDL, Triglycerides
levels – Fortunately are not high for me, but they could be better.
Pedometer – I’m going to wear a pedometer most days and my goal is 10,000 steps per day. I say most days because some of my clothes are too tight to clip the pedometer on the waist band – pretty sad.

Disclaimer

Any information in this blog should not take the place of medical advice from a professional. I am simply sharing my journey.