Woohoo! I only gained 1 pound*!
*Kat was a bad girl over Memorial Day weekend.
I weighed in at 94.3kg this morning (19 kilo for the year so far). I had hoped to be 93kg by the end of the month - the official transition from obese to merely overweight. I’ll not kick myself though. I am losing subcutaneous fat - my lower belly roll is no longer a big handful, my moobs are shrinking, and there is a shadow of muscle definition on my upper abs (or maybe that last one is wishful thinking). My belt measures 39 inches, but my 40 inch cargo shorts will fall off me without a belt, and I may have to stop wearing my wedding ring - not because my wife has left me, but because I am scared of it falling off. It is that loose.
And - I went to the gym last night for my upper body workout. It was raining, so I took the car instead of running the 1/2 mile. I hate running - it’s more of a stagger, really, but I push myself to do it. I finished my workout (about 700 cal according to my gym key), then looked at the treadmill. I got on, set it on 1.5% gradient, 10km/h, and ran the pace for 12 minutes (2km). Under 10 minutes for a mile, after a full workout. Since one of my goals for this year is to run 10km, this was a good demo that it should be achievable - the treadmill indicated that it is about 900cal to run 10km. I can do that over an hour or so in bursts, some some is anaerobic weight-pushing. So my goal is to push my cardiovascular fitness a bit harder to extend and maintain that running pace for an extended period. During my leg workout I do run on the treadmill, but with more slope and some breaks (running 14 out of 15 minutes, average 9km/h and 5% slope). Next month I’ll push this stuff up to 18-21 minutes running. Maybe one sunday (I work out mon/tue/thu/fri) I’ll pop in and just run to see how far I can get when really fresh.
So a pretty good week overall.
Si
Those are some major non-scale victories!
I have one to share myself. I am happily and comfortably wearing size-10 pants today. I had these same pants in a 12 but they were getting pretty huge. I loved them so much that I ordered another pair in a 10. They fit perfectly.
This weekend is going to be a semi-free weekend for me. I’m going to my sister’s and will try to keep a handle on things, but if I should happen to accidentally eat a piece of turtle cheesecake or drink a couple of beers I’m not going to sweat it. On the plus side, my sister knows how much I’m into this fitness thing these days so she suggested we try out some of the trails where she lives. I can’t wait. Have a great weekend everyone!
Considered, and done - they’re a snug fit but on the whole rather better than a 44" waist was in September. Go me! 
I have noticed my clothes are looser. I have a darling grey suede skirt that I’m afraid is not going to fit me in another month, and a lovely deep turquoise dress with a braided belt, and I had to do something creative with the belt in order for it to fit!
I tried on (for fun only) a dress at Belk’s that was a size smaller than I wear now…and it fit beautifully! Go me, go Si, go yellowval, and everybody else! We’re doing great.
Except for Kat…bad Kat. No soup for you! (Well, broth based is fine. No lobster bisque.)
pouts at ivylass
Be nice. Or I’ll list everything that I ate.
Okay, I’ve decided that I need to get serious about dropping the pounds again, sort of let things slip for most of the spring. Weighed in at around 276 yesterday, which means that I have made a little progress since the last time I checked, but not really enough. So here’s the plan:
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Walking for exercise, twice a day - mornings and evenings on the weekend, afternoons and evenings when I have work. I have been pretty good about walking from the office to the downtown Burlington bus station lately, about a 3 kilometer hike, which I can do in 30-40 minutes, and saves me paying for a two dollar burlington transit ticket in addition to my HSR monthly pass.
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Common sense dietary stuff: reasonable size portions, healthier food choices, and fewer fatty snacks.
Wish me luck!
Hi. I hope it’s okay to post here considering it’s… JUNE!
The first 25 years of my life have been relatively sedentary and unhealthy. I’ve watched a lot of people age lately, and it scares me how vulnerable you can be in your later years if you don’t take care of yourself on an ongoing basis. This was the foundation for my decision to change the way I behave with respect to my own health.
I started with taking up running. What I did not expect was to absolutely adore this activity with all of my heart and soul. I’m going to run a 5K on July 4th, and part of the reason I want to lose weight is to improve my running efficiency.
I also completely overhauled my eating habits. It started when I was put on a high-fiber diet for IBS–I was AMAZED at how much of a difference a diet change can make. Because I had to eat all that fiber, I started eating less junk food (I just didn’t have the appetite, fiber is really filling.) From there I started morphing to a ‘‘mostly fruits and vegetables’’ diet, and recently I’ve taken it even further, stocking my fridge with 80% fresh produce, some cheese, and a few other natural extras.
I’m definitely trying to lose weight, but my ultimate goal is to make lifestyle changes that will benefit my health for the rest of my life. I’m not trying to temporarily reduce my calorie intake–I’m trying to permanently reduce it. And I’m not trying to eliminate certain foods from my diet completely – I’m trying to learn to eat them in moderation.
At present I run 3-5 times a week for 30-45 minutes a day, and I do strength training on off days (to prevent knee injury this is essential for me.) I’ve been tracking my calorie intake on www.caloriecheckbook.com (just discovered SparkPeople–will look into that later.) My calorie budget is 2,000 a day for weight loss, but on average I eat 1500 calories a day. I’m not starving myself. I’ve never really been much of an eater. It doesn’t take much to fill me up. This will certainly work to my advantage now that I’m eating nutritious food.
At my heaviest I was 210 lbs, but I lost a great deal of weight last year and was down to 170 when I noticed I was starting to put it back on. I had been exercising without the aid of a scale so I’m not sure how heavy I started out. I just bought a new scale that measures both weight and body fat %. As of last Saturday I was 175 and my first major goal is 150 lbs–or, more importantly, 25% body fat.
As of this Saturday I weigh 172, so I’ve lost approximately 2-3 lbs in one week. I’ve also lost around 1% body fat this week.
The most exciting thing about losing weight is going to be all the clothes I will be able to wear. And becoming a faster, more efficient runner. And not dying of a coronary when I’m 36. Really, there are a lot of exciting things about my life. The best part is knowing this is not a temporary fix, but a change forever. I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing anything – I feel like my life is gaining a richness and complexity it didn’t have before. That is the best motivation of all.