Weightloss Journey

As the first day of 2014 I thought I'd keep with tradition and do the usual weight loss goal for my year. I know, everyone sets out at the beginning of the year with a weight loss or healthier lifestyle goal. And about February, everyone has given up on that goal.

I did the same thing last year, only I made it to about June or July before throwing in the towel, for the most part. I didn't fully give up...I was still paying for weight watchers and I was still keeping track of my food (most days, or maybe two - three days a week). But I wasn't really enthused about it anymore.

I lost about 15 pounds the first three to four months last year. Which, when you think about, is pretty good! I was okay with that. But then I hit a wall. I gained a pound; I lost a pound; I lost another pound; I gained a pound back. No matter what I would do, including boot camp twice a week at one point (only for a month, though...might have been the problem), I couldn't push past that mark. And I need to push past it...I'm still about 50 pounds over weight (based on medical information).  *Thankfully, I'm tall and can hide it very well...but I feel it, so it doesn't really matter that much.*

So while my goal is lose weight and get healthy this year, it's more about pushing past that wall I've hit. I'm going to make a  more conscious effort to do more activities and be more active. I bought some work out stuff the other day at Walmart that I'll be testing out later today...I'm actually excited about it! And I've done some research for stuff I can do at home...squat challenges, ab challenges, etc.

Don't get me wrong, we have a gym here at our apartment complex. And I plan to use the treadmill from time to time. But if you've been around this blog long enough you know that I get extremely board walking/running in place. And I have no workout partner, so stepping out on the street isn't in my plan. I'll need to do what I can here at home. On the flip side, Mr S is back on his call center schedule, so he'll be home when I am and we can go to the gym together (when he goes). That will be nice and some helpful motivation...since I HATE going alone!

I'm still going to do weight watchers as it seems to be a good method to keeping track of my food. I'm also going to pick back up with my weekly posts. I want to stay accountable to someone...and you, my blogging dolls, are the winners for that category! I also have a co-worker that is getting married in May and she is stepping up her game too. That will help with encouragement on the work front...we just work different hours and can't work out together, usually.

But I'm determined to make this work. I'm tired of being heavy. I'm tired of one flight of stairs winding me. I'm tired of rolls, muffin top, and back fat rolls! I want to be able to wear my swimsuit and not feel uncomfortable about my hips, belly, and thighs. I want to wear skirts and not feel ashamed of my legs. I want me knees to not hurt when I walk all day because they've been carrying around an extra 50 pounds that they shouldn't have to carry.

I want to be healthy!

Weekly Weigh In - Week 3

I have lost a total of 7.4 pounds! I am down to 242.3!

It may seem crazy to count to the tenth. But when you see only a three tenths come off the scale from one day to the next, it give that motivation to work a little bit harder and be better at doing what need to be done to see more weight come off.

Last week was a horrific struggle for me! For those who don't know me IRL, I represent an online university. I have a home office in Southern California and I cover the majority of the Western United States as my territory for travel during the year. Last week was my first official week "on the road". In this past, travel time has been my down fall. It was my biggest issue the last time I did Weight Watchers. Yes, I can find foods that keep my at my points for the day. But I always found myself with no time to stop and eat properly. Part of it is poor planning on my part. Part of is keeping my busy schedule so I feel like I'm doing my job and not slacking off. All of it equaled to failed attempts at healthy eating on the road.

This past week was almost the same. I had a craving on Monday and gave in. Sonic. Bad mistake - it cost me the majority of my points before noon! But it also made me reevaluate how I do things. When I'm in my home territory, I can pack a lunch full of things that are good to eat and low in points.

I bought a collapsible and insulated lunch bag Tuesday. This will fit neatly in my suitcase for when I'm really out of town. Depending on the hotel, I can stock my fridge with stuff to do the same - pack my lunch for the day. And if I don't have a fridge in the room, I can just buy my lunches from the grocery store. A lot carry ready-made salads in the produce section. Then I don't have to worry about splitting my points between lunch and dinner.

I also need to do some research about restaurants in the areas I'm going to be in. Most of the places I go have decent to larger populations so there will be plenty of "chain" restaurants to choose from. I would love to branch out more, but between not everywhere accepting my work CC and wanting to stay on track, I am okay with keeping it "boring".

As I'm typing this, I realize that all the things I've listed above as things I'm going to do are things I should have been doing the last time I tried this. I think my biggest issue was I just didn't have the motivation to keep with it. I lost the 10 pounds I wanted for my wedding. My dress fit perfectly. I was comfortable. And that was all I cared about. Not this time. I not only want to lose the weight, I want to keep it off. And I want to start having a healthier lifestyle.

My goal for this week is activity points. This was another downfall to last week - I only had 2 activity points! I have two new work out "games" that I need to use. I would like to get 10 activity points this week.

I'm on the road again next week, locally. So I will also be trying to focus on things for next week's lunches.

Happy Monday!