Milestones

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I saw my Primary Care this week, she was very excited about my progress. I got the feeling that it's not often that she'll tell someone that they need to prioritize weight loss and actually have them do it.  I'm down 16 lbs since January, and I've lost 6 lbs in the last month.  Only 4 lbs to go until I hit my first goal (10% loss).  In the past month I've been averaging a little over 1 lb lost each week which is high, but maintainable.  It was very affirming to hear her say that I was doing this in a way that I'll be able to maintain the lifestyle long term.  

She was very happy with my cholesterol levels which have really improved, and she even took me off of one of my blood pressure medicines!  The goal is to get me off of them completely, since most likely my high blood pressure is weight related.  Hearing that affirmation from my doctor really helped to give me the boost to stay focused on my path despite how tired and bored I've become with my current diet regime.

Now that I'm so close to my first goal, I need to start thinking about where I want to end up long term.  I'd love to get my weight down to 140-130 mark but that's nearly 30% weight loss which is HUGE and possibly not something that I'd be able to maintain in the long term.  I think after getting to 10% my next goal will be another 5%.  That would have me down at 160, 30 lbs from where I started.  I'm afraid of setting a goal too large and getting discouraged when I'm not able to achieve it or see real progress in a time frame that will satisfy my impatience.  Goals are good, but that have to be attainable to be worth anything.

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New Record!

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This week is a big week for records.  I've hit a new low in my weight loss, and today will mark 5 weeks without missing a workout.  I've not been this consistent since high school when I was on my swim team.  This consistency is obviously paying off (dammit), the weight continues to come off and my endurance is improving.  I've been slacking with my at home PT for my shoulder, I'm just so tired after I finish our workouts that all I can muster is getting myself back upstairs for a shower; but these are just excuses.  I'll have to start doing better.

As far as the weight loss goes I'm down 16lbs!!  This is the most successful I've ever been in a healthy weight loss attempt and I'm pretty excited.  This week has been much easier as far as sticking to the diet, and I'm not feeling as worn down as I was last week so all in all I'm calling it a win.

I really hope that I'm able to keep this trend going.  Getting to a 10% weight loss will be a huge accomplishment for me.  I've been walking at lunches and trying to improve my mile pace.  I give myself 30 min and try to get as far as I can.  My pace has improved quite a bit since I started 23"11' down to 18"10' in a little less than a month.  I'm going to need to start bringing a change of clothes to walk in so I don't get too stinky for the rest of the day and maybe just get a gym membership here at work so I can walk while its raining as it's wont to do so often here.

Well, that's all I have for now. I hope that everyone who's following along with their own attempt is doing just as well as I am.

Body Language

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Last night was my most pathetic work out to date.  It took every last ounce of strength I had to not quit in the middle of it and lay down on the floor of our basement.  Jacob can attest to how sad my performance was.  Nonetheless I finished the workout.  Later that evening I spent some serious time in the bathroom; it wasn't fun at all.  Looking back my upset tummy may have been why my workout was so terrible.  Perhaps my fatigue and weakness was my body trying to tell me that something was wrong.  Its so hard to draw the line between "I don't feel super awesome but I can push through this workout," versus "My body is trying to tell me something is awry and I need to listen to it."  So often (read: all the time) I'm exhausted.  If I skipped a workout every time I was tired, I'd literally never work out.  That's a whole 'nother issue though that I'm currently exploring.

On another subject I'd like to plug a product that i really really enjoy.  You may not know this, but I'm an ice cream addict.  I LOVE it and I will go out of my way to obtain it.  To that end it's the single treat I've missed the most since being on my diet.  Up until now I've used ice cream as a cheat meal that I would have on very rare occasions.  Then I found Halo Top.  This stuff is seriously good.  Its low on calories and carbs, but somehow (probably because of magic) tastes like real ice cream.  The only real difference between Halo Top and traditional ice cream is that its texture is lighter and fluffier than the traditional stuff, which can be so dense that it will bend your spoon.  My only complaint is regards to Halo Top is that pacing yourself when you're eating it is basically impossible.  How am I expected to stop at a single serving when I can eat the whole pint and it only has the same amount of calories as traditional ice cream.

DISCLAIMER: All opinions expressed here are my own, and I'm not being compensated in anyway for writing this review.