Today’s weight: 151.0 

I have dropped from a size 14 to a size 10 with the goal of size 6 by June.  I will repost my “before” pic along with an “after” pic as soon as I find the cord to download pics from my camera.  (My good camera didn’t survive my London trip… I left it in the hands of fellow conference-goers when I went to the restroom and it hasn’t worked since.)

All this Easter candy around is driving me crazy.  I’ve absently eaten a handful of M&M’s, a small peanut butter egg and a couple jelly beans so far… I didn’t even want them.  They were just there.

I will be glad to get back home and back to work and back in my routine!

152.6

Un-freakin-believable. It’s been a rough week with soccer practice starting and dance classes for my kids so I feel like I’ve hardly eaten at all. I’ve been living on fast food salads and granola bars for the most part.

In addition to the daily stair climbing, I’m coaching my 8-year-old’s soccer team this season, so my exercise has gone way up. For me, part of serious dieting includes getting to the point where I’m not too interested in eating anyway, so it’s really easy to refuse a bite of someone’s cookie or “clean up” the kids’ extra food. Honestly, that’s a huge source of useless calories in my past.

The boredom eating has been replaced with flavored waters and a quick flight of stairs and I’m in no danger of losing steam at this point. I’m hyped up and ready to get the remaining 20 pounds off.

So, yesterday I pull on some typical weekend pants… and they won’t stay up.  I can literally put them on and take them off without unbuttoning them.  No, they don’t have elastic in the waist.

So this morning, I decide to see if I can fit into a pair of size 8 wool slacks just for the heck of it.  They are tailored and lined and were expensive, so they tend to run a little larger.  Can you believe they fit?  Oh, yes they did!

OK, so I have a serious muffin top wearing them but that’s easily covered with a blousy shirt  that ties at the waist.  How silly is it that I insist on wearing these pants today just because I can?  Turns out it’s very silly as I just caught sight of myself in the full-length mirror in the bathroom and realized they are too short.

So what, did I gain height when I lost weight?  Or have I always worn these as high waters?  Either way, these are going in the donate box when I get home!

No pain no gain, I guess.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to it Monday- just going to keep stretching and relaxing those muscles this weekend.

I’ve also signed on for the 5-mile Heart Walk to be held here in May, so I need to start getting in shape for that.  Since I have no real clue what 5 miles feels like, I’m going to drive the neighborhood today and map out a 3-mile and a 5-mile route for training.

Today’s weight: 156.0

Measurements: 5 inches lost (waist, hips. chest)

Body Fat: Down from an initial high of 44% body fat to 35% body fat. Still in the overweight category, but just by a hair. 23%-34% is considered a healthy range and I’ll be there before this is over!

I started on January 10 (before the contest started) at 176.4… That’s 20.4 pounds lost year to date!!

I still haven’t made it to the gym ONCE even, but I’ve started taking the stairs to the roof and back every time I go to the bathroom. (With 6 bottles of water a day, that’s a lot!) I can make it to about 2.5 before I slow down. The trick: take my shoes off and leave them at the basement level. Work shoes are not so good for exercise!

I’ve been dating.

Whether or not it works out, doesn’t really matter when it comes to dieting. The nerves of being out with someone for the first time in, um… forever or so… means I can hardly choke down a bite.

I had actually sorta planned to think about maybe kinda trying to get out more in June, when I’m at my goal weight, but not now. And to be honest, the June plan was about planning to think about going out more, not actually go or anything.

But… planning doesn’t really cover everything does it? So when this guy asked me to go salsa dancing with him I thought, why not? You don’t find guys who dance very often, so I didn’t want to pass that up. And he seems pretty nice.

Funny weight-loss related story: Last night, we’re playing pool and he says, “Um, I think you need to go check your pants, I think the hooks in the front have come undone.” ROFL!! I bought clothes in December for going back to work. They fit then… but the pants I was wearing last night had gotten too loose. (YAY!) Because I’m not buying any clothes until I reach my new size, I just kind of pulled them tighter and put a safety pin in to hold them shut… but the edge rolled over and the silver hooks were just hanging out there for all to see. Wardrobe malfunction…

Too soon to say if this will turn into anything more permanent, but it’s given me a clear advantage… not only can I hardly eat, I’m getting out instead of sitting in front of the computer. Who knew the real world could be sorta fun?

Weight: 160.2

Measurments: No change.

I really, really have to find the time to start exercising!

While I’ve dropped the ball on counting my calories, I’m in a routine now where I pretty much have a good idea of what I’m eating and I’m keeping it in line.  Adding fruits and veggies to my proteins and starting to balance it all out now that I’m past the induction phase of low carbing.

I drink my water faithfully, about  100oz a day and I’m really starting to see a difference in my skin.  I’ve always had bad skin and lately, age has started showing as well but after 7 weeks of daily water I’m really pleased with how it looks.  Smoother, less red, overall healthier! Yay, water!

When it comes to exercise, I stink.  I walk or do a flight of stairs at lunch and that’s pretty much my whole routine.  I do think about moving all day and take the long way when I walk around the office, etc. but I haven’t gotten serious about exercising.

So last night, I did the numbers:

At my current level of activity/eating, I’ll reach my goal weight in 20 weeks.  Yuk…

If I step it up to 3 days of at least 30 minutes of intense exercise, I’ll reach my goal weight in about 16 weeks.  A little better…

If I really get serious about exercising and put in 5-6 workouts a week, I can be slim and healthy in 12 weeks.  12 weeks!  3 short months and I can be pulling the size 6’s out of the back of the closet!  Now that’s motivating.

I’m off work today and off to the gym!

I can honestly say I never thought I’d be excited to see those numbers on a scale.  For most of my life, I’ve considered 150 to be the outer limit of fat for me… I am horrified to realize just how far I’ve slid off the mark. (I remember going to the gym for a consultation in 2004 and leaving in tears because I weighed 146!)  But considering where I started on Jan 10 (176.4) I am in fact, thrilled to see the numbers going down.

7 weeks I’ve been dieting, 15.2 pounds lost. That’s 2.17 pounds a week, which is about where I’d planned.  I am one third of the way through this campaign and it’s not been so bad- getting started was the hardest thing.  I’ve got 14 weeks left to get to my goal weight of 130, putting me at June 4 as planned.

The hardest thing for me to integrate is exercise because of the time factor.  Every night this week I’ve planned to go to the gym but instead I’ve had to help catch up with homework, get soccer registration for spring done, attend school meetings and so on.  This is a no-kids weekend and I’m planning to attend a couple of classes at the gym to get rolling.

I’m thinking it’s ok that I’ve waited this long to start a serious exercise routine because my weight loss is likely to slow down as my body adjusts to my eating habits.  That’s my story, anyway!