Successes and set backs Archives - A Weight Loss Adventure

Guidelines – Step 2 To Losing Weight

May 29, 2017 2 Comments

Losing weight is a numbers game. You need to take in less calories, than you can burn. You need to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound. This means, to lose 5 pounds, I need to burn 17,500 calories more than I take in to be able to lose 5 pounds.

Therefore, my guidelines are very much based on numbers to make sure I will get to my first 5 pound weight loss.

For every 7 days, I will have 1 Off day from exercise and tracking my food. The only caveat is that on my off day, I burn 2,500 calories on that day.

I will have 4 days with burning 2,500 calories and 3 days with burning 3,000 (give or take a few calories of course). This will leave me with a total burn of 19,000 calories.

My intake of calories will have to be less than the 19,000 calories in order for me to lose weight so with a day off where I don’t track calories, I have to create a plan that will allow me for this.

I, therefore, estimate that I if I take in 1,500 calories on 3 of the days and 1,600 calories on the other three that will leave me with a total of 9,300 calories. This leaves me with the ability to eat no less than 2,700 calories on my day off and still manage to loose 2 pounds each week.

With this much cushioning on my day off that leaves me thinking very comfortable and that it is doable. It, also, leaves me with a sense of not having to feel bad after my day off.

It is all easier said than done but as I am breaking out my days I hope this will mold my thoughts around the concept of ‘taking one day at a time’.

I will keep you all posted on my weekly progress on how many calories I have taken in, burnt and how much I have lost for the week but keep an eye out for the different things I might take advantage off to make sure I stay on track and keep my goal. Which leaves me to my next step and my next post: Consistent Motivation.

Do you think it would be helpful if I post what I ate during the week?

Keeping constant track of everything will be my challenge, but i hope, I will be able to get into a routine that works. Hopefully, I have an understanding husband that helps me and understands the hours it requires to keep up with all of this.

I love the support, I have around me and my friends who are able to keep giving suggestions. Go to events and make sure I get back on track. More to come on this!

I will start posting more about what I do during the week to stay motivated, to get to my calorie count and what might be on the calendar for me in the future in case you want to join me. I have dancing in Bryant Park, Yoga in Inwood Hill Park and testing out the different Planet Fitness locations around Manhattan (and I can invite a guest every time).

If anyone want to join me, let me know. The more the merrier and it is so much more fun to do it together!

The more I write, the more I get my motivation back and I am getting very excited. You, my audience, will therefore be more of a priority than you have been in the past. You are part of keeping my motivation.

Stay tuned on the next post.

XOXO

My Journey

Goals – Step 1 To Losing Weight

May 29, 2017 No Comments

I do not think there has been a diet, book or TV program I have not watched that has always started with “Goals”. Some have said to set yourself the overarching end goal, others have said to set yourself small goals, medium goals… you get the point.

One thing most have in common is a set of smaller attainable goals that will give you the sense of victory. This has always been both a motivator but, also, one of my pitfalls. I would reach goal 1 or 2 and then be so pleased with myself I would “allow” myself X amount of time to enjoy not constantly thinking about what I eat and drink and how often I go to the gym and how much I burn while I am there. This is all well and good, however, I would always forget to move towards the next goal and I would end up going back to goal 1, if not -1, after having put on more weight than I had already lost.

My thoughts are therefore, how can I avoid my own trap?

Talking to my friend Claudia yesterday made me realize that there is a thought behind the idea of what Weight Watchers do (that is her thing) and she managed to loose 60 pounds on that system. You would get 1 day off every week so you had a bit of a break from counting, managing, dealing and simply being in a constant state of competition with yourself.

I think, I will take her advice and try that out this time around. I will set goals but leave myself to breath 1 day every week, which honestly, also works much better with my lifestyle and my other blog, as I have restaurant reviews pretty much every week. Luckily, I have my husband to take care of the leftovers.

From the title and my post from yesterday, there are a few steps I need before I feel like I can succeed.

Step 1: Set Goals
Step 2: Set Guidelines
Step 3: Consistent Motivation
Step 4: Results

This is one of four posts on setting myself up to success and the only thing I know that could knock me off my course is the need for a schedule but I will have to bite the bullet and just deal with it.

I hate schedules. I have never been a fan and I tend to be a “off the cuff” kind of person

I should probably get on with it, setting my goals but before doing so I wanted to make sure you all were aware of my thoughts behind my goals and why I decided to set this type of goals.

I want to set small goals. Even smaller than I have done in the past to make sure that I celebrate the victories. The older I get the harder it is to loose the weight and I should be rewarded and celebrate even those small moments.

We all know that I need to lose 100 pounds but that is a bit too much to think about so this time, I am simply going for an overall goal of 30 pounds which would then be divided into even smaller goals. I will celebrate ever 5 pounds that I loose. The celebrating and rewards that would come with every 5 pounds would be part of kicking off my motivation as well, although much more would go into Consistent Motivation.

I am not going to set myself a timeline, as that would simply stress me out and I know too well what stress does to me. I give up before I have begun and I start stress eating and I put on more weight. So there we have it. 30 pounds with 5 pound intervals.

I will still keep you all informed on where I am weight wise but I will move away from my weight pictures as I have done in the past and instead focus on the things that I do to reach my goal. More on that in my next few posts.

Stay tuned and I am so happy that I have a following that has not given up on me just yet, while I keep struggling to lose the weight that my body so desperately needs to get rid of.

XOXO

Fitness, My Journey

Week 28: Status Report

December 4, 2016 1 Comment

I can’t believe it has been 28 weeks already. Where did the time go?

Well, I guess, I have to catch you up on what has happened this past month. As you can tell from the picture, I am now down to 220.6lb (99.9kg) and I have officially lost my first 20lb (9kg) (actually 22lb (10kg) but I skipped the 20 so… I still want to celebrate). I can now say that I am under a 100 kilos. It is a number, I always told myself I would NEVER get above. Yet here, I was… Waaaaay over 100 kilos. My next goal is to get to 195lb (88 kilos). That was what I weighed 7 years ago. Shortly after I had meet Mike, I had to go to the doctor and she did a full check up and my number was 195lb. She was kind enough (read a little sarcasm in between the lines) to tell me that I was over weight and should consider loosing some. Well, thank you doctor and I then gained 50+ lb (23kg) after that… yikes!

So the new year will bring me to that goal. 195lb and I will be back in “Onederland” and Mike will get back the body he first knew, or at least somewhat. A 50lb weight gain WILL make changes to your body that you can’t undo unfortunately. And they are not flattering changes. I have these fat pockets by my hipbones, you know the ones that normally protrudes on skinny girls and that gets highlighted as something sexy because it signals that they are skinny and therefore beautiful?? Yeah, mine… not protruding but hiding from the world under an inch of fat. Hopefully, I can dig them out a bit.

Last time, I wrote, I had signed up for an 8K in January. Unfortunately, my legs did not want to come with me, or at least my one shin. Every time I would start running it would burn, burn like something in my muscle was tearing apart so I decided I needed to stop running and let my body heal. I have still been going to the gym but staying away from any high impact workouts. I have had running tests done a few times and I know that I tend towards overpronation when running, which means when running I need a shoe that supports my arch. My current shoe is neutral, meaning you do not lean more to one side or the other on your foot when running, which means it has not given me the support that I need. I knew this when I started running but the shoes that really helps me are so darn expensive. Well lesson learned. Don’t be cheap if you run. You need the right shoe. Needless to say. I will not be making my 8K in January but I will train for a run in March instead with my new shoes having just arrived and it will give me enough time to start out slow. Will keep you posted on the progress.

And now for my December plans. Can you believe it is already December? Well, we all know that after Thanksgiving all bets are off when it comes to your diet so my goal for this season is simple. Don’t gain weight.

If I can stand on the scale on January 2nd and it still says 220lb. I will be a happy woman (I almost wrote girl, but who am I kidding… can’t pass for one of those anymore). Any motivation you can send my way to get my butt out the door and to the gym is very welcome as I will need it for these cold, dark December days. I believe my friend offered to text me in the morning. If you are still up for that. I need to get out of bed at 5am in the morning. I will happily text you as well as we need to get out in the mornings.

Next week my sister is coming and that will be a test in itself. That I go even though she will be here and I would just want to sleep as I would probably be tired but please kick me out of that bed as I really need to get up and get out.

Well, that was it for now.

Xoxo