A rocky start

Last week? Eh, not so great. This week? Super! Despite the rocky start to my fitness makeover, I’m doing pretty awesome.

I’ve been writing down my fitness plan this week. I’m trying to be specific and realistic with my goals. I would like to lose 15 lbs by my birthday. I think this is doable. It’s a little more than a pound a week. This was my goal weight a while back when I lived in Utah. I came within 5 lbs of it before easing up on the rules and slowly sliding back the other way. Ugh! So close! Thinking about that makes me frustrated with myself. I worked hard to get there and I threw it all away for what? I’ll tell you what…

Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk. That’s what! I could go through a pint of that a night! It’s soooo delicious! Not to mention fattening. It has over three times the calories as regular ice cream. One pint has my daily allotment of calories! YIKES! Okay, back to my goals: 15 lbs by my birthday. We’ll see what I look like at that point and go from there. When I was within 5 lbs last time I still had a pudgy tummy. Any time I gain a few pounds it goes right there. It’s my genetic lot in life and it has lead to some awkward pregnancy comments like:

Anonymous: “Are you sure you can go ice skating in your condition?”

Me: “Uh… what condition?”

or

Anonymous: “I think someone here is pregnant. Does anyone have an announcement they would like to make?”

Me: “No.”

or

Clerk: “Congratulations. When are you do?”

Me: “Um… I had him 6 weeks ago.”  (DUDE! I only gained 19lbs with my pregnancy! I got sick and lost 4 lbs the last week so according to my midwife and the state of Georgia I only gained 16 lbs. Most of you saw me after I had him – did I really look that bad?? Okay to be fair to the clerk I was at the Pink Hydrangea redeeming a gift certificate for Ezra. But still, unless a girl is either A.) talking about how her current morning sickness is about to make her toss her cookies B.) says “Oh my gosh! My water just broke!!” or C.) looks like she stuffed a basketball up her shirt and has a slight waddle when walks, you should never EVER say anything to her about her being pregnant. And just to be safe, I would stick with rules a or b.)

Nice, huh? It’s happened on a few occasions. According to health articles, I have what is known as an “apple” shape. Ah, heredity. Thanks, Grandma. My siblings managed to avoid this one. But not me. Nope. How lucky am I?  I’m probably making myself sound way worse than I am. If you want to see some semi-recent pictures of me there are a few in the Christmas post. Anyway, when I was within 5 lbs last time I still had a pudge so I don’t have a specific end goal number in my head yet. I plan to reevaluate when I hit the 15 lb mark.

So here are a few things I’m doing or am planning to do:

Write down goals – Writing them down helps. Seeing them on paper somehow makes it more real. It gets you pumped!

Be specific and realistic – Don’t just say “I want to lose weight.” That’s nice. How much? By when?

Set exercise goals –  I’m striving for hitting the gym 5 days a week with a minimum of 1/2 hour cardio and 1/2 hour weight training.

Be accountable – I also think accountability helps, which is why I will be posting updates to the blog. Accountability is one of the biggest reasons that the Weight Watchers programs is so successful. I’m not doing WW, but I personally know several girls who have had success with it, so I highly recommend the program. Exercise or weight loss buddies (if you have one available) are another good idea.

Track progress – I’ll be taking weekly shots of myself. I did this last time and it was so neat to see the changes in physique from week to week. I put them on a slide show with a Mya song in the background. I wish I still had it, but sadly I lost it in the great  hard drive meltdown of 06. I won’t post any pictures until the end. (A “final reveal” if you will.)  I’ll also be tracking my weight (obviously) and my measurements.

So there you have it. I think I’ll dedicate Fridays to my fitness updates. So tune back in! There’s more to come!