You’re still getting my usual food diary in this post, but you’re also getting a rehash of a conversation I had with a friend I haven’t talked to in ages. She sent me a message today, and told me that she and her husband have started losing weight, that she is down about 25 pounds and he about 50. But she’s hit a mental roadblock and hasn’t been feeling motivated to exercise or eat like she feels she should. Now, I am not an expert and I’m still on my journey. But I’ve learned a few things over time. This is what I told her. My comments to her are in block quotes with further commentary below that.
I’ve found my mental state really makes a big difference. When I feel the whole “I can do this!” I find myself more motivated to stick to the plan and actually work at it. I think everyone will hit roadblocks along the way, from not wanting to exercise to wanting to just eat everything. I honestly think the best way to go is one day at a time, setting small goals along the way. If you say “I’m going to lose 50 pounds” its a huge, mind-boggling thing to do. If you say “I’m going to lose 5 pounds, I’m going to lose 10% of my starting body weight” it is more manageable, and far less intimidating, and I think that helps people stay inspired to continue.
I think small, attainable goals are at the heart of staying motivated. You’ll hear this from a lot of people, but maybe you don’t believe it. It is true. Every stinking word of it! I have set dozens of goals to meet along the way. You can see them here, and I’ve crossed them off as I’ve met them. Each one is a victory in itself, and meeting one makes me that much more excited to move forward to meet the next one. I’ve also learned avoiding time-based goals is wise for most people. If you miss the “deadline” you feel like you failed. Don’t make deadlines.
Continue reading Thursday Day 544 – How To Lose Weight
 I made my Lose 9 BMI Points goal! See that? I made my goal today to lose 9 points off of my BMI score, plus a little more. :) This puts my a mere 0.6 pounds away from my next mini-goal- to lose 60 pounds. I have lost the equivalent of almost 2 large bags of dog food off of my body. That’s what our two dogs eat every month. I was talking to someone about my weight loss yesterday and he asked if I feel different. To be honest, most of the time, no. Sometimes I see myself in the mirror and I go back and stare at myself because I can’t believe that that is really me. In my head, I’m still 250 pounds, with weird bulges and curves in places I shouldn’t have them. Of course I still have some unwanted curves and bulges, mostly on my lower belly, but I’m starting to get some real definition to my waist- from the front and back at least!
 Today’s little walk was a stressful one. Really stressful. Anyway, I started my day with oatmeal for breakfast, and I finished up with a survey company, netting me a $25 Amazon.com gift card code. Shortly after I strapped on my HRM and headed out to walk to my doctor’s appointment. The actual walk to the clinic is about 0.3 miles through the neighborhood, and then another 0.3 miles up a somewhat busy street. There was a farmer’s market going on today, so it was packed with people. Unfortunately, when I was about 2 blocks from where things get really crowded and busy, some drug-addled crackhead decided to walk with me, try to touch me, and hit me up for first my Facebook, which I said I didn’t have, and then my phone number, to which I said I was married. When I said that, his eyes got big and he literally ran away. So weird but I was so glad to see him go!
Continue reading Thursday Day 524 Food Diary
 Yes, that shot of my Polar HRM may show the lamest workout attempt ever. I literally walked down my street, jogged down two other streets, walked to the next one, jogged two more, and walked the rest of the way home because apparently it being 73° this afternoon was just too hot for me to handle. Seriously. So yeah, almost 15 minutes of walking and jogging and mentally complaining the entire time that I was too hot. I’ve got a bad feeling this summer is going to be brutally hot if its already in the 70′s and we’re barely into March. I’m not looking forward to that at all.
I spent about half of my day cleaning out old files I have backed up elsewhere that I rarely access, running scans, fixing things, and finally am confident my laptop is being its normal, non-never-gonna-boot-again-self. The terror I had last night when it wouldn’t boot at all was bad. We’re talking like I almost had an anxiety attack, this is nearly as bad as getting in a huge fight with my boyfriend bad. I was envisioning my days with no internet access, no money to get the laptop diagnosed or repaired, and my pending internet withdrawals. My life was going to become an insane cycle of sleeping, reading, working out, baking (lots of baking), cooking meals, reading, and some crafting through in here and there to mix it up. I was going to become the biggest patron of our local library, and I was going to cook my way cover to cover through every cookbook I got my hands on.
Continue reading Monday Day 507 Food Diary
 A new low! This puts February’s total loss at 4.4 pounds! What do we have here boys and girls? A new low weight on the scale this morning! I don’t know if this is due to just eating better the last few days or if it had to do with my workout last night, but it gives me a total loss of 4.4 pounds for February. I wanted to see 5 pounds for this month, but I can try again in March. If you look in my sidebar, you’ll see March’s goals are already up.
- I want to lose 5 pounds in March
- I want to lose a total of 9 points off of my BMI
- I want to lose a total of 60 pounds
These are all attainable goals. None of them are big stretches; they just require me to be diligent, not overeat, not binge, and make good food choices. A little exercise wouldn’t hurt things either. I came so close this month to the 5 pound goal and I really feel I would have made it if it wasn’t for the so-so eating the next to last week followed by a small binge. Of course I went and had a big dinner tonight, so we’ll see what my numbers look like for the official weigh and measuring on Friday morning.
Continue reading Thursday Day 503 Food Diary
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I Am… A woman. A friend. A graphic artist. A mom to our pets. A jewelry artist. A girlfriend. A daughter. An internet
addict. A reader. An introvert. A Trekkie. A weight-loser. A WordPress junkie. A blogger. A bead lover. An
Amazon.com shopper. Shampoo-free. A sewing novice.
 Tickers My sixteenth mini-goal. Lose 70 pounds
 Total Change Pounds Lost : 67.2 lbs
Inches Lost : 22"+
BMI Change : -10.2 pts
BF% Lost : 8.1%
May Goals - Don't charge anything to BillMeLater
- Lose 70 lbs total
- Read 3 Books
- Cook 2 New Recipes
- Lose 5 lbs
Deb has
read 21 books toward her goal of 35 books.
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