Commencement

My friend promised that this would be easy. We'll see! I am going to start using this blog as a way to share weight management and fitness ideas. Hopefully it will be of some help to those who read this post.

Here is a quick overview of my weight loss journey:

Six years ago I decided to get my weight down in time for my 40th birthday. I tried watching what I ate and very moderate exercise. I had joined a gym during that time so my boys could work out and had gotten in a routine of going there about 3 days a week. After about 6 months, I lost 10 pounds and then plateaued. Then, I joined Weight Watchers and dropped the rest of my weight in 5 months. During that 5 months, I followed the plan very faithfully and stepped up my workouts to 7 hours a week over the course of 5 - 6 days. Even after reaching my goal weight and adding more calories, I continued to lose about 7 more pounds. I maintained that weight for 4 years. About 2 years ago, my weight began creeping back up, but was still a healthy weight for me. I believe it was due to less strenuous and less frequent workouts. I had a hysterectomy 15 months ago and after some weight loss, due to recovery, my weight continued to creep up about 7 more pounds. This has been discouraging, so now, I am making some changes with the goal of losing 10 pounds over the next 5 months.

I believe in making attainable short term goals with deadlines! Otherwise, I have too much wiggle room and justify getting off track. After all, life throws us a lot of curve balls and unless we set our minds on a goal, we will always have reasons to divert our energies.

I weighed in yesterday morning at 138.2 - this was a 2 pound gain from Dec. 24 weigh in

I rarely gain weight during the holidays, but the let down time afterward is always tough for me. So, knowing that the rest of this month will be tricky I am setting the following goals for myself:

Weigh in each day - weight fluctuates daily, even hourly, but I need the accountability
Work out 45 - 60 min. 5 days a week - 4 of those days must include weight training and ab work for a total of 20 min. and the rest of the time is cardio
Write down everything I eat and drink this week

I will try to write daily about these goals and give a new weight on Thursday.