Home Stretch

I have been committed to shedding the weight I gained while job hunting last year in Dallas. I joined a gym and tried to eat sensibly. I will not lie, I fell of the wagon a lot more times than I might like to admit, at the very worst time I was living off pizza and Chinese take out and went to the gym once a week only because I had paid for the training sessions. One day in June I was like enough is enough, how hard can it be to get in shape? Am I going to go the whole of my life not liking the way my clothes fit, wishing I was a little lighter? Come on girl you can do this. So I said bye bye to fried rice and embraced brown rice and steamed veggies. I stopped eating at the deli (not seeing Raphael was a price I had to pay) and became a regular at SubWay. I stopped eating pizza for dinner and embraced the salad with renewed gusto. I also picked up the pace at the gym. At this time I weighed 169 lbs (76.65kg). By the end of August I had lost about 10 lbs (4.5kg). I was consistent with my gym schedule (cardio 45 mins a day, 4 days a week, strength training 45 mins a week) and was eating properly, watching my portions, staying away from processed foods, drinking lots of water etc.

For the next month I think I lost just a pound, and frustration began to set in I was this close to saying sod it. I was chatting with a friend and whining as usual about my weight and my being stuck at 156 lbs forever (God bless him the darling) when he suggested I keep a log of what I was eating, perhaps I wasn't creating the calorie deficit I needed to actually lose weight, perhaps my current schedule was just maintaining my current physical state? Hmm ... that made sense. So I created an excel file and proceeded to document everything (edible) that passed through my lips. On the 4th of October, I created a profile on calorie-count.com. I weighed 156 lbs and based on my age, height, body type, daily activity level and my goal weight (which the website calculated to be 139 lbs based on what I don't know) I was advised to consume no more than 1800 Cals and no less than 1200 Cals a day. I had previously calculated my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) to be about 1490 Cals so I decided to peg my caloric intake at 1500 Cals a day. The very first day I started my food log, I consumed 1690 Cals and that was only because I was extra conscious of what I was consuming. Aha! So I have been sabotaging myself all this time ehn? I began to pay extra attention to what I was eating, making a note of everything I mean everything (a teaspoon of brown sugar contains 15 calories) In no time I once again began to drop the pounds. As well as eating right (I still have ice cream, chocolates etc) I also increased my physical activity (I am now up to 65 mins of cardio a day, 5 days a week). This morning I weighed 148 lbs and I have retired 3 pairs of pants!

I will be going on vacation in December and I think that image of me in my head on a beach in a bikini steaming up the water with my killer abs (kinda like Laila Ali) will be a reality. Although I expect to lose some of my weight loss momentum while on vacation, I think I am on course to hit my target weight (140 lbs) by my target date (Janury 28th 2008). I can hardly believe it, I have managed to drop a total of 20 lbs! Its been a lot of work I must admit but here I am, preening infront of my mirror actually stopping to look at swim wear in the shops. The hard work is a distant memory. I hope this post encourages someone, writing it has certainly encouraged me. You go girl/guy!