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I HAVE MOVED! My main blog as of Sept of 2010 is TWO YEARS TO HAPPY WEIGHT AFTER. Visit me there. My post links in the updates below will link up to the new blog. THANKS for reading!

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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Finally, I can put a new lower weight on my update!


So, I think I mentioned I joined SparkPeople a little over a week ago. I felt very demotivated, and I thought that might be a place to help me get back in the right frame of mind to restart a diet and fitness plan.

I spent the first few days just getting used to the site--it's got a lot of tools and stuff. I was still feeling the flu, so didn't dive in. But now, I'm starting to find my groove.

The first two weeks (I'm not done with those) is a sort of "start slowly" phase there, and you really are asked only to track three things you start changing. But for a few days, I've been tracking all I eat and all my exercise. I had been eating pretty much whatever I wanted for a month while ill, so let's say about 4000 or so calories a day, or more. I had regained a few pounds. But I started SparPeople with the intent of beginning the cutback.

I've logged meticulously in my nutrition journal for a week. It really reminded me how easy it is to lose track of what goes in the mouth.

My first week of logging and consciously eating less, I have been doing about 2400 calories, some days a bit more, some less, but never under 2000 and the highest was close to 2800. I started to make little changes--skipping fruit juice and eating the fruit at breakfast, for example.

For the first time in, what, a year and a half, I'm drinking water purposefully. It's REALLY hard for me to drink water. Just don't like doing it. But since I have to track water, it reminds me to drink. I feel the benefit of it.

Cardio has been a sticky issue for me. I have had asthma my whole life, and bad enough to require many medications daily. I start coughing and spitting up goo when I breathe really hard during cardio. So, I tend to avoid it. This past week, after more than a year of not doing any sort of movement like that, I did cardio twice. Not for long--I'm still flu-impaired and I'm so cardio-out of shape--but twice. Once on my own with music for 10 mins, and once for 15 minutes with a Leslie Sansonen DVD (a one miler at a good pace).

And so, I can change the number at left to 271.6.

I had bobbled around between 275 and 273 last week, so I expected 273ish again today. Seeing a number that hadn't been on my scale since, I think, Novemberish of last year (see stats on sidebar, scroll way down).

My goal is to work myself down to 1800 to 1900 a day. I should lose at a moderate pace at that level. It's still hard for me to eat below 2700, which seems to be the low end of my "I can be pretty satisfied and have some treats" level of eating (not my "eat whatever I desire", though). But I know that to get under 200 lbs, I can't have what I want. To get unde 200 lbs, I have to do without and feel some pain.

Anyway, if your mojo is long gone, maybe SparkPeople can give you a little kick in the pants. It's free and it's useful, but it does take time and has a bit of a learning curve (not much). I'm "PrincessDieter" over there. If you're already there, friend me. :)

This week, my goal is to stay closer to 2000 than I have, in order to eventually work down to 1800 cals a day. And my goal for next week is to be in the 260's. Gosh, I've waited for that one a while.

Let's not give up...ever.

Happy Tuesday, peops!

Onward and DOWNward...

7 comments:

Doug said...

good luck. tracking, for me, helped a lot. I recently started tracking again and it's again a wake up call. Hope you can keep staying healthier!

Anonymous said...

I love sparkpeople! I've been on it about a month and love it.

I have about 38.4 pounds to hit my goal of 125 - not my number but my doctors request!

What can't I be taller! :D

Hang in there!

Paula said...

Congrats on the steps forward and the weight loss. You are well on your way and good job with the tracking...I definitely find that this helps me as well. :)

The Fat Foreigner said...

I used to use daily plate, but this time around I tried sparkpeople (I'm on there as 'bottomless') and I've really being enjoying it.

Heather said...

hooray! congrats on the lower weight. I used spark people about 3 years ago and found it very helpful, mostly for the reason that you do - it forces you to really look at what you eat.

Anonymous said...

I've used sparkpeople and found it very helpful. When you track your meals it really helps because there it is staring you in the face. LOL

Congrats! on the weight loss!

By the way, I found your blog on Blog 2 Lose.

Chubby Chick said...

Sounds like you're doing great with SparkPeople! I am SO happy for you! Congrats on the loss! :)