Let's start with weight. It's Weigh-In Wednesday after all. This morning I was 273.6. That's down a bit under two since I left for Herkimer. Not great, but at least not worse than when I left Cindy's last Thursday. Of course, for this whole trip up north, it means I've gained from 266.8 to 273.6, a gain of 7.2 pounds in six weeks. Hm...a bit over a pound a week. Too bad that didn't go in the other direction. LOL!
Well, once we get home tomorrow, we have exactly 8 weeks before our next big trip to California and Arizona. Except for the five days when Lowell and Emily visit us, there are no big events or reasons to eat out or do anything to disrupt a healthy eating and exercise plan. So...my plan is to get it together and start doing what I know I need to do.
My goal is to lose 20 pounds in 8 weeks, which is a bit lofty. A two pound a week loss is considered good, so 16 is what I should expect. Often the first week or two will produce a bigger loss, so I'm counting on that to make that 20 pound goal. It is a reasonable amount to expect if I don't backtrack too badly when Lowell and Emily are there. The good thing about that is we will be very active and do a lot of walking, which always helps with the calories from eating out.
Mark and I both want to get back to the weights in the gym three days a week. I also want to make a commitment to walk every day. Last summer I started walking 20-30 minutes first thing in the morning, before breakfast. I had read that a morning walk before breakfast can ramp up the body's metabolism for the rest of the day. I did it for about a week, which was my goal at the time. This time I'm hoping to do it 5 days a week for the entire 8 weeks. We also want to get to the pool several days a week or even get over to the morning water aerobics class. Mark likes to walk in the afternoon, so if he does, I will go with him and walk twice on some days. In the summer, it's too hot and humid to walk outside in the afternoon, and it's often raining, but we have the air conditioned indoor track. We can always go there for an afternoon walk. There are no excuses in Solivita for not exercising!
Also, when I eat all three meals at home, the calories are controlled. As long as I get my evening snacking under control, I should be able to do okay. (That IS a challenge for me!) Mark still wants to eat out every Thursday night, but if we only go to one of three local restaurants where I know the menu well and can make good choices, we should be okay. Often on Sundays we eat lunch out at Disney somewhere. There are definitely places where I can eat an appropriate lunch at the parks or at Downtown Disney. I have to be sure those are the places that we go. There will also be some times when we get together with local friends to eat in restaurants. Those will be the risky times. They won't come up every week, but I will have to be very strong on those days, for sure.
Losing weight is hard and yet easy. That sounds weird, but it's what I've learned to be true over the many, MANY years that I have gained and lost weight. Of course, gaining is ALWAYS easy, NEVER hard, at least for me. Here are the things that work for me to lose:
1. Count the calories. Write them down in a food diary or log them on the Lose It! program.
2. Drink 8 glasses of water every day
3. Exercise 5-6 days a week: Walk, Swim, Lift Weights.
Seriously, that's all it takes. Of course there are a million ways for those three simple things to fall apart every day. Obviously, 2009 was a year when I pulled it all together for the entire year. Then it's been on and off for the next three years until today when I've gained back a significant amout of what I lost. That's my pattern. I gained in my childhood, starved until I lost a lot in my senior year of high school. Gained a lot in college, took diet pills and checked in with a doctor until I lost it in my first few years of working. Got married and gained a lot slowly up until I had Lowell in 1979. Didn't lose it and gained a lot more until I had the first kidney stone. Joined Weight Watchers and lost a lot, got pregnant with Evey and gained it all back. Gained some more until I got disgusted, joined Weight Watchers again and lost it again. Got hit by a giant wall in the mall and gained it all back plus a LOT more, topping out at 322 over an eight or nine year period. Got scared about the hernia surgery and lost 117 pounds in 2009. Then I started chemo, gained more than half of that weight back in the last three years. How many times have I lost and gained a lot? A LOT!! Too many times. Now it's time for the pendulum to swing back to the lost column. I really thought that when I did it in 2009 that it was going to be the LAST time I had to lose any significant amount of weight. Guess I was wrong. Didn't count on getting breast cancer and losing control again.
OKAY, that excuse is OVER. Now I'm just allowing myself to be out of control. That must stop NOW! Time to get on the losing cycle again.
We are heading to the autotrain in about an hour. I will be sitting on the train, no exercise, and eating dinner and breakfast on the train, not too controlled. Okay, I can deal with that. I really didn't plan on my healthy regimen beginning until Friday when we are home. I will weigh myself Friday morning and then report it. Maybe I'll make Friday my new weigh-in day. Who knows? All I know is that I am starting to feel motivated and actually excited about going home and getting back on track.
My 20 pound goal before leaving for California will put me in the 250s, which is about where I was when I went out west for our convention and vacation last summer. The trick will then be staying in control on another four week road trip and keeping that motivation up when I return in the fall. My overall goal is to get back to around 200, 73 pounds to lose. That will take most of a year. Wouldn't it be great to drive up here next June for Lowell's wedding at 200, size 20, instead of 273, size 26? Yes, it WOULD!
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