So now
starts a new month. I’m always looking for ways to improve and push forward.
Believe it or not, I think more about making healthy choices than I do about
weight loss. As a matter of fact, I spend very little time thinking about
losing pounds. But when I do think about it my concern is always to keep the
monthly losses as close to 8lbs as possible. If I had to choose, I would
prefer losing 6 rather than 10. Why? Because 6 is a healthier weight loss. It allows
my body time to make adjustments. There are a lot of physiological processes
that take place when the body eliminates fat, from the brain all the way down to
the feet. Every system and organ is involved. But my concern is not only about
internal health, it’s also about my skin (the largest organ).
Fortunately,
I have a large, narrow skeletal structure so the excess weight was evenly distributed across my entire body. I am (and have always been) moderately active in spite of the excess weight and rheumatoid arthritis. I have consistently done some form of exercise whether it’s
walking, swimming, biking, the gym, it’s always something. That's in addition to the regular everyday movement like getting up and out for work, running errands, social activities, etc. Had I not been active all along, I would have a bigger problem
on my hands. So, obviously I've got some loose skin (hips, thighs, calves and buttocks are fine, torso, chest and upper arms need work). I also have some cellulite that will benefit from a body lift, but stretch marks are a non-issue (surprisingly). I have some on my upper inside arms but so light you probably couldn't tell. An advantage to having porcelain skin.. Fact is, my skin is over 50 years old now and it simply
isn’t as resilient as it use to be. So losing weight slowly combined with consistent strength training will keep any additional
stretching to a bare minimum – and that is the goal. Especially where my face and
neck are concerned. Truthfully that's my primary concern.
For the past
few months I’ve had a monthly weight loss goal of 8lbs. I’ll probably reduce
that to 7lbs after the next weigh-in unless I come in at or below that number. At the
June weigh-in my average daily
calories for the month was 1621 (which contributed to the 14lb excessive weight loss). Yesterday’s weigh-in my average was 1749.
That’s 128 more per day for July. I’m going to try and keep the average this month as close to 1700 as possible.
I’ll also be doing more strength training this month than in previous months which
will impact results as well. Everyone knows that muscle weighs more than fat, but it
also helps burn fat so I’m already very curious
about August weigh-in results even though we're 27 days away. You know what that means? The remaining “27 days”
will seem like 327 days! Isn’t that always the case when we’re looking forward
to something! Yay! Every month seems like a year to me! I can’t remember the
last time I was able to say “this week just flew by”. The days, weeks and months are
just crawling by! Yay!
Note: not sure if I’ve ever mentioned
this in the blog, but when you see measurements on my Tracker i.e. c (cup), tbsp.
(tablespoon), tsp (teaspoon) etc. just know that I actually use measuring utensils (I use them
for sauces, butter, and anything that requires control). But even with all
this, I am mindful of a potential 10% variance either way, so I always try to
get as accurate as possible.
Off to the gym.
Here's Tracker:
| STATS | |
| Journey Day: | 202 |
| Today's Calories: | 1683 |
| Daily Calorie Goal: | 1700 |
| Next Weigh In: | 8/27/2014 |
| Days till Weigh-In: | 27 |
| Starting Weight: | 351 |
| Current Weight: | 301 |
| Lost So Far: | 50 |
| Calorie Tracker | Calories |
| THURSDAY 7/31/14 | |
| BREAKFAST | |
| 1.5c Raisin Bran | 280 |
| 3/4c Organic Milk | 83 |
| Organic mixed greens | 0 |
| Breakfast Calories | 363 |
| SNACK | |
| McIntosh | 60 |
| Snack Calories | 60 |
| LUNCH | |
| PB2 & J on Multigrain Bread | 350 |
| Fresh Cut carrots | 30 |
| Lunch Calories | 380 |
| SNACK | |
| Seedless grapes | 40 |
| Snack Calories | 40 |
| DINNER (2 veggies) | |
| Angel Hair Pasta w/Meat Marinara sauce | 600 |
| Organic mixed greens | 0 |
| Corn Niblets | 40 |
| Dinner Calories | 590 |
| SNACK | |
| Grapes & Jarlsberg (post-workout protein) | 200 |
| Snack Calories | 200 |
| Exercise | |
| Strength Training - GYM (45 min) | Yes |
| 10 Min Stretching | Yes |
| Total Daily Calories: | 1683 |
| ***Daily Caloric Goal: | 1700 |
| <117> | |
| Daily Avg. Calories | |
| 7/30/2014 | 1680 |
| 7/31/2014 | 1683 |
| 8/1/14 | |
| 8/2/2014 | |
| 8/3/2014 | |
| 8/4/2014 | |
| 8/5/2014 | |
| 8/6/2014 | |
| 8/7/2014 | |
| 8/8/2014 | |
| 8/9/2014 | |
| 8/10/2014 | |
| 8/11/2014 | |
| 8/12/2014 | |
| 8/13/2014 | |
| 8/14/2014 | |
| 8/15/2014 | |
| 8/16/2014 | |
| 8/17/2014 | |
| 8/18/2014 | |
| 8/19/2014 | |
| 8/20/2014 | |
| 8/21/2014 | |
| 8/22/2014 | |
| 8/23/2014 | |
| 8/24/2014 | |
| 8/25/2014 | |
| 8/26/2014 | |
| 8/27/2014 | |
| 1681.5 | |
Note: I may be forced to include a small amount of Carbohydrates at the dinner meal if my calorie count is below 1000.
