1 Month Later & Doing Fine!!

A month has passed since I REALLY started to try to drop some weight. Am I happy? YES!! I hope the progress continues for each and every month that I check in. I hope I meet my goal to be beach body ready for July. I can do this... WE CAN DO THIS.

A month ago, I stated I was going to: 1) Calorie Count, 2) Not forbid foods, just make smarter choices, 3) drink more water, 4) use the Jawbone UP to motivate, 5) use the Withings Smart Body Analyzing Scale for further motivation and 6) measure.

Well about two weeks ago I added: 7) walk/jog as much as I can. Before I go into detail on how I've done on the 7 categories, I want to celebrate some notable victories.

+ THE MEDIUM PAJAMA JEANS THAT I BOUGHT IN OCTOBER NOW FIT! Back then, I couldn't get them over my thighs. Now, they are a bit baggy.

+ ACCORDING TO THE WITHINGS SMART SCALE, I AM NOW IN NORMAL RANGE FOR WEIGHT AND BMI!!

+ I'M NOT AFRAID OF LOOKING IN THE MIRROR NOW!! I actually don't mind it and I swear I'm starting to see definition in my stomach area.

Ok, so now the actual progress...

1. Calorie Counting: I have a 33 day streak on My Fitness Pal, which means I have tracked every day for 33 days. Some days are better than others, but I track NO MATTER WHAT. My UP24 band (#4) automatically syncs my calories burned from my walks, but I don't really take that to heart too much and try to stick around my 1250 goal. I've been eating the same thing pretty much every work day, with the occasional treat out. Weekends are more difficult but I'm managing. It's hard when you don't cook!!

2. Food Choice: As previously decided, I am not limiting myself on what, but rather on how much. I still had some treats, but just in lesser quantities and not as often. It hasn't been too hard and even when I have a treat I still try to stay within my allotted calories.

3. Water: While at work I drink 2x (sometimes 3) 16 oz glasses / day. When I come home I usually get another 24 oz down. I also only drink 1 cup of tea at work, and generally only drink water. Very little pop and no juice. I need to work on increases my water intake during the weekends though.

4. Jawbone UP24: I have worn this every day and now I feel "naked" when I don't have it on. I raised my step goal from 8,500 to 10,000 as I was hitting 10,000 more often than not anyway. I enjoy the features it has and I do find it continues to motivate me. It has been reminding me that I need to sleep more so I do try and obey it's tips.

5. Withings Smart Body Analyzing Scale: I like to weigh myself in every day.. I know that's not recommended for most, but it works for me. If I behave, I see those numbers drop daily. I have enjoyed this scale as it automatically syncs to UP and MFP for me. I didn't like that it weighed me in .6 lbs heavier than my other scale. So really I'm in the 142 range...YAY!!

6. Measuring:
Date*********Time******Weight***Chest*****Waist****Hips******Thigh
28-Feb-15 - 11:00 AM - 146.8 - 38.00 - 33.0 - 37.25 - N/A
28-Mar-15 - 10:45 AM - 143.2 - 37.00 - 31.5 - 36.00 - 23.5
I will measure myself the last Saturday of every month.
(excuse the poor formatting)

7. Walk/Jogging: I decided that now the snow has melted that I'm going to walk, and try to jog as much as possible. I picked a 2 km route and am doing that over and over with the hopes that one day soon I will jog the whole thing. I've gone 10 times since I started on March 10th. 9 of 10 times, I have taken Lincoln (my dog) with me. There has been definite improvement as I am getting faster, and feeling less pain the next day. If I keep this up for a few weeks, then I may invest in some proper running shoes. I've ALWAYS wanted to be a runner.

Attempt 1 took 23 min @ 19.2 min/mi
Attempt 10 took 15 min @ 12.1 min/mi

Hopefully my story helps some others.

Until next month...