Monday, January 26, 2009

The First Five

I am happy to report that I’m officially down 5lbs since I started tracking with FitDay on January 7th. I was actually a pound or so heavier when I started at the New Year but I’ll stick with the “official” results. Reaching this first little milestone looms large in my mind – it gives me a tangible piece of data to cuddle up to. I know in my head that I want to take this slow and steady. I want to make those gradual changes that will bring me closer to a healthier me. But there’s nothing like actual results to fuel the fire of motivation.

The daily weighing can easily skew my perspective but I like looking at the graph’s end points: where I started and where I am now. The jagged ups and downs on the graph don’t matter – only the fact that I’m trending downward. Considering that it hasn’t even been three weeks since my “start” date, being down 5lbs is phenomenal! My goal pace is to lose an average of 1.25 lbs per week. By that measure I’m ahead of the curve.

I’ve had to experiment a LOT to get to the point where I was seeing true movement on the scale. The Beck Diet encouraged me to start out eating 2200 calories per day, which I knew would be too much. From watching my body’s reactions, I’ve come to realize my target should be between 1600-1800 per day. My current activities include 3 one hour-long circuit training sessions and 2 one hour-long yoga classes per week. I obviously seem to lose more at the lower end of the range but having a couple of 1800 calorie days seems to be OK.

This is definitely a learning process and I’m really starting to enjoy it. Seeing the results start to come is an amazing feeling. It just spurs me on to keep going. I know I can do it and finally have some clear data to support that claim. If you’re curious on how I’m doing this, just look for the link to my FitDay account on the right.

So enough about me – anyone else out there starting to see results? If so, how can you tell? If not yet, what are you struggling with? Please share in the comments. Let's motivate each other!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go Amelia!

Anonymous said...

Oh well done Amelia! You should be sooo proud of yourself!!

I'm noticing I'm not as hungry and therefore don't crave sugary foods now that I'm ensuring I eat regularly and sensibly. Your blog is great encouragement!

Taking photos of my meals and putting them on the blog has really helped!

HEALTHY AMELIA said...

Thanks to you both! I really appreciate the support. Seeing feedback in terms of numbers is fun (at least when it’s going in the “right” direction. But I *feel* so much better, which is the best part.