30 pounds to go

I’m part of the 3FC The Biggest Loser challenge, on the Red team (woohoo Red!) and I set a goal when I started that to lose 1 pound a week. That would take me down from 142.5 to 127.5 by August 9. So far, after 3 weeks, I’m down 1.5 pounds… but they were the hardest 3 weeks of the challenge so I think I’m well on track to meet my goal.

Well, last week, hubby decided that he wants to do a weight loss challenge between the two of us. We each have about 25 pounds to reach our goals… me from 140 to 115, and him from 215 to 190. He wants to try to lose it ALL from June 1 to July 31. I appreciate his enthusiasm, but 25 pounds in just over 8 weeks??

However, I’m starting immediately (my TBL team is counting on me!), which means I have 11 weeks. And if I lost 2 pounds a week, I could lose 22 of my 26 remaining pounds, and get down to 119, which would be my lowest adult weight.

I’m a little bit afraid of setting a difficult goal, because I don’t want to fail. But let’s face it… I’ve set a lot of easy goals and not met them, either, over the years. So here goes… 2 pounds a week until July 31. I’m going to weigh in on Thursdays (that’s what I did this past week, and July 31 is a Thursday) and I’ll be sure to keep the blog up to date.

Things have finally settled down. My Masters degree is finished. I’m done at school, with the exception of handing in my lab keys, and getting some information from the student health center that I need for the school I’m attending in the fall.

Last night my husband asked me what I was going to do with all my free time… I told him I’d be exercising and playing video games. =] That’s my plan. To seriously focus on weight loss, and also have some fun, since this is the most free time I’ll ever have, for the rest of my life, unless I retire some day (us academic types don’t always). And hey, I’ll have time to blog this summer!

I realized today that the past few weekends, I was really really lazy. Just didn’t care about anything. My weekends weren’t really free (was working on thesis stuff the whole time) so I guess I tried to get extra rest by neglecting things like general hygiene (I didn’t floss at all the last few weekends) and health (skipped my vitamins, ate junk). So this morning I got up at a reasonable time (10am is reasonable when you’re up until 2am, lol), ate a healthyish breakfast, took my vitamins, and I’m gonna go running soon. Feeling good!

The past few days have been HARD. My husband is having really terrible back/shoulder pain that we can’t explain at all (and of course, it happens a week and a half before our health insurance kicks in!) and my concern for his health and comfort has left me with little energy for anything else. He’s been trying to keep me on track with eating/exercise but it’s hard to make it a priority when it seems like your husband is dying.

Today I work my usual 6-10am shift, then I have to go up to campus (45 mins away) to run some errands and talk to a few people. I’m gonna stop at the natural foods store while I’m up there, too — there are a few things I can’t find at the supermarket that I want to look for.

I’m trying a Zoic protein/nutrition drink for my snack today at work. I read about them in a Hungry Girl e-mail, and picked some up the same day at the store because everything HG touches turns to SOLD OUT, lol. We’ll see. I’ll bring a Fiber One bar as a back-up, in case it’s so awful I can’t drink it.

I was going to stop for fast food between work and school =/ but then I looked at some numbers, and decided that I’d rather just wait until 11am-ish when I get to school and get an overpriced salad there. I consider that a small victory. =]

Time to get ready for work!

This picture was taken a few days after Christmas, 2007.

I weighed about the same as I do now, so let’s say 145.

I haven’t been watching what I eat. The worst part is — I say I am. And sure, I’ve done some things… the once-or-twice-a-week regular soda is OUT, no more wine at home, and I got salads the last few times I picked up fast food. But I also bought half a dozen bagels a few days ago, and I ate dark chocolate covered dried cherries for dinner on Thursday, and this morning I had McDonalds breakfast.

Slight detour — I am glad I put my energy into exercise these past few weeks. I think that’s more important for me, personally. I’m not obese — I’m just a bit overweight — so it’s not like I need to lose weight ASAP or else my health will suffer. My biggest concern is my bone health. My mother was diagnosed with osteopenia at about 50 years old, which is quite young. We’ve got a family history of osteoporosis, and I was on depo-provera for a few years which can have a negative impact on bone density. People reach their peak bone density at around 30 years old, so I’ve got a few more years to build before it all goes downhill. I take a multivitamin with calcium and eat plenty of dairy, but weight-bearing exercise is super important to bone health.

But now that the exercise is becoming just a normal part of my life, I have to focus on the food, because I’m just not losing any weight with exercise alone.

I just typed that I’m not sure how to start — except that I know exactly how to start. I was on CK for years TELLING OTHER PEOPLE how to start. Saying that I don’t know is pure BS. So for now, I’m logging my food. ALL of it. Every bite that goes in my mouth… the 1 jelly bean from the candy dish, the sip of hubby’s gatorade, I’ll even measure how much milk I use on my cereal in the morning! And for now, I won’t try to change anything. I’ll slowly make changes based on what I see in my food log.

I’m starting to get my healthy exercise habits back! I work out almost every day. I’m definitely gaining strength, and I’m feeling more confident and happy.

Right now I’m doing the CoolRunnings Couch-to-5K (C25K) program to try to safely get back into running. I used to run, but I always overestimate what my body can do and hurt myself. So I’m following this program EXACTLY for the 9 weeks, and I’ll see what happens. I’ve done the first two workouts, the third will be today.. and so far, no shin pain! I’m waiting for it to get a little warmer before I head out today… it’s only 29 degrees F right now, but it’s supposed to get up to 37, and that would be much more pleasant.

A few days a week, I do exercise videos. My favorites are the FIRM DVDs from the Body Sculpting System 2. I also do Tae Bo Cardio on occasion, and on a lighter day, Cathe Freidrich’s Basic Step (it came with the step I bought). I’m looking into a few others to buy.

I would like to incorporate 2 days a week of upper body strength training as well, to really build some muscle. I need to buy some heavier dumbbells, my highest are 15 pounds. If I got heavier ones, Mr. Mayness says he would use them too. Yesterday I let him guide how much weight I did… I think I’m going to be very sore by the end of today. =P

I’ve been feeling an urge to write about my diet and fitness issues for a while now. The only person I really talk to about it is my husband, and while he’s supportive, he’s also very opinionated. He sees himself as my personal trainer sometimes instead of my husband. =/

I lost weight before. I was once at 150lbs (I’m 5′2″) and got down to 120! But I gained most of that back over the past few years. I was 146 last time I weighed, but that was mid-PMS, and after a weekend of very salty food so it’s probably not *quite* that bad. I’d really like to get down to 115, so I’ve got about 30 pounds to lose.

Someone might recognize my username from CalorieKing… I was a member for about 3 years, until they got ridiculously expensive and I decided to give it a shot with only free resources. Or you might have seen me on SparkPeople… I log my food there sometimes, and I’m on a few teams but they just aren’t active enough to hold my interest. So now, you can see me around the 3FC forums a bit. =]

About me: I’m 23 years old, and happily married. Still many, many years away from having children, if we ever do. I’m a grad student, finishing up a M.S. in Bioinformatics. I’ve got a little more work to do on my thesis then I’m DONE! I also have a part-time job at Macy’s, and combined with my weight issues, I just absolutely hate clothes right now. =P This August I’m starting a Ph.D. program in biochemistry & molecular biology.