Weigh In!

Just a short update for today since it is Halloween and my little brother will be here soon! I weighed in at 166.2 today. Only down .2 but down is down!!!!

Getting sick sucks

Well, having the flu since Saturday has thrown me off course. I'm still eating healthy, but I am finding it very hard to exercise. My flu aches have limited themselves to both legs, from the hips down. I can't run or do yoga. My fever is going down. Fever and aches are my only remaining symptoms at this point.

I am going to try to do Wii Fit and do balance exercises instead of yoga. It will be less intensive on my legs. Heck, right now I can barely go up one flight of stairs to the apartment.

I am hoping that I am all clear on Saturday. My birth mom and little brother are coming to help with wedding stuff and then go trick-or-treating. I get to be Tinkerbell! I'll have to limit how much candy I take, haha! Heavy candy holidays are always hard.

What are your Halloween plans?

Who knew?

Who knew that getting the flu would make you lose so much weight? Obviously it isn't healthy to lose weight this way. I came down with the flu yesterday morning as soon as I woke up. It sucks. I drank plenty of liquid yesterday, but I only managed to eat 2 packages of pork flavored Ramen Noodles.

I did weigh in today. I wasn't feeling well enough to stand on the scale yesterday. Today's current weight is 166.4. Since I started this blog, I have lost 4.2 pounds.

Since I am still sick I am keeping this nice and short.

How have you done this first week?

I cheated...

I totally cheated this morning. I generally only weigh myself first thing Saturday morning so I don't obsess about the scale. Well, I hopped on this morning for sh!ts and giggles to see my progress this first week. I am down 2.6 to 168. Wow. I know from experience the first few pounds come off quickly. It's mainly water weight. It'll come off 1-3 pounds a week for the first 2-3 week then it starts to slow. Some weeks you'll lose 2, sometimes it's .5... Then there are those weeks where you lose nothing or you gain. When that happens, just keep pushing forward. If you're sitting at no loss and no gain for a few weeks or longer (a plateau) you just need to mix something up. Try a new exercise, increase your exercise time (instead of 25 mins do 30 or 35), or maybe you need a slight decrease in calories (I would say no more than 100) or aim closer to your low end if you tend to eat towards the high end.

Do you ever cheat and sneak a peek at the scale when you know you shouldn't?

Good Morning Wednesday!

My day is starting out very lazy. I slept in until 11 AM this morning. I just was super tired all yesterday. I just needed the sleep. Getting 8 hours of sleep is very important for anybody.

My fiance, Matt, and I have decided to create this book of house rules and commitments because we both have issues following through.

My weight loss related commitments are:

• run the Couch to 5K program 3 days a week
• do yoga or strength training with Wii fit or a video 2 days a week
• track everything that goes in my mouth, even if it puts me over my daily calories
• motivate myself daily
• blog my weight loss journey at least 3 times per week, updating with pictures at every 10 pound milestone

These commitments don't seem too hard. It just takes perseverance.

Here I go, head first

Welcome to my blog! My name is Shannon. I am a 23 year old college student and I am trying to get in shape. I am starting my adventure to health at 170.6 pounds. I am 5'5" with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28.5. By health standards I am considered overweight and dangerously close to obese. One is considered obese at 30 BMI and normal between 18.5 and 24.9 BMI. You can calculate your BMI here http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ to determine whether or not you are in need of a lifestyle change.

I am getting married May 22, 2010 and I want (and hope!) to be 145 pounds on that day. That gives me 25.6 pounds to lose in 30 weeks. That's just about .85 pounds a week to lose. Healthy weightloss is up to 2 pounds a week and realistic weightloss is .5 pounds a week so .85 a week is a very realistic goal as long as you're trying for it.

Please excuse the terrible pics. I will get my fiance to take them next time!

I use sparkpeople.com to track this journey. They give me a goal of calories and I can track my food intake and my exercise. My calorie goal is 1320 to 1670 calories each day. It is also essential to get at least eight 8 oz glasses of water each day. I also take a green tea extract supplement (with egcg) which helps reduce hunger, gives you energy, and helps boost your metabolism.

My exercise goal is per week. I am doing the Couch to 5k running program http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml three days a week and doing yoga, dancing, or strength exercises either with the Wii or a video for 30 minutes a day, two days a week. I have Wii fit and I find that it works best for yoga and strength exercises.

I will be posting a new blog entry at least three days a week. I will for sure post an entry on Saturdays when I weigh myself. Weight fluctuates throughout the day and certain environmental changes can also effect your weight. It is best to weigh yourself the same day and the same time every week. I also prefer to weigh myself in little to no clothing to get the most accurate view of my weight rather than being bogged down by pants, shirts, etc. I weigh myself Saturdays when I first wake up before I have put anything in my stomach to add weight. I try not to weigh myself anymore often than that, and that is why my scale is in the guest bathroom. I know it is very tempting to weigh yourself every time you see that scale, but it most likely will just discourage you because you'll climb on in the middle of the day right after you've eaten lunch and had a large glass of water, or something similar to that.

If you are joining me on a similar journey of your own, I wish you luck and success. It never hurts to have someone along for the ride.