Approaching the One Year Mark!

Next weekend will mark a full year since I started on this lifestyle change! As of this posting, I've lost 82 pounds. The graph above shows the pounds lost over this past year.

A safe way to lose weight is to aim for one to two pounds a week. My loss averaged out to be 1.9 pounds per week. WELL within what is considered safe and healthy for weight loss. It will also be easier to maintain the weight loss, for the rest of my life because it is gradual. New habits take time to take hold!

I really am feeling the move into the transition phase of my journey. I've used Sparkpeople.com for their tools that include calorie counting, figuring out calories in recipes, motivational articles, fitness tracking, and many many other tools. It is a vast website with almost too much information! I can usually find answers to most any question I might have though. Regarding food or fitness or recipes, this site has an unbelievable amount of information on it.

I also really like the podcast that the Fat 2 Fit guys have. I love their motivation. I am not sold on their methods just yet. They advocate eating like the thin person you want to be. Generally this allows for more calories than I would be comfortable with eating! I am trying different things they are suggesting because it is more like a lifestyle, rather than a diet. Why am I not totally sold on it yet? Well, it is just too easy to follow their ideas! There is little to no suffering that I have always associated with weight loss or even with exercising. Can it really be THIS easy? Time will tell. For now though, I am sticking with these guys to see if this really does keep working as it has so far!

Next week I will be getting ready to run/walk my first official 5K. This also marks the one year anniversary of the beginning of my new life. I think it will also be the time to change when I jump on the scale. I think I should try to do this every other week for a while. Once I can prove to myself that the weight is still coming off, slow but sure, I can get rid of that crutch of a scale! To flip this around, because I AM at the tail end of the journey, weighing in every two weeks will show more pounds lost than every week would. I might only lose a half pound a week now. If I weigh in every two weeks, that will show as a pound loss.

Everything in moderation seems to be the ticket I need. Whether it be food, exercise, or most anything that touches me in my life, if it is in moderation, it seems to be the best way to go. Slow and steady might be boring, but it really seems to be the wise way of doing things!

PS: I gained .4 pounds today. I am not worried. Annoyed? YES! But not really all depressed about it. It will be two weeks before I weigh in again. See ya then! (or probably sooner!)