Weight-Loss Challenge: Week One Update

The first week of my weight-loss challenge is over! I weighed in this morning and lost a total of 4.2 lbs.

I am loving the myfitnesspal app. At first I was not so sure about it because I have used other apps with way more options but I didn’t really use them consistently. This is probably because they had so many options. Myfitness pal is simple to use in every way.

I logged in daily and having the phone app is really helpful. I ALWAYS have my phone on me which means no writing things down then having to remember to add it all up later.

Every day was different. Some days it was easy to stay within my calorie limit and others it was really hard! Knowing that someone was going to see how I did each day gave me that little extra incentive to stay on track. There were a few days where I logged my food and was in the red. So, I exercised until I was back in the green.  This helped me balance out my day but I still felt kind of crappy and bloated after making poor food choices.

This losing weight thing really is about building or re-establishing good habits. It is not just about the weight for me, it really is about feeling better overall.  I don’t feel as good the day after eating heavy fatty foods as I do when I have eaten a healthy balanced diet. That means choosing the salad, high fiber bread and glass of water over the brownie and diet soda. While it is okay to treat yourself to goodies sometimes, I have a tendency to eat these a little more than I should. I forgo the good foods pick the not so good foods instead and say, “Oh look I stayed under my calories, yay me.”  While I may still lose weight for a little while doing this, eventually it will catch up to me.  More importantly it makes me feel like crap!! BALANCE is something I plan to work on this week.

I don’t think I have shared this yet but in my former life, not so long ago, I was a nutrition educator. I knew all about the basics of eating well, working out and losing weight but it was and is still hard for me. Why, because after you acquire the knowledge you still have to put it into practice. For some of us, it’s really hard to break old habits.  Let’s face it, who wants to part ways with the one who has been there for all the break-ups, bad hair days, fights with family members, flat tires, crazy mornings with the kids, birthdays, graduations, every holiday, every family gathering and all the other good and bad experiences you have had.  It’s like losing a best friend, well for some of us anyways J

***If right now you’re thinking, “Wow, this lady is CRAZY!”, then you may not have serious food issues like me. If this is you, and you are just trying to lose that “freshman 15”, check out Megan’s blog. She is also in this challenge and is living a fabulous life abroad. But you are welcome to still check in with me from time to time, it may be entertaining****

The truth is, most of us already know what we need to do to achieve a healthy weight the hard part is doing it. I am glad I have made a commitment to do this for a lifetime. I am also glad I have new friends, real friends with faces and not ones you shove a fork or spoon in, to help me along the way.

Check in weekly as I share with you my successes and challenges over the remaining 15 weeks of my weight-loss challenge.

P.S. it's not too late to join us