Weight Loss Progress

294lbs – I’ve lost 12 lbs

Not bad for 3 weeks.  4lbs a week is nothing to be ashamed of, especially over the Holidays.  I think I’ve done pretty well, though I know I can do better.  If I don’t pick up the pace, I might not reach my goal.  Wait, did I just say something negative?  The first week I did really well, but since then have deviated from my hardcore loss attitude because of “The Holidays.”  It’s a great excuse.

I can’t help but think how well I would be doing had I not used that excuse.  I’m a pretty positive person, as you can tell.  I don’t get down very often and always find the positive of any situation.  That won’t help my journey though, and it won’t help you – my readers.  I’m going to switch this blog up a bit from now on and focus on the real situation, and how I push forward.  After all, I’m not a motivational speaker.

Wednesdays workout was good.  I woke up at 5:00am and was in the gym by 5:30am.  WOW! I don’t wake up early on a regular basis, so this was different.  It was dark outside, and cold.  Very cold, for Florida.

After weighing myself and seeing a mild loss, I polished off 60 minutes on the elliptical.

978 calories burned

Not as great as the day before, but it could be the 2lb difference in the settings.  Either way, a solid session.  Waking up that early actually gave me more energy for the day.  I felt pretty good.

Now, the struggles.  I’ve noticed after Christmas that I have been sneaking a few extra carbs and not feeling guilty about it.  Whether it be a roll with dinner or white rice instead of  brown rice.  I know better.  But again, one cheat meal leads to more cheat meals.

How do I overcome this?

I’ll be following up with a post a little later after todays workout.  I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

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295!  I can’t believe it!

I stepped on the scale at the gym and was blown away by the results.  295.2lbs.  That is almost a 5lb loss since my last weigh-in on December 19th and coming after the huge amounts of food I ate at Grandma’s house.  I couldn’t be happier!

On the 16th day, I have lost a solid 11lbs.  Not bad, and it puts me right on target for my goal of 20lbs lost by January 10th.  I know I could probably push it and lose 1lb a day, I did before.  I think that’s a little unhealthy and am very happy with 5lbs a week loss.

There is 28 weeks from December  10 to my daughters birthday on June 10.  I would like to reach my goal of 100lbs lost by that time.  That’s only 3.5lbs a week average.  I think I can do that.  A gift to myself, and my daughter.

So back to today’s workout.  The gym was rather empty.  I think everyone is enjoying their last few days of freedom before the impending New Years resolutions kick in.  There were plenty of salesmen ready to earn commission on the new gym memberships, but they looked pretty bored at their desks browsing Facebook.

After my weigh-in this morning, I was pumped.  I decided to hit cardio for a full hour today, and bump up the resistance level a little more.  60 minutes, resistance level 7, random program.  I did very well.  I stayed around 58-63 RPM and my heart rate was pretty consistent between 140-145.

992 Calories burned.

Success!  Which leads me to another thought I had.  While watching the Biggest Loser “where are they now” show I saw one of the former winners, Erik Chopin, has gained back almost all of the weight he lost.  A friend asked me, how can someone lose so much, win $250,000, get plenty of national publicity and still gain the weight back.  How could he fail?  Well, much like I did.

Life Happens.

The key is to recognize it and not allow failure.  One man’s failure is another man’s pre-game for success!

At this point I know how to lose the weight and I know how to gain it.  I also know what I need to do to prevent it from happening again.  Here I am, at the beginning of another journey, already showing signs of success.  This time, I am doing it on my own.  For myself.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures.  I have received messages asking for my updated pics.  I will get them up tomorrow after I have cleaned the house from all the Christmas mess.

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I am 299.3lbs

Wow. This is still a HUGE number, and twice the weight of the average human.  For me, this number is a sign of progress.  Had I not slipped over the 300 mark again, I might not have started this journey.  I fluctuated at 285-295 for quite some time.

The really big news here is I have proved to myself that I can lose weight while out of town.  Remember, I travel a lot for work — A LOT!  I ate well, drank wine and had a fantastic time.  I was never hungry and didn’t stress about conforming to a “diet.”  I lived my life, and still managed to lose weight.  How?  Well I think my choice of grilled chicken taco salad instead of the grande burrito smothered in chipotle queso sauce was a good start.

Today I really pushed myself at the gym.  I did 50 minutes on the elliptical + 5 minute cool down.  My heart rate is getting better every day.

Total calories burned: 815

Not bad.  I still have to change the batteries in my heart rate monitor, so I don’t know how accurate the one on the elliptical machine is.  When comparing to previous calorie counts on the same machine (and I always use the same machine) it is a good benchmark to follow.

Today will be renamed Success Saturday!

Now it’s your turn.  What has made your day a Success Saturday?

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Today’s update is coming early as I’m heading out of town for a few days.  Don’t worry ladies, I’ll still be working out from the hotel and posting updates accordingly.

I’ve been waking up early this week, as I previously mentioned.  I’m excited, like a kid with a new toy.  This blog, and the comments are really inspiring me to push forward.

The desk-clerk at the gym commented about my “attendance” today.  She asked if I was becoming one of the regulars again.  “Yes!”  Isn’t it great when someone else notices your efforts?  Peer pressure works.  If I ever miss a day, I bet she will comment on that too.

December 16, 2009

The weekly pic post is up.  No noticeable change.  Well, evidently I’m bigger than the Christmas tree. ugh!

So, onto the Panty-dropper.  I arrive at the gym and head for the scale.  I am always sure to use the same scale and don’t bother taking my shoes off making a huge ordeal out of this.  I am stunned when I see the results:

301.2lbs - Yeah baby – 5lbs loss!!!!!

Can you believe that?  In less than a week, I managed to drop 5lbs by doing some cardio and eating better.  It was all the proof I needed to move forward in my journey.  I knew I could do it.  By next week I will remove a HUGE monkey from my back – 300lbs.

I am promising you today, I will never see 300lbs again!

Take that to the bank, sure money!

My workout today consisted of another 35 minutes on the elliptical, reporting a whopping 602 calories burned.  I pushed myself harder today.  The weight loss felt good and I was on cloud 9.  I worked back and shoulders for todays lifting.  I positioned myself face first against the incline bench with dumbbells and cycled the following:

3×12 -  15lb hammer lifts (raise arms straight in front from resting position)

3×12 – 15lb back fly’s

3×18 – Extended leg bench crunches

I felt the burn on these, and am trying to ease myself into lifting.  I don’t’ want to hurt myself and prevent future progress.

Greg from Gregs Transformation pointed out, in the comment section, that the machines calorie reading might not be accurate.  I will be wearing my own heart rate monitor in the future to compare against the machine.  Thanks Greg!

Lastly, I love your comments.  They keep me going and I hope my new journey is inspiring some of you.  Thank you!

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