Well. Here we are. Another month. Coming off a not-so-great weigh-in, I'm not sure how much clarity I'll have for the next 30 days, but before I get into all that, I want to take a look back at March:
Reach the 180's [Take Two]- Drink More Water
- Find a Balance while on Vacation
I'm glad I've increased my water intake. Even though I'm not quite where I want to be just yet (100 ounces a day), I'm definitely on my way (averaging between 50 and 60 ounces a day, compared to only about 20-30 before). So, that's good. I'm also really proud of myself for hardly gaining weight while I was on vacation, so that was a nice plus for the months as well. But ...
I really can't believe I missed the 180's ... again. And by almost an ENTIRE pound. Ugh! It's really upsetting to me that I'm struggling THIS badly. In 12 weeks (13 weigh-ins) I've only lost 9.2 pounds. I look back on some of my old weight loss blogs, and where I was 12 weeks in, and it breaks my heart:
- Starting at 185 on 1/2/12 - down 23.2 pounds by my 13th weigh-in
- Starting at 162.2 on 11/7/12 - down 11.2 pounds by my 12th weigh-in (did not have a 13th)
- Starting at 202.0* on 10/1/14 - down 7.0 pounds by my 11th weigh-in (did not have a 12th or 13th)
*I should mention that 200 pounds, as mentioned in my weigh-in log, is NOT actually my highest weight. My highest weight was actually 202 pounds in October of 2014. I suppose I just wanted to start from scratch at 200 pounds this year, so I ignored losing those other two pounds. So. Yeah. There's that.
Anyway moving on.
Although, now that I lay all of those figures out in front of me, I'm actually not doing as bad as I thought. I guess in taking what I thought would be a depressing walk down memory lane, I've actually given myself a little bit of an emotional boost and feel a LITTLE better about where I'm at. Why?
- January 2012: 23.2 pounds / 12 weeks = 1.9 pounds per week on average (NOT COUNTING*)
- November 2012: 11.2 pounds / 11 weeks = 1.0 pounds per week on average
- October 2014: 7.0 pounds / 10 weeks = .7 pounds per week on average
- January 2015: 9.2 pounds / 12 weeks = .8 pounds per week on average
* I'm not counting the early part of 2012 in this comparison, because I was on Medifast, and Medifast, although effective, is not, in my opinion, a conducive program for long-term weight loss (as someone who did the program twice, lost 20+ pounds twice, and gained it all back ... twice).
When I look at the numbers, it's actually not as bad as I thought. In fact, I'm actually doing slightly better than how I was doing last fall - which isn't too big a surprise - and I'm only doing slightly worse than how I was doing back in the fall of 2012. In addition to that, I suppose I should feel proud that I've kept up with this blog for as long as I have, especially considering my struggles, seeing as I abandoned my last two blogs before my 13th, and 12th, week. If I hadn't given up back then, who knows where I would be now. So ... I'm not going to give up. I'm going to keep moving forward, and surpass my old records.
Phew. That was a bit of a tangent I didn't expect to have - but I'm glad I did. I feel a lot better now, and can look to April in a better light. So. Before I get sidetracked again, here are my goals for April:
- Win Round 3 of My DietBet: My DietBet is still in gear, and my next goal is to be at 185.3 by April 20 - which means, as of today, I need to lose 5.5 pounds in 20 days (which averages out to about 1.9 pounds a week). Yes, it's quite a lofty goal, but at this point, I really need something to get me moving. That's frustrating to say, because I don't really know what else I can do to lose faster - but because I've had bad weigh-ins for the past ... like ... ever (5 to be exact), HOPEFULLY I'm due for a change in my luck. So, I want to set my standard high for the next couple of weeks.
- Add In THE GYM: As mentioned before, I am changing up my fitness plan ... again. Instead of moving on to Insanity Max 30 and P90X3 right away, I'm first going to repeat T25. I really believe two rounds of T25 will be the perfect conditioning for the higher intensity programs - PLUS I'm interested to see the progress I've made in my endurance and stamina. I will be starting round two of T25 on Monday, April 13 - IRONICALLY the same day the gym in our apartment building reopens after updating their equipment (even though their machines were only about 5-7 years old MAX). If that's not a sign, I don't know what is! Gian and I are going to start doing T25 in the morning before he heads off to work, and since I start work almost two hours later than him, I'll have plenty of time to kill ... in the gym. I won't be doing anything crazy - I plan to walk on an incline for 30 minutes to an hour (with an hour being the goal) and maybe doing some light weight training. I'm hoping the additional workout will be the boost I need to start seeing better numbers on the scale.
- Be Nicer to Myself: This goal somewhat goes hand-in-hand with a goal I set back in February (ie. No Negativity), but since I failed, MISERABLY, I want to try again - but a little differently. I don't consider myself to be a negative person, but I know that when it comes to certain things about myself (weight loss especially) I have a hard time having a glass-is-half-full perspective all the time. So, instead of saying I won't be negative, I'm going to say I won't be mean. I won't be so hard on myself. After my revelation above, I need to start accepting that even if this pace is slow, it's the pace I'm at. And I need to start being okay with it, otherwise I'm going to get frustrated - just like I did three+ times before - and quit. And I don't want to quit. I can't. So, this month, I will be proud of whatever I accomplish. I'm still hoping to win Round 3 of my DietBet, like I mentioned above, but if I don't, I won't completely fall apart. I'll accept it, and move on. Smiling. And proud.
Quite a 180 from the post I originally started writing. Proof that blogging does actually help when it comes to this sort of thing. But, anyway. Three goals. 30 days to reach them. Here we go!