Showing posts with label calorie goal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calorie goal. Show all posts

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Losing Weight is Hard

Hi, all!

So, my fitness evaluation needed to be rescheduled for Tuesday. I know it is only a few days away, but I am a little bummed out that I was not able to find out my results. Oh well, that means I have a few more days to work hard. And let me tell you, I have been working incredibly hard. According to my scale at home, I have lost 12.2 pounds in a month. We'll have to see what the scale at the gym says on Tuesday. Either way, I know that I have made progress because I stuck to my nutritional goals 22 out of 32 days. I am sort of ashamed that in March I had 10 days where I either did not count calories, binged, or just went over. Even though I am ashamed of that, it also shows just how hard I worked the other days out of the month. Consistently I saw my weight dropping, that is a fact because on March 7th, I weighed in at 330 pounds and this morning the scale told me 317.8. The results are real.

Losing weight it hard, I will not deny that at all. If it were just an easy thing to do, I would not have topped the scale at 330 pounds, and I would have been able to keep off the 50 pounds I lost before. It is hard, plain and simple. There are days where I do not want to eat healthily, where I would rather just binge on all of my comfort foods. Or have a big bowl of pasta, a whole bag of chips, a huge bowl of ice cream. Or just a bunch of unhealthy but delicious foods from a fast food restaurant. There is nothing wrong with having pasta, chips, ice cream or fast food. Moderation is the key. To be honest, though, there have been days where I have said, 'Screw it,' I'm going to make a big plate of nachos or eat a big bowl of ice cream. Not to mention that some days I do not want to work out and sometimes I don't. This week I worked out all seven days because I wanted to. But other weeks I only work out 4 or 5 times, sometimes less than that because I just don't have the energy for it. The point is, I'm not perfect 100 percentage of the time. It just so happens that this was an excellent week for me. I ate 3,921 calories under my weekly goal. I worked out for a total of 299 minutes. And had a total calorie burn between food and exercise of 9619. If you don't know, that is 2.75 pounds for the week. Some days in March I did not do well at all, but I still was down 6.2 lbs.

Here's what I want you to get from this long drabble, you don't always have to be perfect! Some days will be bad and some good. Some weeks you will lose 2 pounds, and somewhere you will gain them back. Have more good days than bad. Eat all the foods you love in moderation or find healthier replacements that you love even more. Just stick with it, and the results will come. Slow and steady wins the race.

It is finally the weekend. I am still trying to get used to working again. My job may not be all day at this point but I am still trying to get used to being busier. It will get better when I am in my actual work schedule and not my training schedule. This varying schedule is weird but I will be into my actual schedule within the next few weeks. It will be nice to get my first paycheck on Friday though. My next one will be even better though, so I am excited about May 1st.  

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Honest Tracking

Hi, all!

Happy Tuesday! How are you all doing on this cloudy and rainy day? I hope that you all had an enjoyable Memorial Day and remembered those who have sacrificed their lives for us. Have you set your goals yet? Since it was Memorial Day yesterday and some of my family had off work, my weekly schedule is a little out of whack. It seems like it should be Monday today but hopefully I'll get things figured out soon.

I'll be honest, I didn't do as well as I had hoped during dinner last night. I hate having to admit my faults like this but if I'm not honest with myself, then I won't make any changes. So, I logged everything I ate and thankfully I was only a couple hundred calories over. I would have been fine, but I decided to have a glass of soda, which put me a few hundred calories over my goal. Soda is one of those things that I rarely drink and I only like one kind, but of course, my dad had to go and buy a gallon of it the other night. Thankfully it's gone now and I don't have the temptation to drink it. Today is a new day and I'm ready to get back on track.

Today has been a pretty simple day, I worked out and as soon as I'm done with this post, I'm going to work on a few essays for some scholarships. It would be extremely helpful if I was able to win one of these scholarhips. So, I figure that I should apply for the ones that I'm able to, especially since I had some free time today.

Tomorrow I have orientation for my new job! I'm excited and a bit nervous to start, but I'm ready to be a little busier again. Plus, it'll be nice to have some money coming in, so I can pay off some bills and save for the future. I can't wait to see what this job has in store for me. So tomorrow will be a bit busier, but my morning routine will stay the same. I can't wait to share how it went.

Well, I'm off. Time to go and work my the scholarship essays. I hope that you all have a wonderful afternoon and evening. Until next time!

~Sara~

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Listening to Your Body

Hi, all!

Happy Thursday! How are you all doing on this beautiful day? We're in the homestretch of the week, are you close to accomplishing your goals?  I have another interview this afternoon, so hopefully I'll get positive results. This job would be nice because hopefully I'd be able to transfer to one of their locations out in Seattle once I move.  

This morning, I was feeling incredibly tired and a little fatigued, so I chose not to workout. Maybe I'll workout after I get back from my interview and maybe I won't. I'm trying to do a better job at listening to my body. If I need rest, then I'll give myself rest. If I don't need rest, then I'll workout. Too many times, I've pushed my body too far and didn't give myself rest and that's when an injury happens or I feel so fatigued that I'm down for days.  I'm definitely a work in process but as long as I move forward, that's all that matters.

It's been sort of strange for me lately, I've been under my calorie goal by quite a bit this week. 3 of 4 days, I have been at least 300 calories under my goal and this is after forcing myself to eat a bit more in the evening to get a little closer to my goal. I don't want to be too far under my goal and honestly, this could be the reason why I've been feeling so fatigued lately. It seems that I'm going to have to start eating a little bigger breakfast and lunch because those meals have been lower lately. I never thought I'd have to try and eat more because I'm not getting enough calories.

Well, I'm off. I need to finish up a few things, have lunch and then head to my interview. I hope that you all are having an amazing day. Until next time!

~Sara~

Friday, May 1, 2015

New Month, New Beginning

Hi, all!

Happy Friday! How are you all doing today? It's May 1st, which means a new month is upon us. Today is a clean slate, what are we going to do to make it count? There are so many things that we can accomplish this month if we put our minds to it. I shared my goals a few days ago, what are your goals for the month?

Yesterday I had another good day and I ended April on a positive note, which I'm so happy about. According to my records, I was 1041 calories under my goal (for the last 4 days of April), I had almost 1100 calories burned and 201 fitness minutes in those 4 days as well. :) I'm proud of myself for staying on track these four days because it hasn't been without hardships. Sometimes I think I need to eat more in the evening, even after I've had my snack, but I work through it and realize that I don't need it. It's especially gratifying when I talk myself out of eating some that is not necessary (like some nachos or something like that). Often in the evenings, I'm craving some sort of carb, usually chips, and I know that is not something I need. There is nothing wrong with eating chips from time to time, but in the evening, I'd eat way too many of them, so I try to avoid them. It'll be much nicer when I'm living on my own again and I won't even keep those kinds of things around.

Tonight my mom, two youngest nieces and I are going out for Chinese tonight, so it'll be tougher to keep on track today, but I'm determined to stay on track. I've already determined what I'm eating (some delicious chicken and broccoli) and I've added it to my nutrition tracker. This is how my life is going to be, there will be times that go out for Chinese or Italian or whatever else. I will eat it and enjoy it, but I'll make sure that it fits into my day.

Oh, and I just wanted to share something that I find amazing. The shirt I'm wearing today is one that I bought on Saturday. When I was trying it on, I thought it looked nice, but it was just another shirt. Today it is more than simply a new shirt, I feel more confident in it. The reason for that is that I'm working out and eating better again. I feel better about myself when I'm working out and eating properly and I think it shows. I'm more confident about myself when I'm doing well. It's an amazing feeling, I love having more confidence.

My best friend is going to be here starting on Sunday afternoon/evening and she'll be here until the following Saturday afternoon. I'm so excited to have her here, especially since I've graduated. Her sister is getting married a week from today and my best friend is the maid of honor. I can't wait for the wedding, it'll be an amazing time with a family that I've known since I was 7. Plus, I'll be able to hang out with my best friend a few times during the week that she's home. Anyways, I'm off. I hope that you all have an amazing day and an amazing beginning of the month. Until next time!

~Sara~ 

Monday, January 19, 2015

Weigh-In and Weekly Goals

Hi all!

Happy Monday! How are you all doing today? It's a eh sort of day here in southeastern Wisconsin, both weather wise and emotionally. That loss in the football game yesterday afternoon was brutal, but it is what it is, congratulations to the Seahawks. Now it's time to focus on schoolwork even more and looking ahead to baseball season :)

Yesterday was weigh-in day and I was pretty excited for it, I had a great week in regards to fitness and nutrition. I had 200 official fitness minutes and bunch of unofficial fitness minutes on Saturday. I was also about 1200 calories under my weekly calorie goal before exercise calories were added. I didn't have a huge loss, but the water weight is finally coming off a little. -.4 pounds last week, so I can't complain. Hopefully the water weight will completely come off soon though. 

Starting Weight: 315 lbs
Last Weight: 293.8 lbs
Current Weight: 293.4 lbs
Weight Lost: 21.6 lbs

My goals for this week:  

1. At least 200 fitness minutes 
2. Lift Monday, Wednesday, Friday
3. East 2200 calories daily (15400 for the week)
4. Get through week 5 on my schoolwork
5. Stay positive (no matter my motivation level)
6. Blog 3 days
7. Push myself (especially with my strength training sessions)

Time to go and work on my schoolwork now. I'm about 2 weeks ahead of schedule, so here's hoping that this week I'll be able to keep that pace and get even further ahead. I hope that you all have a great day. Until next time!

~Sara~

Friday, January 10, 2014

Sick :(

Hi all!

Happy Friday! How are you all doing today? I'm not doing so well today. Last night I got sick and my stomach wasn't feeling the best all night. So today I am just taking it easy, keeping it very bland on the food front and no working out. On a positive note, before I got sick last night, I was under my calorie goal. My dinner didn't last very long and I'm sure I'll be seeing it at my weigh-in this week but it's good that I was under my goal nevertheless.

I'm going to keep this post rather short today and go rest some more. I hope that you all have a wonderful day. So until next time!

~Sara~

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Weigh-Ins and Skinny Fat

Hi all!

Happy Thursday! How are you all doing on this beautiful morning? I'm in a very chipper mood today, if you couldn't tell and I have good reason for it. I'm happy to relay that I do not need to do the honesty thing today. I ate at my calorie goal yesterday and I got a small workout in, that is major progress for me!

I was on myfitnesspal this morning and one of the threads that popped up was a woman who just started her weight loss journey. She had lost 9 pounds in her first month. Before I continue, I have to tell you, she is weighing herself daily. This morning she stepped on the scale and she hadn't lost weight, she was so disappointed to the point of tears. I'll admit, at one point I did weigh myself every day and it was horrible to see the number go up or stay the same but I realized that I was setting myself up for failure by doing that. Honestly, if I saw the number go up, I'd just say screw it and eat whatever I wanted that day. It was a horrible cycle and I'm glad to have broken it. Now I try to only weigh-in once a week and if I do step on the scale more times, I don't get discouraged by the number, I use it as a tool to help myself improve as the week continues. Like this morning, I stepped on the scale with all my clothing on (I don't weigh-in with this much clothing on typically) and I was still down about a pound (don't know how that happened after my binge a few days ago), but it makes me want to continue to work hard, eat at my calorie goal and exercise to get that number down even more by Sunday. Now, I don't want to bring down anyone who does weigh-in daily, but remember that weight fluctuates each day. It can change on the amount of sodium you eat, your water in-take, hormones, clothing weight, and many other things. So don't base your whole day on that number, no matter what. You are worth more than the number on the scale.

Another thing, I was looking at another thread on myfitnesspal and a woman was talking about her gym being closed. Then an argument ensued about how you don't need to workout to lose weight, all you need to do is eat at a deficit. Yes, this is true, but the original poster wrote something that I agree with 100%. She said something along the lines of, being skinny isn't everything. I want to actually be in shape and not be skinny fat. From that point, this huge argument just ensued and it was over something really stupid, in my opinion. I just wanted to say, I think we all know that we need to eat at a calorie deficit to lose weight but you know, working out will help you burn more calories and help you get the shape you want. It's not rocket science. And why wouldn't you work out? It has so many benefits and it can help you to achieve your goal at a more consistent rate.

Anyways, today is amazing. I'm doing well nutritionally and I got in a great workout. The whole upping my protein yesterday helped a ton and kept me fuller, longer. So I'm continuing on that path today and it's working well so far. That's my plan to the near future as well, I'll keep doing it until it doesn't work anymore. But it's time to go an relax a little now since my back is hurting. :( Have a wonderful day everyone. So until next time!

~Sara~