As I Close In on My Goal, the Loss Continues Slowly

When I found out last week that, based on my body composition using skinfold testing, I was only 7 pounds from my goal, I was excited about pushing across the finish line. The first two months of my diet, I was losing at an average rate of .4 pounds per day, and most recently that has slowed to about .2 pounds per day. When I weighed in at the fitness center today I was a little disappointed to find I had only lost 1 ½ pounds in the last week despite working out more frequently. This continues the trend of .2 pounds of weight lost per day.

I have had some breakthroughs in my strength training and in my work on the treadmill. I have increased my resistance weights and increased my stride and speed on the treadmill. I am probably building muscle and that accounts for the slower loss of weight overall.

I am starting to think about how I will use those extra 600 calories when I go on weight maintenance and, about my new wardrobe.

Current Weight: 164.5 pounds

Cumulative loss: 45.75 pounds

Target weight: 159 pounds, 5.5 pounds away

Here is my dietary recap for the last few days.

Daily Dietary Recap-5/21/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1088.88	69.06 g	160.20 g	646.95 mg	12.21 g	9.15%

Daily Dietary Recap-5/22/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1228.71	74.6 g	214.91 g	659.36 mg	12.39 g	7.88%

Daily Dietary Recap-5/23/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1377.67	60.74 g	238.13 g	407.17 mg	14.99 g	9.07%

Daily Dietary Recap-5/24/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1032.79	49.01 g	205.02 g	813.47 mg	11.6 g	9.66%

Don't Miss More Than One Day…

“Don't miss more than one day of exercise.” Yes, that’s what it said, and I was shocked. In a short blurb by Jennifer Gruenemay at Lifescript, in her daily fitness tip, she said that skipping too many days between workouts jeopardizes the health benefits I was after in the first place. Experts say that you are less likely to stay with your routine if you skip more than one day between workouts. My routine has me at the fitness center 3-4 days a week. I typically go Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. If I skip Saturday that leaves two days off. There are times when I have a cold and I stay away out of consideration for the other patrons. Other times I get overwhelmed by work and cut out my workout. When I went to New Orleans for a conference, I missed for eight days.

The second part of her blurb not only gave me hope, it changed my thinking and that’s frequently a good thing. She said, “Working out every day doesn’t necessarily mean you have to train like you’re running a marathon. Alternate hard workouts with easy workouts, like just walking for 30 minutes around the block…” I can do that. I can even sit on the stationary bicycle I walk around on the way to my desk in my home study every day, and pedal gently for a while on off days.

I tend to be a somewhat obsessive, all-or-nothing type person. I think of my workout as ten minutes of fast walking on the treadmill to get my heart rate up, two circuits on the weight machines, and twenty minutes back on the treadmill followed by a five minute cool-down at a slower pace. If what I do is not that, well, it’s not my workout. This one paragraph blurb has me reevaluating my rigid thinking. I can walk for 30 minutes, ride my stationary bicycle while watching the news, or even push a lawnmower around the yard and still be moving toward my goal of heal and fitness. Sometimes you have to hit me over the head.

Today I weighed at the fitness center and my cumulative weight loss is 35.5 pounds. I only have 5 ¾ pounds to go until I reach my first goal, to no longer be obese. I wonder how it will feel to walk around thinking to myself, “I’m just overweight”.

Here’s my recap for yesterday.

Daily Dietary Recap-4/12/2007
Calories	Protein	Carbohydrates	Sodium	Fat	% Calories from Fat
1348.79	64.77 g	216.22 g	1026.42 mg	27.38 g	18.27%