Diet Starting

Now that I have the introductions out of the way, and the purpose of this blog, lets get to it.
I decided, for health reasons, and because my weight is holding me back athletically and in some of my adventures, that I want to lose weight. So, I went to Mexico. Oh wait, that wasn't for the purpose of losing weight, it was for fun, but I chickened out on the snorkeling because I was afraid I would not be able to swim the distance needed and it would be awkward to get in and out of the boat. I gave up on fun, and beauty unknown to me, because of an uncomfortable weight situation. It slapped me across the face fast and hard. While in Mexico, I did it. Yep, I drank the water. Well not the water, but I LOVE iced tea, and I LOATHE soda pop, so I had iced tea each night with dinner. When I came back from Mexico, you guessed it, Montezuma's revenge. It wasn't horrible, just a sickening in my stomach that stopped me from eating. I ate NOTHING, not Friday, nor Saturday, nor Sunday, or even Monday. I was SICK. On Tuesday I ate something, and it came back up a short time later. On Tuesday night, my blood sugar was extremely low. I have hypoglycemia, and this sickness was taking its toll on my body. Now, I had not been sticking with a proper diet in a few years, so my metabolism was already off. I also have a condition called PCOS, which, with hormone fluctuations and differences, causes me to have horrible metabolism. I can think about sitting down to watch the news and gain five pounds, just thinking about it. I had a wonderful nutritionist supply me with a diet to specifically counter both the PCOS and the hypoglycemia. When I first got on it to regulate myself and bring my body into a better status, I lost 100 lbs, in 5 months. WOW indeed. Well, I had lost 5 lbs just from the lack of eating, and my stomach had already shrunk, and I knew what I had to do. I knew, to recover from the damage by body had incurred, and to get myself healthy again, I was going to have to rethink my ways of eating, permanently. I also know, that I cannot use 4 kids as an excuse to not exercise. They need me to do this, so I will be there for them, until they are grown, their children are grown, and I have great grandchildren, or longer. So I decided to put my new healthy diet into effect. I also decided to start exercising. No, I did not join some fancy gym. I have a wii, so I am doing Just Dance 2 and 3 in the evenings, and I have a Tony Little Gazelle, that I use for 15 to 30 minutes in the morning, to jump start my day. I think it is a great idea.
Our biggest problems, is that exercising for the periods of time we all think we need to, is exhausting for an extremely overweight body, and aerobics does not do us as much good, as just enough to get our heart rate up for 15 minutes does. So, break it down into smaller bites that are more manageable. Don't do 30 minutes until you are ready for it. When we put unattainable goals on ourselves, we give up to easily. When we put reasonably attainable goals on ourselves, we feel a sense of accomplishment when we meet them. Don't go too big at first, 15 minutes exercise that elevates your heart rate over 100 is plenty of exercise, and do that 2 or 3 times a day, to get 45 minutes of cardio a day. Get some nice stretchy bands, look up some strength and toning routines online, and spend 15 minutes on strength and toning, you will need to do this right away, as you will be left with lots of flop if you don't. If you are going to put in the effort to get rid of the fat, take the time to get rid of the excess skin and that horrible bye bye arm as well.
Okay, now I have the diet, and the exercise program down. Lets track our progress. I am going to be using a program called Lose it. It is an app you can get on your phone or tablet. It lets you track your food intake each day, and your exercise and gives you an idea of where you are, and what you need to do for the rest of the day. Just remember, you should have a calorie surplus at the end of the day, if you are in the hole, you will gain weight. There are many diet trackers on line, and apps you can get for your phones or tablets that can do this for you. Feel free to examine them, and find one that fits for you. Next, I am sure you can find a support community, either on line, or at a local church or recreation center. This is helpful because it keeps you accountable, and people that are in the same spot as you are who you are accountable to, not skinny minis that have never walked an inch in your shoes let alone a mile. No, I am not getting down on those of you that have never had weight issues, but really, its like someone without kids giving us advice on raising them. It doesn't do much for us no matter how much education they have.
So I have my healthy eating habit, any dietician at your local doctors office or health department can help you with this, I have my exercise routine, and I have a support group. I am ready to log my starting weight, and take some before pics and get going. It might be a couple of days on those pics.

My start weight, well I didn't weigh myself right away because I was sick, but I am using my weight after I felt good enough to get my frame of mind and a new scale, and figuring I lost about 5 lbs while sick. I was 331 when I weighed, add 5 lbs, that is 336 for my start weight. I will use last Tuesday Jan 31 as my start date and log my results, sometimes daily, sometimes every few days. Plus, my personal goal weight is based on what I am comfortable with, technically I will still be obese by current standards, but I like to be nicely rounded. So I am going with a goal of 200 lbs, instead of 170 like my charts say.

Start weight: 336
Height:         5'8"
Goal weight: 200
Total Goal:  -136
Goal week 1: 10 lbs
Goal week 2: 10 lbs