I'm still here. Updated my Goal over there on the right side ---->. It's simple. Lose 13 lbs, order my tri bike. I'm shooting for the end of November. There's no wiggle room, it's got to happen.
In case you don't follow on Chasing Iron, I pulled the trigger and signed up for Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2010. Yah. I know. Totally not part of the plan ;). But, it all came together and just feels right. So, what does this mean? 6 Months to SkinnyPants people!! We gotta get a move on!
Goal? 160. That means I've got 48 lbs to lose. Tall order. I'd be ok with 175 (33lbs), since that would even give me a nice advantage over where I am now. Either way, I'm in this. It's gotta happen. And even if the scale doesn't budge, I'm changing my eating to help fuel my body for the road ahead.
And when January rolls around - that's it. Wherever I am at that point will be my racing weight and it will be all about the nutrition. I'm going to be kind to this body, the one that will take me across the finish line.
So yah, it seems to be sticking. And by it, I mean my resolve to get that dang dress on! I'm tracking my diet each day and hitting my planned workouts (well, save for my avoidance of the run last week, but that's another post). And you know what? It feels really good. I found myself thinking earlier today about what it will be like to hit my first mini weight goal. Because I know I'm going to get there. And you know what? That is a HUGE departure from my thinking over the past year or two. I've got 10 lbs to go, and I'd like to get there by my birthday. MyFoodDiary says it's possible, so it must be, right?? ;)
I've found that I'm craving things less. I still want chocolate and all that jazz, but usually it comes and goes. I've started asking myself is it worth it? Does what I want RIGHTINTHISMOMENT trump my goal to sign up for Ironman? And usually it doesn't.
So yah. I tried the dress on tonight. And you know what? The zipper zips up a tiny bit more than it did last week. Progress baby...
Allright. So, I mentioned some of the goal stuff that is hanging on my closet. I figured it might be a good idea to start with something that I've worn before, since I can visualize myself in it. So I've picked Goal #1. This sundress that I wore in Maui in September 2007. (Really? Has it been that long already?). Gah. That way I've got something to focus on besides the number on the scale. If the clothes zip up, it means progress, baby!
Speaking of progress, today was a success in food diary land. Woohoo!
It's been awhile since I've posted. I've had a few bumps along the way, a slip here and there, but overall - I'm committed to doing this. The group weigh-in thing kind of fizzled out. If anyone has ideas to make it easier, give me a shout. I really would like to get better about blogging the process, so I'm going to do my best!!
Ok, so one of my biggest motivators in losing weight has always been the clothes. I can't help it, I'm a fashion addict. So, I thought I'd share because I'm sure some of you can relate.
I spent the evening working on organizing my closet and drawers. This is always a challenge. We moved to our current house about 3 years ago from a bigger house in the 'burbs. That house had something that I imagine I'll never see again - closets out the wazoo. I mean seriously, everywhere you looked there was a closet. Or two. I had a ton of space and things were super organized. I could see all of my clothes when I walked into the closet - they were all hanging and there was room to spare. Seeing those clothes every time I walked into my closet reminded me what I was working towards.
Our current house has a small 'walk-in and turn around' closet in the master. There is some room for hanging clothes, but definitely not everything that I have. So things are stored in tubs on the floor and in the guest room closet on the lower floor. Every season, I swap things out.
And when we lived in the old house, it was when I was losing weight big time. I was seeing changes in my body shape that I hadn't seen since High School. I was getting into smaller sizes and buying new things every chance that I got. I would buy smaller sizes from the clearance rack to save because I couldn't keep up with my shrinking body. I think at one point, I went a little bit overboard because I don't think I ever really got down to Size 8. 10 Maybe...but 8 was a stretch. Needless to say, I have a bunch of size 8 & 10 clothes that are brand new. So I literally have a smaller wardrobe waiting on me. Except it's been crammed into some plastic tubs on my closet floor for the past few years.
It feels like a metaphor sometimes. I've got all of these goals, but I can't really visualize them actually coming true.
So, I pulled everything out of the closet (yes, my husband did walk in and shake his head at one point...). I hung everything that currently fits in my closet. I took all of the stuff that I don't wear and packed it into a container for donation. And then I spent some time looking at the clothes that I want to wear. Clothes that I bought when I was my skinniest. Clothes that I worked hard to fit into after I finished 2 months of Boot Camp in 2007. Even some things that I was able to wear last summer. I have to admit, it was depressing at one point. It sucks big time to backslide. Especially when I know how hard I worked to get there. So I sat there and thought about how much it sucked. And then I moved on. ;) I organized things - stuff I can almost get into goes up front where I can see it. The rest goes in a separate container to revisit in a few months. I pulled out a few of my favorites and hung them on my closet door -
- A skirtsports transition skirt in black with pink and white polka dots.
- This to die for silk strapless top. It's made out of men's tie material. My dream is to wear it with black capris or jeans, a velvet blazer and strappy shoes.
- A pair of dark wash jeans that I've had for a very long time in a very, ahem, small size.
- 2 Sundresses. A madras JCREW dress and a black and cream dress that I wore in Maui in 2007.
Yup. The gangs all here. We're going to be spending a lot of time together. And you can bet that as soon as things fit, I'll be shouting from the rooftops.
I'm cranking away at things - one day at a time has worked really well!! In fact, I'm starting to look at it in terms of weeks. I think what has really helped has been looking at what my end goal is. Not only do I want to train for Ironman next year - but I want to train for it without worries about losing weight. I mean, that would be ROUGH! So, knowing that my goal is to sign up for Ironman in November, now is the time to make it happen!! I don't have any more wiggle room. So I've been tracking my food online religiously and using some awesome online tools -
I love FitDay's weight goal calculator. It's a really great tool. I plugged in my current weight and my goal weight and the date that I want to reach it. It fits in perfectly with my nutritionist's estimate of eating around 1600 calories per week, and then fueling myself extra during any longer workouts.
| Based on the guideline that a restriction of 3,500 calories results in one pound of weight loss, to achieve your goal of losing 52.6 pounds in 28 week(s) and 6 day(s) you should restrict your calorie intake by 911 calories per day. |
On track so far! Tuesday and Wednesday were great days, especially considering there were some serious restaurant roadblocks. I got a great ride in last night and I have a run scheduled after work today. Plan for lunch is to eat out on the patio and enjoy the weather and hopefully catch a break from the work stress today.
M
