Another Successful Day

Sunday's in the record books. Another success. Five more days til I make my 10 pound milestone.

Tomorrow I'm going to focus on getting more water in and eating a bit less salty stuff (today's snack was peanut butter pretzels...tasty, but salty). I don't want to mess up my weigh in with some crazy water retention so I gotta drink up! My plan to increase my water is to decrease my Diet Coke consumption. I drink WAY too may each day. Some days at work I drink no water, only Diet Cokes. They are my source of morning caffeine and I'm not ready to cut them out completely. My goal is to only have 2 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. Three probably seems like alot to many of you, but that is cutting back for me. Bad, I know.

I've been thinking about a comment of Shelley's about coming up with a reward for myself if I make it to my 10 pound milestone this weekend. She's onto something. I do have my "magic number" goals that I plan on rewarding myself for (see sidebar). Ten pounds is not one of my magic numbers. But I've struggled with making any progress at all, maybe I do need to make a celebration of 10 pounds.

So, for this week and this week only, I am putting a carrot out there for myself. I have been wanting a Kindle. I had planned on that being my reward when I get out of the 300's. I've decided if I make it to 10pounds THIS SATURDAY, I will get the Kindle as a reward. If I don't make it this week, I'll have to wait.

So there ya go. Thanks for the idea, Shelley. And especially thank you if I achieve my goal and get to treat myself earlier than I had planned.

Weigh in: 1.6 gained, 169.6 to go

Another gain this week. No mystery as to why. I am eating way too much. I continue to use food to soothe negative emotions (this week mostly anger and frustration) and it is hurting my health.

When I see that I have nearly 170 pounds to lose I feel both overwhelmed at the work ahead of me and frustrated and disappointed with myself for letting things get so completely out of hand. 170 pounds. My God. What have I done to myself?

I am letting them emotional side of me take control of this weightloss business. I started blogging my journey back in April and have gotten nowhere but even heavier. I have made progress in other areas though - I am exercising more consistently, I am receiving support and information from other weightloss bloggers, and I am becoming more self-aware. And that is great, but it's time for some tangible results on my body!!!

In addition to my emotional side I also have a very strong rational and goal-oriented side. I need to draw on those skills to make the weightloss happen.

Obviously the first thing I need to do is stop focusing on the 170 pounds and start focusing on smaller goals. I also need to set some reasonable timelines for achieving the smaller goals. I do have my Magic Numbers but I have to admit I haven't been thinking about them much so I need to bring them to the forefront again.

My first Magic Number is to get to 308 which would be 25 pounds down (well, now it will actually be 26.6 down but I won't split hairs). Even 25 pounds feels like too big of a number for me to focus on. So here are my shorter goals and the timeframes that will get me to my first Magic Number of 308:

Christmas Goal (5 weeks) - 8 pounds During this time period I have my NYC vacation and Thanksgiving. My plan for NYC is to walk as much as possible to offset any off-plan eating that happens. I am not too worried about Thanksgiving because it is going to be low-key for me this year, just me and my dad. I plan to make my Crustless Pumpkin Pie recipe for dessert. Other Thanksgiving food I don't really have a problem with.

Valentine's Day Goal (8 weeks) - 12 pounds The challenges I will face during this time period will come from work stress as we work on our year end SEC filings. I also plan to be taking 2 classes towards my MBA during the spring semester. I had dropped back to just one this semester but plan to ramp back up again so I can get finished sooner.

St. Patrick's Day Goal (4 weeks) - 5 pounds Challenges related to year end work and school will continue during this time frame.


So this is my roadmap for the next few months to get the first 25 pounds off. The biggest struggle will be to find a new way to deal with negative emotions. And maybe even to address my current life circumstances that are causing me to have so many negative emotions to begin with.

New Magic Numbers

I originally talked about my magic numbers in this post. Because of my recent gain, I needed to redo some of my numbers. Here they are.


MAGIC NUMBERS:


325 - My highest ever recorded weight (July 2008)
300 - Down 25 pounds. 25 pounds down is a milestone where I tend to sabotage myself and never seem to get past.
299 - Out of the 300's
293 - 1st 10% goal
275 - Down 50 pounds
264 - 2nd 10% goal
250 - Down 75 pounds
244 - No longer "morbidly obese"
238 - 3rd 10% goal
225 - Down 100 pounds
214 - 4th 10% goal, also no longer "obese"
200 - Down 125 pounds
199 - ONEderland!!!!!!!
193 - 5th 10% goal
179 - No longer "overweight"
175 - Down 150 pounds
174 - 6th 10% goal
165 - GOAL!!!!!

Magic Numbers

When you have lots of weight to lose it is easy to get frustrated, discouraged, or just plain give up on what seems like an unattainable goal. It is often recommended to those of us with lots to lose to think in terms of mini-goals along the way and reward yourself (not with food!) as you achieve them. Some people like to celebrate every 5 pounds and some have what we call "magic numbers" - weights that may hold some special significance or sense of achievement, such as getting back to your wedding weight, etc.

I have decided I want to focus on my short-term goals in two ways, and reward myself accordingly. First, I want to focus on 5 pounds at a time. And as I achieve each 5 pound milestone I am going to buy myself a new charm for my charm bracelet. By the end of this process I will have a very tangible reminder of what I have accomplished.

But I also have some "magic numbers" that represent some important milestones to me that I will also celebrate along the way. I am not decided yet on what my rewards will be, but here are they are:

MAGIC NUMBERS:

315 - My highest ever recorded weight
299 - Out of the 300's
290 - Down 25 pounds. This is a milestone where I tend to sabotage myself and never seem to get past. Breaking through this one will be a big one for me.
284 - 1st 10% goal.
265 - Down 50 pounds
256 - 2nd 10% goal
244 - No longer "morbidly obese"
240 - Down 75 pounds and HALFWAY there!
231 - 3rd 10% goal
215 - Down 100 pounds
208 - 4th 10% goal, also no longer "obese"
199 - ONEderland!!!!!!!
190 - Down 125 pounds
188 - 5th 10% goal
179 - No longer "overweight"
170 - 6th 10% goal
165 - Down 150 pounds and GOAL!!!!!