the upside

...of not being pg just yet is that I *still* need to lose some weight and now I have a little more time to do so. I've been going to a personal trainer for not quite 6 months, and while I have gained a lot of stamina and I feel a lot better (not to mention at my last physical, my blood pressure, cholestorol, blood sugar, etc. were all stellar--probably a little better than they were before starting to work out regularly), I have not managed to lose really any weight. That is my own fault. I don't eat like I should and I don't get in there on my own.

I love having T (my trainer) because it's a set 2-3 days each week that I have an appointment to work out. And I don't break appoinments with other people. Now if I could just figure out a way to set appointments with MYSELF at the gym and not break those either. So anyway, I thought I might try to materialize some of this weightloss attempt so that it's a way of keeping myself on track and accountable.

I've always weighed heavy. My goal weight is around 170, maybe 160 once I get down around there and see how those weights feel. But I have a massive amount of muscle in my legs and I can build muscle without much effort, which translates into weighing heavily. In high school, at my peak physical condition, I was in soccer and on the dance team and worked out a minimum of 2 hours a day (and some of that was with the football players to boot!), and even then I weighed 150. My body fat % was always between 115-117% which is pretty low for a woman. I believe that the average for women (at least at the time) was around 122%. So, doing the math...if I was even to get myself down to the 125-129% range, I would probably weigh well over 150 lbs. I'm not quite sure what my % is right now, but I'm sure I could find out from T. That is how I come up with my goal weight of 170. Sounds good to me, and my trainer agrees.

So. What am I going to do??? There are a few things.

ONE. I'm going to get my chubby ass in the gym at a minimum of 4 days a week. I'd like to shoot for 5, but knowing myself, 4 is a good goal at this point. My struggle is realizing that I don't have to be in there for an hour and a half. I can get in and get out with 30 minutes of strong cardio intervals and I will be fine. That's my first goal.

TWO. I am going to make a point to take my lunch at least 4 days a week. And if/when I do go out to lunch, I am going to make a conserted effort to eat healthfully. Just taking my lunch and preparing ahead of time is 1/2 the battle. If I take healthy food, I eat healthy. What a concept!

THREE. I am going to stock up on some water at the grocery tonight and take it into my office. If it's there, I drink it. Otherwise, I don't drink anything and that's not good. Plus, I've already cut out non-decaf coffee. One or two cups of decaf (though still containing my cream and sugar) will be okay.

FOUR. Eating more fruits and veggies. If I have them, again, I will eat them. It's just a matter of getting to the grocery every week as opposed to every three.

FIVE. I'm going to weigh weekly. I haven't been good about that and because I'm overweight, the scale tends to jump up and down a few pounds, so even if I get on a kick of weighing daily, it's frustrating.

SIX. I'm going to take my dogs on 2 or 3 walks a week. They love it and it's good for me, too. Plus, now that the weather is (hopefully) starting to get a smidge warmer, I know I'll want to be outside more often.

I think that's about it for now. I'm probably going to use this as a sounding board just as I have for IF, because it's private from people in my RL and I love being held accountable.

My first big goal: 7 pounds by March 12 when we leave for Vegas.

What I'm doing today: I'm headed to the grocery right now. Going to pick up some Skinny Cow snacks (because I am a notorious snacker) as well as some fruits and veggies and whatever else I feel will get me started in the right direction. Also, I'm headed to the gym after that for some cardio.

Stay tuned!