My Wake Up Call

Entry #7
Weight: 248 lbs. A loss of 1.5 pounds. I'll take it!

Actually, at first glance at the scale this morning I was a bit disappointed by my loss this past week. I've started enough diets to know that the first week of a major shift in eating and exercise always results in a big weight loss and subsequent weeks are smaller. However, I figured that all the exercising I'd done at the gym as well as climbing up and down ladders at school and stretching to put up bulletin boards should count for SOMETHING.

But, when I took the time to sit and really think over the past week I didn't come off as quite the exercising/diet wonder I was picturing in my very fertile imagination. To be really honest, the diet went well last week. However, I was starting to "forget" to write down the 5 measley calories in a bottle of Crystal Light Lemonade (never mind that I may have had two or three in a day) and the 5 little calories in a stick of Juicy Fruit gum. Then the "workout" at the gym where I was only spending 30-35 minutes on the treadmill began to look a little puny. I was a little too cocky about the original weight loss and thought I'd just stick to the same routine. This morning was a definite wake up call.

This week I'm going to cut down the calories to 1200. I was staying between 1200 and 1300 a day. At the gym I'm adding some strength training every day before I hop on the treadmill. I absolutely loathe strength training with weights. Whenever beginning an exercise program in the past I always rationalized putting off working with weights. I'd tell myself I'd just stick to the treadmill until I get back in "the swing of things". Not this time. Besides the fact that these machines build muscle, which in turn burns fat, at my age it is necessary to do these exercises for bone density and strength. And this effort is all about doing what is good for my body.

One thing I've decided to do this time around is reward myself for weight loss. Rewards after each loss of ten pounds sounded good to me. So, I cheated a little and even though I hadn't weighed yet, on Saturday I went to get my hair cut, colored and highlighted. The gal that did my hair lives in Escalon with her husband and three little girls. She knows half of the people I do. I guess I'd better be careful about who/what I talk about in the chair.