Posts tagged ‘weight loss’
Fit Mama Week 6
I won’t even bother apologizing for my lack of posts over the past couple of weeks. You know how it goes…
My goals were to:
1. Keep working on self-monitoring of food, beverages, and physical activity.
2. Purchase a new pedometer and record steps per day. Aim for 8,500 steps per day.
3. Review list of motivations daily.
4. Drink 6-8 servings of water per day (including at least 5 servings at work on work days). Limit high-calorie beverages including sodas (not a big issue for me), fruit juices, and alcoholic beverages. Try drinking sparkling water, coffee, and tea (without a lot of cream and sugar) instead.
Lessons learned:
1. I suck at self-monitoring. But, I promise to keep trying. In fact, I pledge to print myself several weeks worth of food records right after I finish this post.
2. I did not buy another pedometer. I admit that I’m dragging my feet because I’ve already tried two different models and I hate wasting money on yet another gadget that might not work. Will keep using the old models until I get so fed up that I’m willing to shell out some dough for a new gadget.
3. The good news is that I’m still walking pretty regularly 2-3 days per week with a colleague at work, about 20-30 minutes at the end of each work day.
4. The bad news: I experienced a “set-back” when my family came to visit. First, Crispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast one morning, then pies for dessert two nights in a row, and then a cake for an early bday celebration for my daughter. I regained 1 lb in this process. *sigh*
5. The good news: Reviewing my list of motivations helped me get back on track and lose 2.5 pounds over the past week or so (10 pounds to go to reach my initial goal). Yeah…one step backward and two steps forward?
6. I’m doing much better with water consumption and limiting high calorie beverages. Some examples: I keep a pitcher of water at my desk and also drink water with meals. I’ve switched to low-fat milk in my coffee instead of half-and-half (and one lump of sugar instead of two). I dilute fruit juices with sparkling water and serve over ice. I drink herbal teas unsweetened. I’m limiting alcoholic beverages to 2-3 servings per week.
Goals for next week (June 15-21):
1. Keep working on self-monitoring of food, beverages, and physical activity.
2. Make do with my old pedometer (if I can’t bring myself to purchase a new pedometer) and record steps per day. Aim for 9,000 steps per day (or walk 30+ minutes per day, 6 days per week).
3. Review list of motivations daily.
4. Continue drinking 6-8 servings of water per day and limiting high-calorie beverages.
5. Eat 6-11 servings of breads, pastas, and cereals per day (make as many servings as possible whole grain). This equates to about about 2 servings per meal or snack! If you want to learn more about the importance of eating whole grain foods for weight loss (and improved health in general), click here.
How are you doing? Please post your successes, challenges, and comments below.
Best Wishes, Michelle
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Fit Mama Week 4.5
I’m posting late as usual…but by now, I suppose that you have come to expect my tardiness!
My goals for the past week were to:
Goal 1: Try keeping food record/steps record by email.
My progress: Hmmm…I’m REALLY struggling with the self-monitoring component of this “program.” I KNOW it’s important, but I’m finding it really hard to remember to print out a copy of the food record each week; remember to bring it with me everywhere, every day; AND remember to record all my food, beverages, and physical activities. I tried to send myself records by email, but this lasted for two whole days. I think I will have to keep problem solving to figure out the best mechanism for self-monitoring…
Goal 2. Increase my average steps per day to 8,000.
My progress: I’m also continuing to struggle with my bleeping pedometer. What is it with these gadgets? I’ve tried two different models now, and both seemed very unreliable and they reset too easily (when I bend over, or pick up my children). One of my co-workers suggested the model she uses…the reset button is covered…what a concept! I will look into purchasing yet another pedometer. In the meantime, I HAVE been moving more. I’m walking with a colleague at work 15-20 minutes per day, parking farther away from my office, and taking my kids out for stroller walks more. I also tried a couple of fitness DVDs at home on my days off, and have started doing a few sit-ups and push-ups each day. My daughter was totally into doing these exercises with me, so I felt like a pretty good role model for her. Yea!!!
Goal 3. Review my list of motivations daily.
My progress: Yep. Still doing this.
Goal 4. Buy a water pitcher (with filter?) to keep at my desk to encourage drinking more water at work.
My progress: I bought a 5-serving water pitcher with filter to keep at my desk. I fill it up at the beginning of my work day and drink at least 5 servings of water throughout my work day. This simple change has made an amazing difference for me. I feel better hydrated, less hungry, and less likely to drink copious amounts of coffee (with cream and sugar) all day.
Overall, my progress was hit and miss over the past week. As for my weight (drum roll please…), I lost one more pound (4 down, 10 to go). Not too shabby!
My goals for next week:
1. Keep working on self-monitoring of food, beverages, and physical activity.
2. Purchase new pedometer and record steps per day. Aim for 8,500 steps per day.
3. Review list of motivations daily.
4. Drink 6-8 servings of water per day (including at least 5 servings at work on work days). Limit high-calorie beverages including sodas (not a big issue for me), fruit juices, and alcoholic beverages. Try drinking sparkling water, coffee, and tea (without a lot of cream and sugar) instead.
I will keep you posted! How are you doing? Please feel free to post your comments below.
Best,
Michelle
P.S. Here’s your fitness resource of the week:
The Exercise Counts interactive tool from the American Cancer Society — Calculate how many calories your activity will burn. Did you know you can burn about 300 calories per hour mowing your lawn? I may just have to take this chore away from my husband.
Fit Mama Week 3
I know, I know…I’m posting my update almost a week late!
My goals for the past two weeks were:
1. Continue with self-monitoring of food and steps per day (or minutes of physical activity per day if pedometer continues to be unreliable).
I have done a rotten job of keeping a food record. 0/14 days! The written diary just isn’t working for me. Since I spend a lot of time at the computer (at work and at home), I think I will try emailing my food records to myself.
I DID manage to wear my pedometer at least half of the days over the past two weeks. I also figured out a potential work-around to the pedometer resetting every time I picked up my children. I now wear the thing on my left hip (duh!) since I tend to carry my children on my right hip. My average steps per day was 7,000, which represents a significant improvement over week 1.5 (see prior post), but still leaving room for improvement!
2. Review my list of motivations daily.
I WAS able to do this. Yeah!!!
3. Drink water (or other low calorie beverage) with every meal.
I did drink more water than usual, but since I didn’t keep a food record, it’s hard to really track how well I did. I don’t drink enough water at work, so I’m considering buying a Brita filter to keep at my desk, along with a glass.
Good news! I have lost 2 more pounds since my last post (3 down, 11 to go).
My goals for the upcoming week:
1. Try keeping food record/steps record by email.
2. Increase average steps per day to 8,000.
3. Review list of motivations daily.
4. Buy a water pitcher (with filter?) to keep at my desk to encourage drinking more water at work.
Will keep you posted! How are you doing? Please post your comments below.
Best,
Michelle
Fit Mama Week 1.5
Okay, okay, I know I promised to post my weight loss progress each Sunday. Well, as a wise person once said,
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” [1855 H. G. Bohn Hand-Book of Proverbs 514]
So, without further ado, here is how I did last week:
1. My first goal was to write down everything I ate and drank in a food diary. This is harder than it seems! I kept my diary 3/7 days. Definately room for improvement here…
2. My second goal was to buy a pedometer and record my steps per day in my diary. I DID manage to buy a pedometer, but I mistakenly bought the cheapest pedometer I could find. I guess I shouldn’t have been suprised, therefore, that the device wasn’t exceptionally reliable. The reset button appears to be overly sensitive…every time I picked up one of my children (this happens a lot, mind you), they seemed to conveniently hit my reset button with their bottom. One minute, I had racked up 1700 steps and the next minute, I was down to 16. Drat. The darned thing seemed to function better on work days (no kids!), and my average per working day approximated 4000 steps. A far cry from the recommended 10,000 steps per day. Yes, it appears I have room for improvement on this one too!
3. My third goal was to get motivated by making a list of the reasons I would like to lose weight and get fit. I was actually able to accomplish this one (I do LOVE lists after all):
Better cardiovascular health
Better mood
Good role model for my children
Getting rid of my “mommy weight”
Other reasons too personal to post in my blog (a girl’s gotta have some secrets, you know)
4. My final goal was to post my progress on Sunday. Ahem…better late than never?
By the way, despite my “failure” (ooh, I hate that word) to meet above goals, I did somehow manage to lose one pound last week. Hurrah! One down and 13 to go!
And now (drum roll, please), my goals for this week:
1. Continue with self-monitoring of food and steps per day (or minutes of physical activity per day if pedometer continues to be unreliable).
2. Review my list of motivations daily. For a decent (i.e., I’ll stay on the look-out for a better resource for you) article on using motivational affirmations to help you lose weight, click here.
3. Drink water (or other low calorie beverage) with every meal. For a great slideshow about the best and worst beverages for weight loss, click here.
If you are following my progress, please, please, please post your own comments, successes, and challenges. I look forward to hearing from YOU!
Best, Michelle
P.S. To see the inspirational video that got me going, check this out:
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And if you need even more “inspiration for perspiration”, here are some other cool links to check out:
America’s Walking (PBS)
The Walking Site’s 10,000 Steps Walking Program
Fit Mama
JuiceBoxJungle has recently posted a great a new episode called “Real Soccer Mom” which is motivating me to get back into some sort of regular fitness routine. Check it out:
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It’s now 14 months after the birth of my youngest child and I’m still carrying around 10+ extra pounds. With my formal education in health psychology, I “know” a lot about the ins and outs of behavioral modification. Putting such knowledge into practice in my own life, however, is not always so easy.
I’ve decided to give myself a public challenge to lose 10% of my current body weight (which equates to about 14 pounds to lose — you do the math) in 14 weeks. I will be posting my progress each Sunday and hope you, my dear readers, will follow along and post your own comments, successes, and challenges.
So here goes…my weight loss goals for week 1 are to:
1. Write down everything I eat and drink in a food diary. Recent research suggests that keeping a food diary is a powerful weight loss tool. Click here for more information and to download a free food diary.
2. Buy a pedometer and record my steps per day in my diary. For more information about using pedometers to help you lose weight, click here.
3. Get motivated by making a list of the reasons I would like to lose weight and get fit.
4. Post my progress next Sunday!
Here are some additional resources that my readers may find helpful or motivating :
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