It’s a New Year!

I’ve never really been much for New Year’s Resolutions and I’m really still not, but there is a certain spirit of renewal and revival this time of year, so in that spirit, I’m going to try to get this blog up again (not that it really took off to begin with!).  I kind of fell off the blog wagon when I took off for Vegas in October.  I’m happy to report that I stuck with my goals and actually lost weight.  I worked out every day, including walking to and from the convention center and the strip from my off strip hotel room.  I enjoyed good fantastic food and drink; I made it to my celebrity chef crush, Bobby Flay’s restaurant, Mesa Grill!!  Shriek, Shriek!!  I ❤ Bobby Flay!

http://www.mesagrill.com/las-vegas-restaurant/

Since last I’ve posted, my goals have changed just a bit.  I was hung up on losing 100 lbs a few months ago, but I’ve abandoned that scale goal because it’s not really grounded and 90 or 95 lbs is just as impressive as 100 lbs!  All that matters is that I’m healthier and fitter now than I was 2 years ago or ever for that matter.  I do want to get into my “Healthy” BMI range, which is <145 lbs, so my revised scale goal is 145 lbs, but realistically, I want to get my body fat % down between 21 – 25%.  Currently, it is 27% based on measurements.

I had a wonderful holiday with my family, all sides 🙂  My husband and I celebrated Christmas 3 times, one with my side of the family, one with his Dad’s side, and one with his Mom’s side.  All celebrations were fun and it was so nice to spend so much time with family.  I also had a work celebration and of course there were the New Year’s Eve festivities!  I put on about 3 lbs over the holidays, but considering that I’d lost ~7 lbs since Thanksgiving, I’m not too bummed over it.  Those three pounds will wash away again!

Here’s a photo of me from the holidays:

That’s all for this update.  Will see you again soon!

My Goals

A good place to start with everything is to identify your goals, and I never did do this here.  In order to measure my progress and for you to witness it, we need to know where I’m headed.

My fitness and weight loss goals:

1.  Goal Weight = 134.8 – this may seem a random number to most, but the reason I picked it is because that will be -100 lbs from my starting weight.  I want the scale to read 134.8 before I will say that I am in maintenance. In reality, I  want my maintenance to be within +- 5 lbs of that weight.  I want to hit my goal weight by May 15, 2013 – that is losing about 1 lb per week.

Here is me in October 2010, at my heaviest, I do not want to look that way again:

2.  Run the Billerica Turkey Trot 5K on November 18.

3.  Where a bathing suit that doesn’t cover up my belly next Summer (2013).

This is what I looked like in a swimsuit (not baring belly) before I began my journey.  This was in September 2010:

To reach your goals, you not only need to state them, but you need a plan to achieve them.  So here is my plan:

My current weight is 169.2 lbs, 34.4 lbs from my goal weight.  To get to my goal weight, I will track my calories using MyFitnessPal.  I will track through the app on my iPhone and also through the website.  My target caloric intake right now is 1781 calories/day, but I will adjust that as needed if I begin to lose to fast, if I start gaining, or if I hit a plateau.  I’ve been tracking via MyFitnessPal for almost 2 months now and I find it extremely easy, they have a great database, and I’ve built up a nice support system through the site.  This tool should prove invaluable to my imminent success.

My second goal is run a 5K on November 18.  To train for that, I will continue the Pooch to 5K program with my dog.  The P25K program is 12 weeks, but the race is in 7 weeks, yikes!  I don’t want to rush the pup into running a 5K, so to supplement this program, I will also run on my lunch break at work.  I’ve been walking at lunch for about 2 months, but this week, I will begin jogging instead.

Because she’s cute, here’s photo of my pup, Maddy:

The third goal to rock out in a bathing suit that shows off my tummy will be achieved by working out at least 60 minutes 6 days per week (or 360 minutes per week) including both cardio and strength training.  My current avenue to working in strength training is Jillian Michaels’ Ripped in 30 program.  I am two weeks in and already seeing results:

 

So far, I really love this program, so when I complete it, I will continue on to Jillian’s 30 Day Shred and then probably more of her workout DVDs.  I will also continue practicing yoga 1 – 2 times per week, running (see above), and work in cycling and other training as I become inspired.

Those are my goals and I promise to keep you posted on my progress!