Hey, where are we going?

Ask anyone who knows anything about weight loss and they’ll tell you that setting goals is crucial to success. You can’t start the journey without a destination in mind. Both long-term and short-term goals should be set to better keep oneself motivated. Additionally, the goals need to be specific. I can say I want to lose about 60 pounds, but that is going to take some time. I need to focus on smaller goals that will eventually add up to my big long-term goal. Goals shouldn’t all be about the numbers on the scale, either. By purely focusing on the scale one can get very frustrated and disheartened. For example, last year I was training to run a 10 mile race and I thought the pounds were going to melt off of me. Well, they didn’t. I only lost about 10 pounds in 4 months. I was so frustrated until someone pointed out that I looked a lot better. I was more toned and fit. I had gained muscle and lost inches. But I wanted to see the numbers go down! Well today I’d give anything to be in the shape I was in a year ago. Even though I don’t weight that much more I’ve put on the inches and I can barely run a mile now. Attempting to run a 10 miler now would be nearly equivalent to attempting suicide.
As an example, I’ve set some goals for myself and they are as follows:

Short-term (this week):

1. Keep a log of everything I put in my mouth this week. I’m using weight watchers e-tools so this should be easy.

2. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day

3. Exercise at least 3 times this week

4. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day. You’d think this would be easy for a vegetarian, but it is not.

Medium-term:

1. Lose 20 pounds before the end of summer.

2. Run a 5k in 35 minutes or less this running season (October-ish)

3. Get into a size 12 before the end of summer.

Long-term:

1. Lose 62 pounds.

2. Wear a size 8. I really have no idea what size I’d wear if I lost 60+ pounds, but wearing a size 8 sounds lovely.

3. Run a half marathon. I have no desire for a full 26 miles…yet.

4. Look hot in a sleeveless dress.

And away we go…!

My story:

I’ve been overweight for as long as I remember. I was a skinny kid up until about 4th grade (I have pictures to prove it. I swear!), but I started gradually putting on weight until I weighed nearly 250 pounds when I graduated high school. Then when I was 19 I decided to start walking and eating less and I managed to get down to about 200 lbs. I hovered around there for awhile until I joined Weight Watchers about 4 years ago. I was about 210 when I started weight watchers and I got down to 174 – my lowest since middle school! At about that time my Weight Watchers leader took me aside for a chat about my goals and whatnot. Well, I believe she subconsciously scared the crap out of me (I have issues I’ll discuss some other time, I’m sure) because after that I started slowly putting on the weight and eventually I gave up.

Fast forward to 2008. I’m back up to that 200 mark that I swore I’d never see again. I haven’t been exercising and I’m tired all of the time. I hate all of my clothes and I can’t find anything cute that fits my big butt. So today I took the plunge and joined weight watchers at work. I know how to lose weight, but I need the accountability of getting on that scale in front of another person every week. I know losing weight is as simple as burning more calories than I am eating and there is no secret weapon/pill. I know exercise is key to my success and it makes me feel so much better. However, I also know I can’t do this by myself. That’s where you come in. I’m talking about those of you who are reading this and can relate one way or the other.

So yes, this blog is for me. I need a place to get my thoughts out and keep track of what’s working and what isn’t working. But it’s also for anyone else who has had or is currently having similar struggles. My hope is that I can turn this into something that both documents my progress and keeps me motivated, but I’d also like this to be a place where I can share some of the things I’ve learned along the way about myself, health, and fitness.

And so it shall be.