I bought some clothes last month. Okay, I admit I went a little overboard with clothes shopping…but it’s something I do only around the end of year holidays. It’s really about the only time of year that I dress up for any stretch of time with the added value of bargain pricing.

My top shape rarely changes so I bought several tops, especially spring-colored blouses and shirts. With tanks and fitted camis, I still had to go with a size large, just because I like them hanging below my hips (and still allow some room around the shoulders and arms. Button-downs and blouses were a different matter; it seemed I was breaking back into medium size group with some room to spare.

So I got myself a bunch of skinny pants…more pairs than I’ve ever own in my entire life. I also went for a pair of new jeans in the Juniors department, one size smaller than my normal size. And I also bought two pairs of workout pants size large, coz the pair I currently owned had a hole worn into the crotch–signaling a dire need for replacement.

Today I have to say that my junior sized 9 jeans are fitting quite well, with very few areas pinching like they used to. Recent mornings find me weighing in at 143-144 on the scale, so I am guessing this is the upper weight range for jr 9. I am convinced that another 5 pounds means that the less-obvious muffin top will disappear completely.

My concern now is that my new wardrobe change will be shortlived. I have achieved a 5 lb weight loss in about 4 weeks when it took me 5 months last year to reach this stage. At this rate I may hit my ultimate goal weight of 125 by the time May rolls around.

My new workout pants tend to slip down on me during my cardio sessions, prompting me to consider purchasing medium size pants. (The new workout pants are barely 2 weeks old.) It was hard to imagine up till now that my fitted boot-leg workout pants will be too large in another few weeks. 

When I started up the clothes shopping, I told myself not to commit to any bottoms, because I anticipated losing the most inches in that area. The attraction of new and sparkly pants was too great to ignore. It was a big lack of foresight on my part. Little did I realize that my weight loss would be more rapid than I thought. Spring needs to come and go fast, or my wallet will be protesting the purchase of more clothes!

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New year, new you! Isn’t that what the Weight Watcher ads all say?

Egads, I hate that word “resolution” especially when it’s not backed up by motivation or action. But here we go with another year…and renewed enthusiasm. I always enjoy working out when the weather cold, coz I don’t have as many problems with overheating, and I’m always able to push the envelope just a little farther.

I got a new coach to help me focus on my personal goals. She took one look at my macros and exclaimed at the fat %. So now I’ll be topping out at 31g fat for my daily allowance. (Goodbye butter, cheese, mayo.)

So my daily totals should come out to:

 

• 158g Carbs
• 122g Protein
• 31g Fat
• 20g Fiber

 

Per sitting (assuming mealtimes), I’m looking at 50g carbs, 30g protein and 9g fat. 

We did arrive at an RMR of 1282 and agreed on my daily caloric intake of 1400. However, she recommended that I stop logging my exercise cals burned so I would have a better picture of my food diary. (I am puzzled by this because it sounds like I’m not eating my exercise calories back.)

Oh yeah and I’m also supposed to be drinking 11-12 glasses of water. 

Based on these metrics, it sounds like I’ll be dropping the weight and body fat % significantly! Let’s see how it looks in 2 weeks and if I’ll be making some progress on my goal weight objectives.

Helpful calculators found at: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php 

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November will end in a matter of hours. As I look back over the last 90 days’ exercise report, I am confronted with the knowledge that a return to old habits has diminished the fitness drive in me. Sitting in a chair gaming my brains out has killed the motivation to go out and do anything, much less get out of bed in the mornings.

It has been a struggle trying to get myself back into the gym (as if blowing $75 a month isn’t motivation enough). Some days I think I’ll just walk up to the counter and let them know that I am terminating my membership; other days, when I actually do work out and get sweaty over it, I imagine: tomorrow will be better.

Then tomorrow comes and I find some excuse not to go: work meetings jobs stress. Lack of sleep, lack of energy, lack of REM dreams. Why can’t I get out of bed earlier? Why can’t I go out of work? In reality, it is a combination of ill-timed events and my lack of fortitude that conspire against me.

Today I averted defeat despite that my HRM wasn’t working right, I woke up late, and my time management skills really messed me up. I told myself that I was already late for work almost everyday, might as well make it a productive reason. Faulty HRM or not, I leashed the pups and took a brisk walk/jog. 215 calories done!

“It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Here we are nearly back to the beginning. A year will expire in 31 days, and I will have come full circle on MFP. My progress reports show little if anything at all that was measured by a scale. Barely a few roadbumps on the line, hardly the cliff that I was looking for. The Thanksgiving break was unkind to me as well; it’s been a long time since I’ve felt ill eating so much food. Never mind the unwelcome image of my swollen paunch when I happened to glance at it in a rest stop mirror.

A change in seasons marks the time to change goals. There is a good chance that a Hawaii trip is in my future, around March or April of 2013. I would love love love to be 25 pounds lighter, but I’ll be happy to lose 10-15 pounds.

So are we ready?

Set?  

Go!!! 

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Yes, yes, I think it is.

Eating healthy and light seems to be doing the trick this go around. I think my active metabolism is also getting efficient at burning off the calories. I’m about to finish off the second week of the restricted diet and so far I’ve burned about 2 pounds a week. If I keep up this trend, I’ll be two pounds lighter than my lowest point two months ago (about 144lbs in May).

I’ve been scrutinizing food labels, measuring my meals with my trusty food scale, and making healthier decisions when dining out. I’ve been staying away from the buffets and the AYCE style restaurants (oh Brazilian BBQ how I miss it), the fried foods and burgers, skipping rice and eating smaller Asian/Chinese food portions. I’ve steered clear of cheese and dairy (not so hard since I generally get by without it), watched my sugar intake (though I still drink juices and eat fruit), skipped carbs unless they’re whole grain, and made more low- or non-fat choices. Lately, I’ve developed a taste for non-fat sweet (not tart) chocolate yogurt at a shop down the street.

I see green a whole lot more. Generally I eat a lot of vegetables with my meals: broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, gai lan, spinach, edamame, and brussel sprouts. But I’ve been eating salads for lunch nearly every work day and not sneaking out  for a fast food lunch. This healthy midday meal seems to have the most impact on my rapid weight loss.

Tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment to get some bloodwork done. Next week is evaluation week at Peak Body Transformation. I’m looking forward to seeing the results.

Did I mention my fiance is doing this 4 week diet with me? It was his idea after all. However, he’s not seeing much movement on the scale and getting slightly discouraged. He’s got a lot more weight to lose (about 40-60lbs) and hasn’t gotten into a regular fitness regimen. I hope he makes some progress soon; mens big and tall clothing sure is expensive!

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I started this journey end of last year with some rather unrealistic goals in mind. I think whenever people begin something new, there’s always that sense of embarking on high adventure and achieving dramatic results.

For example, I figured by the time I was two months in I’d be rock climbing, running a 5k, down 2 dress sizes, participating in a couple of mud runs, sporting some killer abs and shoulders, and ready to compete in body-bikini competitions.

Reality check: yeah…that didn’t happen.

My blog subtitle has seen a couple of rewrites since the beginning. As time went by, reality began to take hold.

The sobering fact is: you can’t change a body overnight. Not without consequences. At 40+ I was not ready to go on a starvation diet just to force my physical self to conform to an unhealthy body image.

Also, I didn’t foresee several months ago that my job would take a stressful turn as I received more projects; nor did I anticipate that I’d have a harder time working out as the weather started getting unbearably hot. Or that my body suddenly decided to go on a binge after a hormone surge 2-3 weeks ago.

Luckily, I have enough presence of mind to realize the direction I was headed back in and started to curb my appetites. I’m slowly inserting some changes back into my diet to get back on track.

It really is harder to create rather than destroy. It takes a few seconds to undo all the hard work I’ve done in several weeks time. Even with daily exercise, the body just cannot expend enough calories if I decided to scarf down a half dozen blueberry cake donuts in the morning.

Lately, I’ve been trying to reprogram my thoughts on food and eating. I really do like food, but I’m trying to alter my perceptions of what goes into my mouth at mealtimes. Is it really worth the extra calories eating something that tastes mediocre? I really shouldn’t stuff my face with filler especially if it makes less room for the foods I really want to eat. And the foods I SHOULD be eating are not only tasty but healthy. Versus the tasty, but crappy foods. 

So that’s where I am, seven months into PBT, trying to make mindful decisions on what goes into my body. I don’t know if people get to this point sooner or later in their quest for a healthier self, so I wonder if I’m slower than the majority of folks who come to this conclusion. Better late than never?

I’m a few pounds heavier than I was in early May prior to my trip to the beach. I hope that it won’t take me quite as long to get back to that weight, now that I know how to get there. 

Yes, we all get derailed on occasion, but what counts is that we get back on track.

Boom, get moving!

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