Day One

For my first weigh in my initial intent was to take a picture of the scale reading and post it here, but the batteries for my camera were not cooperating this morning. Needless to say however, my "starting weight" isn't anything that I haven't seen before, so I think that I'll just take pictures of the milestones instead. So, without further ado, I'm 221.0 pounds as of this morning, marking a two-pound weight loss since yesterday. I certainly expected to see the same or even a little bit more after yesterday's Strawberry Cheesecake episode, so I can say that I'm pleasantly surprised.

For breakfast this morning I ended up just having a bottle of Danacol. I forgot to bring a mid-morning snack with me to work, so I've been filling up on water instead. I'm on my fourth glass. In spite of my initial doubts I can honestly see how drinking water takes away hunger. Where I would usually be famished by this hour, I don't feel hungry at all.

Our menu for today is as follows:

Lunch: Baked Chicken breast fillets
Curry rice with peas, onions and green pepper
Creamed spinach
Fruit and yogurt for dessert

(Creamed spinach you ask? Don't worry, it's low-fat. I found a béchamel recipe online that I'll be using with fat-free milk instead of the cooking cream it calls for.)

Knowing that I get hungry here in the office at around 7pm, I plan to bring some raw vegetables with me this evening, and my plan is to have that be my last meal of the day. Given that Chechu will get home late tonight, I think I will push for fruit or cereal for us both.

My exercise goals for the week mainly consist in working out three days-- today (Monday), Thursday and either Friday or Saturday. I want to keep that up for the next two weeks and then increase by one day, following the same pattern. For right now I'll be sticking with an hour of turbo jam or taebo during the week, and then walking/jogging on the weekends with Chechu.

In terms of diet and exercise I've always had an "all or nothing" philosophy. If I couldn't follow my super restricted diet down to the letter, or exercise consistently seven days a week I felt like a failure and, consequently sought solace in a late-night binge or a pint of B & J's. So after running into that insanity brick wall about a million times, I've finally come to the realization that just as weight loss is a process, getting back on track is too. In my case I haven't lifted a finger to exercise in nearly four months. Obviously my body has gotten used to being totally sedentary, and in light of that reality, going from no exercise to an all out exercise war-on-fat would be as counterproductive as it always has been. So I've opted for the gradual route.

I want to set goals for myself that not only are attainable, but also controllable. It'd be easy (and fun, I'll admit) to sit here and map out a weekly goal weight chart for myself between now and summertime, but in doing so I'd be setting myself up for failure. Granted, marking weight loss goals is a good thing, but the key is not to get obsessed. Knowing that I tend to gravitate toward the latter, I choose to focus on goals that I can control such as getting up early in the mornings and exercising for one hour three times a week or drinking 64oz. of water every day. I can't control how fast the numbers go down on the scale, but I can determine the healthy lifestyle changes that I implement.

So, in summary, I've come to learn that this whole process is about gradual change and being realistic. That method is what brings about long-term success and not just a quick 15lb loss that will result in a 30-pound gain.