Category Archives: goal weight

To goal or not to goal.

It’s Monday!Even though it is my 2nd workday of the week, it still feels like Monday LOL!  Headed off to the gym.  My legs felt really, really tired after Saturday’s outdoor run yesterday and still a little stiff today, so I lightened up the leg weights a bit today.

After treadmill warmup:

  • Chin ups:  2 sets of 2, 1 set of 1.
  • Barbell squat:  3 sets of 10 with 65#
  • Incline dumbbell chest press: 3 sets of 8 with 25# DBs
  • Cable squat to row:  3 sets of 10 at 50#
  • Arnold press:  3 sets of 10 with 8# DBs
  • Reverse crunches:  3 sets of 15
  • Lower back extension (machine):  3 sets of 10 at 100#

Then I walked for 30 minutes at 3.5 mph with 0.5 incline.  I didn’t want to run as my thighs were so tight.  I’ll save that for tomorrow 😀

Brekkie was on my mind for most of that walk, or more specifically, protein waffles!

These were so good.  Sometimes I am really sad when my meal is done because I enjoy it so much.  Guess that’s how I ended up at 250 pounds, right? – kept eating the stuff I liked!

So I have been thinking about where I want to settle up scale wise.  I have maintained in a range for the past year and a half right around 145.  I am up a couple now post cruise, but generally I bounce around above and below this number.  My lowest weight was 139 and that was before my heavy strength training.  I actually wear the same clothes now that I did then (testament that lifting does *not* make you bigger, just heavier).  There is a part of me that says if this is where I am maintaining, then I am at goal.  John says that I am at goal. Makes sense.  My body seems to kind of like it here, and I can maintain pretty well and eat a nice amount of food.  It might just be complacence, though.

However, there is still that little part of me that wants to see if I can finish up. My personal heart-of-hearts goal.  I don’t know as 135 is possible.  According to all charts, it is really the top weight I should be at – but charts are lame.   It will take a lot for me to get there, and probably I would have to be more restrictive than I want to be.  Then again, that might just be the brat in me that doesn’t want to do it.   I just don’t know, and my puzzler is sore thinking about it.

After doing the Oz show and this photo shoot, I think that I feel ready to go ahead and try to push some just to see if I can.   My initial goal will be to get to 140 and reevaluate again.  That’s just a little bit, although it will take a long time as I lose really, really slow.  Not sure if anyone remembers my turtle ticker I had for a long time LOL.

Anyway, in order to do this, all I really have to do is quit the snacking between meals.  And I’m not talking about planned snacks, but those snacks that don’t make it onto the blog, like a dip into the peanut jar here, or a couple dates there, or a few extra bites of cheese while making dinner.  The *nibbling* stuff. Those things probably give me an extra 200 calories or so a day.   If I stick to 1500 calories, I can lose.  That’s not so bad.  Of course, I do eat more on longer run days, but I have such a sedentary job that I don’t burn more than 70 calories an hour for my work day and not much I can do about that.  That is one reason why my workouts seem intense – it’s because they have to be to make up for the all-day sitting.

So that’s the plan.  I am going to update each day on how I am doing and take it 1 week at a time.  My goals for this week are to curb the extra snacking, eat enough protein, and make sure my meals are balanced.  Exercise is always a given 😀

Anyway – in the spirit of the balanced meal – here was dinner!

Chicken with sauteed broccoli and a kiwi.  The anatomy is this:  3 oz of chicken breast, 2 cups of broccoli, 1 whole kiwi, 1 tablespoon BBQ sauce, plus 1 tsp of coconut oil (that the broccoli was cooked with).  This kiwi was awesomely perfect.  Just the right amount of juiciness, tart, and sweet.  This is a nice light dinner and allows me a snack later on 😀

I am also thinking about going on the Q&A band wagon again.  Start thinking if there is anything you want to ask me at all about whatever.

John made goal!!!!

John officially made his goal weight today! He lost a total of 43 pounds since January 1, 2009.

He did it the old fashioned way with diet and exercise!

Check out that happy goal smile this morning.  Pre-coffee, even!  😆

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Before:

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During:

Jrace

Who is that sexy running man?  Why, it’s my husband!!

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Us being athletic together (you know I have to get in this post somehow)

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Way to go John!  I am so proud of you!

I think I need a guest post soon……..

It's a numbers game

Weight loss is all about the numbers right? What should your goal weight be? How many calories should you eat? How much exercise should you do? How any carbs, how much fat, how much protein? How long should it take? How many pounds should I lose in a week? Am I eating too much or too little? Am I exercising to much or too little? Is my heart rate too high or not high enough? What’s my BMI? How heavy should I be lifting?

Don’t you just wish there was an answer to all these questions? I think I might take some time to explore some thoughts on these in the coming days. Not necessarily what I think those number should be, but more on the thinking to figure it out.

I’ve been thinking a lot about goal weight lately, particularly since I seem to be maintaining right around 140 and I don’t want that to be goal for me, but it might be where my body wants it to be. I would like to see 135 on the scale. That is at the upper end for my height (5’2″). I took a quiz on Self.com
 about what would be a ‘happy weight’ for me. And it says my happy weight is 128.1 !!!!!!! And that is selecting a large frame (which I actually have). I actually almost cried when I saw that number, because that means I would have to lose another 11-12 pounds. I can’t imagine myself at that weight. Even at 130, let alone below that. To get there, it would mean 1200 calories and an extreme amount of exercise. Not sure that would be an enjoyable process for me – and about 2 steps from disordered eating.

Couple that with many people on weight loss boards that are taller than me and weigh 135. Ugh. I also listened to a Jillian Michaels podcast (and NO I do not watch TBL – I’ll have to do a post on that sometime), and she is also 5’2″. She weighs 120! I think things are just different for me having been 100 pounds heavier. There is the skin issue to contend with. If I could remove the excess skin, I would be at goal and beyond. I know I have a lot of muscle, too. Or maybe I am just fooling myself and I actually can get there if I work hard enough.
It’s just confusing and frustrating at times. I just have to realize that this journey is for me and myself alone, not to be influenced by others and what they do or think.

Don’t get me wrong, I am totally thrilled to be maintaining a 100+ pound weight loss, and that is probably even harder than the actual losing. And I know I can maintain with diligence and discipline.

Another Sunday

Not doing too much tonight. Kind of getting antsy for Sunday Night Football! Or any football. Preseason just wets my taste buds LOL! Go Broncos!

Had a nice relaxing day today. Went out for bagels for breakfast, then knocked around the house a while. Took a bike ride for Only8 yogurt. It’s about 15 miles there and back. John left me to go somewhere else from the yogurt place, so I got to pedal home and see how fast I could really go. I tend to go much faster than John, and have to slow myself down when we bike together. It’s a little hard to say what MPH I did, since there were some traffic lights and had to wait for some cars, but at least 14 miles an hour. I just love biking! I think this is as relaxed as I can get. I don’t seem to be able to take a whole day off from movement.

I was thinking today, it seems like me getting to goal is inevitable. I never viewed it that way before, but it really seems like it’s going to happen. Don’t know when, but sometime this year, I would think. Or at least the original goal of 135 that I have set. I’m trying to be patient and not get the urge to do crazy stuff to finish out faster, like dropping calories or doing something stupid. That’s not the goal here. I’m feeling calm and confident. Can someone please remind me of this post if I get funny in a couple months??? 🙂

Thinking about maintenance

It’s hard to believe that I am so close to goal. 14 pounds to go. At one pound a week, that is about 3-4 months! I am trying not to get excited, because I realize that all of this planning, exercising and thinking has all been practice for maintenance.

These habits I have developed over the last few years are what I will be doing for the rest of my life. I will have to monitor my food intake daily, I can’t just eat intuitively, that is not the type of eater I am. I recognize that, and so I need to work with it, rather than trying to force myself to be something I am not. And it is liberating to think that way!

The trick is going to be setting new goals, other than weight loss. I will have to find new activities. Maybe trying new fitness activities (roller blading maybe??)