How to Be A Loser

So, here's how it breaks down :-) Weight loss is so simple, in theory. Intake less that what your daily recommended allowance is and exercise, and you should lose weight!
Here's a great website to help with counting calories.
http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/
You simply make a profile, enter all your info, and it calculates how many calories you should be intaking a day to maintain or lose weight! It has most items already in their database so all you have to do is search for the right one. They also have an app for iphones for quick accessibility. Personally, I've decided to try Weight Watchers! They use a point system based on calories, total fat, and fiber in each food. You try to stay within your point limit, but if you need to exceed that or feel like treating yourself you have a weekly allowance of extra points if you need to pull from there. Also, they teach you about healthy portions and how to make healthier choices than the ones who are currently making. Two of my friends have been incredibly successful with WW. One has lost over 100 lbs and another is almost up to 15 lbs lost. WW has an online program and one where you go to weekly meetings. You can even choose to go to both if you want to! It's not too expensive either. WW online only costs me $16/month.
Ok, so you get the bottom line, right? Take in less calories than you put out, and you'll lose weight.

So last night I said I'd make some personal goals to start out with and post them so everyone can follow along. I am going to be posting two different sets of goals. There will be one for fitness and one for weight. According to the CDC website, to get to a healthy BMI (body mass idex), I need to lose anywhere between 60-95 pounds. I chose a number right in the middle of that. I would ideally like to lose 75 pounds. This is going to be my long term goal. And the only way to get to my long term goal, is to make short term goals to keep myself motivated.
My first short term weight goal is lose 5% of my body weight by Christmas.
So that means I expect to lose 10.2 lbs in 5 weeks. I think that's a totally reasonable goal!
One thing I also learned from Pam (my previous trainer, who I'm probably going to reference a lot!) is that you shouldn't always look at the weight just by number. Pay attention to how your clothes fit. Are things getting looser? These are always good signs. As we know, muscle weighs more than fat. So sometimes you can get easily discouraged if you don't see any changes in terms of weight, but chances are you gained muscle and lost fat, which is equally as important!

For this reason, I bought a special body composition scale that measures:

• weight
• muscle mass
• water %
• body fat %
• bone mass
• visceral fat (the fat around your abdomen)

I think that's about enough info to throw at you for the day :) To cap it off I'll reiterate my goals, and leave you to ponder!

Short Term Goals

Lose 5% of my current body weight ~ 10.2 lbs

Run a mile ~ by Christmas

Long Term Goals

Lose 75 pounds

Run a Half Marathon Next October

I'm also going to have my hubby take a before picture of me, so that when I get going I can post updates for everyone to see!