This section of the website is about tracking my progress. One thing that’s really important when you are trying to change is to make yourself accountable, and this is my way of doing that. Once a month I will be posting an update of my progress – both in terms of weight-loss, and in terms of other achievements in my quest for a healthier and happier lifestyle.
The purpose of this journal is not only to share updates and achievements with my readers, but also to hold myself accountable and track my progress on a personal level. Part of the MedAsian Diet’s philosophy is to do be accountable to yourself by keeping a journal – mine just happens to be public!
Week One (April 1st) I weighed in at 138.4 a total loss of one pound! So glad my scale has no idea what April Fools Day is!! I know it is only a pound but this has really boosted my confidence in this journey. All together I have lost four pounds since December 31st! This week will be a little different for me work wise, because I will be working two extra days of nine hour shifts, so I may only get to walk or yoga each day instead of doing both. Only time will tell. I’m looking forward to see how well I do with a new schedule.
Week Two (April 8th) I weighed 139.0. A small gain this week but I am not letting it get me down. Life is making adjustments and compensations. My work schedule is getting back to normal and at the end of this week we are going to Charleston for a weekend vacation.
Week Three (April 15th) I weighed in at 140.0. We had a great and relaxing time in Charleston and ate some wonderful food. I wasn’t too worried about about what I ate this weekend, after all I was on vacation!
Week Four (April 22) I weighed in at 140.4. I am upset with myself this month. I have made excuses this and not owned my slips ups. My problem is not what I am eating but how much, and how little I am exercising. This week I am going to concentrate on getting a routine of exercise, a list of sensible snacks, and getting enough sleep every night. I know I can do this, I just need to quit fooling myself and just do it!
Week One of my my Third month started Sunday March 4th. I weighed in at 139.6. I had lost 1.6 pounds!I am so happy that I was under 140 pounds and that I did it on my own. This week I started yoga. I found a website that I really like called doyouyoga.com. The site is easy to navigate and offers so much. It offers free programs of exercise and also a membership for more programs for a slight fee. I am not a fan of exercise but the programs offer 10 minutes a day of yoga and that is great for me. I have been waking up at 7:15 and getting my yoga on! Some days I will do two 10 minute programs in the morning if I am not walking that day. After yoga I will meditate for 5 minutes. I have found that I have so much energy and that I am much more motivated to get things done. That is also a goal for me, to be motivated and get moving and to stop being lazy.
Week Two (March 11th) I weighed in at 139.8, no weight loss BUT no weight gain either. To me that means I am learning how to maintain my weight. I am disappointed in myself this week for a totally different reason. It was my time of the month and I let it stop me from exercising. I did not let myself feel guilty. I will no longer feel guilty about my decisions concerning eating or exercising. This week did have one positive about it. I have decided that I will control myself during my period and not let my period control me. Looking forward to next week and getting back on track!
Week Three (March 18th) I weighed in at 140.2. Technically I didn’t gain a pound, but I am back in the 140’s. I haven’t changed my routine, still doing yoga and walking. I’m keeping my portions small and no second helpings. I am planning healthy snacks for work so I don’t snack on candy bars.
Week Four ( March 25th) I weighed in at 139.4. Again out of the 140 range. Hopefully this time I can keep it there! Again no changes from routine. Still doing yoga and walking, and keeping portions small, and planning snacks.
So far this month has been pretty boring I bet you are thinking. I have learned that I can eat smaller portions, I don’t need something sweet and covered in chocolate for snacks, and that I can do some form of exercising everyday.
My Second month started on Sunday, February 4th. That first week I weighed in at 141.2 pounds, a loss of 1.6 pounds from the previous week. Week two starting Sunday, February 11th I weighed in at 141.6 pounds, a slight gain of half a pound. Week three started Sunday, February 18th.I weighed in at 140.4, down 1.2 pounds. Week four started Sunday, February 25th and needless to say I weighed in at 141.2 with a gain of a little under a pound.
My first month ended at 142.8, so I am down a total of .7 pounds for the month. I know this doesn’t seem to be a big accomplishment but I feel very proud. February was a stressful month for me. I worked a lot of extra time at work due to two co-workers having the flu and then my boss leaving the country for two weeks. I didn’t have as much time for exercise as I would have liked. What I am most proud of this month is that I did not stress eat which I have a habit of doing.
I am learning that I can succeed at the new habits I am setting for myself. I know that I may have slow and uneventful weeks in my journey, and maybe I’ll have weeks where I lose a surprising amount of weight. I don’t want to hurry this process. We all have times in our lives where we are cautious and take small steps and other times when it is okay to take a big jump.
I started this journey on December 31st. I picked this day because it was a Sunday and I wanted to weigh in on the same day every week. To me Sunday is the start of my week. I don’t work on Sundays and I can relax and unwind. I like to start my week on a good note. I weighed in at 142.2 lbs. I decided not to make drastic hard to keep habits off the bat. I made a small list of the things I thought I could stick with and turn in to everyday habits.
Eat smaller portions
Eat better breakfasts
Plan snack times
Plan what to eat on my snack times
Cut down the amount of junk food I eat
Drink more water
Exercise for at least 10 minutes a day
I pretty much stuck to these rules. I did ok with the junk food until I got stressed out. I stress eat for comfort and I know it will take awhile to get over that. I did very well with cutting my portions, drinking more water, and doing the 10 minutes of exercise a day. I took smaller portions when I prepared my plate for dinner. I didn’t go for the second helpings of my favorite part of dinner: the starchy sides!
I was still a little hungry after dinner but after a few days I was getting used to the smaller portions and started to feel satisfied with the smaller amounts I was eating.
Next was planning snack times. This is very important because I am a grazer. I can snack all day long. So to combat being hungry before lunch I decided that I needed a good healthy breakfast. This would hopefully cut out the before lunch hunger pains. I have trouble eating the same things all the time so i planned several breakfasts.
A whole grain cereal with almond milk, yogurt, a piece of fruit
Oatmeal, yogurt, a piece of fruit
Whole grain toast with a little butter and honey, yogurt, a piece of fruit.
Some days I would only eat yogurt and a piece of fruit when I wasn’t working a full 9 hour shift at work. When I work or am off work I plan to eat a snack around 4pm which would consist of:
Cheese and crackers
Nuts
Peanut butter and celery
Grapes
Since it was too cold to walk in the mornings I did some exercises which concentrated on my core, arms, and legs. I’m not a big fan of exercising ( I hate aerobics). Once I get this exercise routine down I plan on sharing it with you. It has a little bit of yoga, small weights, and of course the dreaded plank!
Last but not least I committed to drinking more water. I bought several 16 ounce cups with straws for home and work. It really helped because the water I needed to drink was right at my finger tips. All I needed to do was pick up the cup and sip!
Week 2 started on Sunday, January 7th. I weighed first thing after I woke up. I weighed 140.4! I had lost one pound and 8 ounces. I was so excited and proud of myself. I had kept to the small habits that I had set for myself and they had worked! I did beat myself up a little because I did eat a small bag of chips and several candy bars and I wondered how much I could have lost if I hadn’t eaten them. I decided I wasn’t going to guilt trip myself. I had eaten the candy bars and chips and there was no changing it so I moved on and said I will do better next week.
Week 3 started Sunday, January 14th. I got up excited to see a smaller number on the scale. Unfortunately I weighed in at 141.0. I was really bummed out, then it dawned on me that it was only six ounces and that might be attributed to the fact that I was exercising and was hopefully replacing fat with muscle. I stuck to my new habits. I also realized that I had actually eaten very little sweets other than the small squares of chocolate that I eat after lunch and dinner. I have found that if I eat just a small piece of something sweet it tames my sweet tooth and I crave sweets less often.
Week 4 started on sunday January 21st. I didn’t weigh in because on January 18th I had major dental surgery. I was in pain and mostly stayed in bed. I was on a strict liquid diet. My meals consisted mainly of a chocolate flavored nutritional drink mixed with unsweetened almond milk, small amounts of yogurt, and tomato soup. However I did weigh on Tuesday January 23rd and weighed 139.4 pounds. I don’t consider this part of my weight loss,more like a unavoidable cleanse. At the same time I can’t help to be a little happy that I am finally under 140 pounds. At this point I will take what I can get!
Week 5 started Sunday January 28th. I weighed as soon as I woke up. I weighed 142.8. I had gained back the three pounds I had lost in week four from the dental surgery. To be honest I was glad I gained it back because I want to lose weight from my own hard work. This week I have done a pretty good job controlling my portion sizes. I have been putting less food on my plate than I usually do and I am not going back for seconds. Which means I can have that piece of chocolate after dinner! I also walked four miles this week. On Saturday which is the last day of my first month we made one of my favorite meals, Homemade Gnocchi with Meat Sauce. I also wanted a salad because I am trying to get at least 1 cup of greens a day. I mixed baby spinach, beets, and goat cheese together and dressed the salad with my homemade honey mustard vinaigrette. I am excited to start Month Two. I haven’t lost a lot of weight but I am learning new habits that will get me to where I want to be!
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