I started my health and fitness journey at 270 pounds on June 17, 2009.



I reached my lowest weight of 176 pounds on May 9, 2011.



Since then I have stayed between 180 and 189 pounds. I have felt down on myself for not losing more, because I would really like to weigh 170 pounds as a goal. I realize that being down on myself doesn't help anything, so I pulled up my weight report and took a fresh look at it. What I see is weight loss of 90 pounds from 6/17/09 to April of 2011 and weight maintenance within 10 pounds from May of 2011 until Jan of 2012. What I feel now after reframing my journey in this way is success rather than failure. I am in maintenance, not at my desired weight, but most definitely maintenance at a healthier weight. My new Goal is to maintain my weight loss during 2013 and maybe lose 10 or 15 pounds to reach my ultimate goal of 170. That is most definitely do-able!

I am revising my tactics a little also. I have tracked my calories faithfully since I started this journey and have learned a lot about the nutrients and caloric values of the foods I eat. I recently read the book on Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch and have adopted a few of the strategies suggested by the authors. I am journaling the food I eat and my hunger level before and after my meals in the Nutrition Notes section rather than tracking my calories and nutrients. I am focusing on being aware of my hunger cues and not eating mindlessly when I'm not hungry. I am taking time to eat my meals in a slow mindful manner, savoring how the food looks, smells, and tastes. I am stopping to see if I am still hungry and have actually left food on my plate when I recognized I was full. (My family and friends have their collective jaws open in amazement!)


I feel more relaxed and less stressed with this approach.

My fitness improvements have been monumental. I have gone from a couch potato to a runner, swimmer, biker and all round active person. I don't need to change my focus there because I am loving my new activities. I now have a GPS watch for my running, prescription goggles for my swimming and a fitbit to record my activity and sleep much more unobtrusively than the Heart Rate Monitor and huge pedometer I have been using.

I am good to go!