Big goal for summer

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:13:47 EST

I decided today that my summer goal is going to be getting under 275.

I weighed 287 this morning, so that's 13 pounds to take off over the next few months.

That's a large amount of weight for me to aim for, because I normally am only able to lose one-quarter to one-third of a pound a week, but I'm going to see what I can do.

There are about four months and a week until Labor Day, so I'll see what I can get accomplished during that time.

First day of raking, and the geese are back

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:49:27 EST

Looks like Spring has come to my little corner of Vermont. I heard the first geese coming back yesterday morning, and today it's so nice that I was able to start raking the lawn.

Phew, what a workout though! Even though I wore my Fitbit all winter and tried to get as many steps as possible, there was still WAY too much sitting done, and I'm very out of condition.

Spring cleanup in the yard should help though. It was an especially windy winter, so we have fences to repai...

Back at it!

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:24:19 EST

Enough snow has melted that I can find places to walk outdoors again, so I'm back at it.

What makes it even better is that now two of my sisters, and my husband, are also getting out to walk again, so that provides some friendly "competition" and motivation to get out there.

January was a terrible month for movement--I barely did any.

February is a little better. I'm starting to walk more again, and Spring isn't too far off.

I wasn't able to stay at...

Scale went the wrong way in January

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:33:47 EST

Since we're near the end of the month, I was just glancing over my stats, and it's very disappointing.

Where I had been walking in the six, seven, or eight-thousand steps range this summer and fall, in January my steps have fallen WAY off, so much so that I've had several days where my steps fell between 3000-5000.

I track my weight on a site that gives me my weekly averages, and for all four weeks of January, I've gained between one-third to a half-pound a week. This i...

It's not good to slack off

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:18:25 EST

From the end of July, when my sister gave me a Fitbit, until this weekend, there had only been TWO days that I didn't get at least 5000 steps in.

Friday through Sunday I didn't feel very well, and didn't go out to walk at all. That was a shame because we have been having a nice January thaw, and it was warm, sunny, and great weather for walking. Hated to waste the good walking days, but...

Today I'm feeling better, but I'm working at my computer, very busy, and have bare...

Encouragement from my sister

Sun, 6 Jan 2013 10:27:13 EST

Last night my sister told me she could see my weight loss in my face.

Even though I haven't lost very much yet, this was my first comment on it being noticeable, and it made my day. 30

Keep walking... 311

01/01/2013 285

Tue, 1 Jan 2013 17:45:02 EST

Well, I can tell you for a fact that weight loss is not linear!

I thought I'd be down a bit this morning, but I was up instead. (Of course, New Year's Eve chip and dip might have had something to do with that.)

So I'm starting 2013 at 285, and am just recording it here so I can see how much progress I can make this year.

Now that the holidays are over, I'm setting a new mini-goal: I'd like to get to 275 by sometime this spring, or the beginning of summer.
...

As we say goodbye to 2012...my results

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 11:28:23 EST

As we say goodbye to 2012, I've actually made some progress in weight loss this year--not a whole lot, but some, and that's better than what I've done the past several years.

I weighed 289 pounds on 01/01/2012, which is exactly what I weighed on 01/01/2011.

My highest weight EVER was 297.4 (round to 297). I first reached 5% off, getting to 282 in April of 2012, but it didn't stick. I spent the rest of the year trying to get back down to 282, and reached it again in the ...

Shoveled out a winter walking path on my lawn

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 10:37:56 EST

Well, I have my new winter walking path all shoveled out on my front lawn. I just went out with my ski poles aka walking poles, and tried it out. It'll do just fine--unless we have a very snowy winter and the shoveling gets too far ahead of me, that is.

You can see just a little bit of my walking path under the tree, but you can see the general area where I'll be walking this winter. It's quiet and peaceful out there, even though the neighbors might wonder what I'm doing.

Made it through Christmas without throwing in the towel

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 20:04:20 EST

Made it through Christmas!

Pizza twice in the week, ham twice, potato chips, and assorted other holiday foods--and plenty of them!--led to my scale going up six pounds this week, but as of this morning, I'm already down three, and the other three should come back off within the next few days.

I'm glad to say that I didn't throw in the towel and go nuts with eating. One night I was a bit full when I went to bed, but that was it. I've had plenty of baked goods and desserts...

Danger zone now through December 25th

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:31:27 EST

When I hit my 5% off this past Sunday, I was on cloud nine. It has been SOOO long since I was able to lose even that much weight. My motivation was high, and I thought I'd be able to breeze through Christmas without a lot of mindless munching, etc.

I was wrong.

Not only am I trying to get things ready to host family gatherings on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we have a sick cat that has required two unexpected trips to the vet this week.

Let's just...

Yay! 15lbs off, and 5% weight loss achieved today

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:12:05 EST

I was excited to see 282 on the scale this morning. That makes 15lbs off, and I've reached my first 5% weight loss goal. 104

I give credit to my sister, who gave me a Fitbit as a gift this summer. I've been using it ever since, and I think it has been a big help in getting to this point.

Granted, when you were brushing right up against 300 pounds like I was, 15lbs off is a drop in the bucket--but it's enough of a start that I'm feeling tiny little changes...

Down a notch in BMI

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 08:12:01 EST

At my highest weight, I was in the 50-51 BMI range.

Then for a long time I was at 49 BMI.

This week I discovered that I'm down a notch, into the 48 BMI range. It's the upper part of the range right now--and I don't put much stock in the BMI anyway--but it's still another reminder that I AM making progress, even though you can't tell by looking at me really that I've lost anything yet.

All I can say is...keep walking... 311

My winter plan

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:57:20 EST

I've decided on a different winter plan for myself this year.

For the last several years, I've gained quite a bit of weight over the winter, every winter, which puts me even further behind in weight management every spring.
This winter I'm just going to try to MAINTAIN the 14lbs I've already taken off, do my best not to gain more over the winter, then in spring see if I can take off some more.

I won't have any need to do any "last supper" eating for the rest of the ...

Walking poles are the best

Sat, 1 Dec 2012 13:11:39 EST

Today is the fourth or fifth day I've been out with my "walking poles" (a pair of ski poles that were in hubby's shop)--and they are the best!

The snow here in Vermont seems to be sticking now, at least until tomorrow when it's supposed to warm up to nearly fifty degrees), so the poles will be a fixture every time I walk, from now until spring.

For the most part I don't care what people think, but I REALLY don't want to slip and fall in front of a neighbor's window. Even...

Down 14 pounds today

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:26:34 EST

As of this morning, I'm down 14 pounds. Only 1 pound to go to hit my first 5% off.

I was feeling disappointed that we've gotten snow so soon, because the good outdoors walking would be stopped, but somebody suggested to me that I try trekking poles to help keep my balance while walking in the snow.

My sister wanted to give me a pair of trekking poles as a gift, but my husband happened to have a pair of ski poles that I took out with me to try yesterday, and they worked g...

We woke up to snow this morning

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:26:37 EST

We woke up to an inch or two of snow this morning. I think it's going to be sticking around for awhile too, because the temperatures here are only supposed to be in the 20s and 30s for the next several days.

I don't hate snow. I just wish it didn't mean that the good walking weather is pretty much done for the year.

I have a lot of problems with my balance, and I sure don't want to be falling because it's slippery out there, especially in front of any of the neighbors' w...

Two inches off my waist

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 09:46:54 EST

I met my mini-goal of staying the same, not gaining, this Thanksgiving week!

I also discovered that, since I've had my Fitbit, I've lost two inches from my waist. Yay for that!

Still working towards hitting my 5% off mark. It's within sight.

Keep walking... 311

Goal for Thanksgiving week: Stay the same, no gain

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:33:15 EST

I'm 286 today, and my goal for this Thanksgiving week is just to stay the same, with no gain.

I don't think I'll lose anything this week. If I do, great, but my aim is to maintain.

Actually, that would probably be a good goal for the holiday season--to go no higher than my current 286, so I don't have to start 2013 having to take off a bunch of pounds just to get back to where I started.

Keep walking... 311

The next five pounds

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 09:36:01 EST

At my size the amount of weight I have to lose is overwhelming to think about. Knowing that I need to lose a hundred pounds to just barely get under 200 seems nearly impossible, and it's really depressing and discouraging to think about--so I came up with a new plan for myself.

From now on, I'm going to concentrate on just "the next five pounds". People have been suggesting this on discussion boards for years, and I never thought it was a useful tip, until now.

I'm 287 t...

Two days in a row of 10,000 steps!

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 08:37:28 EST

I don't know how I managed to get 10,000 steps two days in a row, but YAY!

Keep walking... 311

Milestone: my first 10,000 steps day

Tue, 9 Oct 2012 08:38:56 EST

Yesterday my Fitbit told me that I had walked my first 10,000 steps day!

Also, this morning I discovered that I'm down another inch on my waist.

I'm excited.

Keep walking... 311

Two pounds away from five per cent off and Fitbit report

Mon, 8 Oct 2012 17:01:53 EST

I just noticed that I'm only two pounds away from my goal of taking off 5% of my weight. It would be nice to reach that goal by the end of this month.

Also, I had a very surprising thing. I haven't been able to buy a pair of dress boots in YEARS because my calves were way bigger than the biggest wide-calf boot I could find.

The other day I was "window shopping"/daydreaming online, looking at boots again, and just on a lark, decided to measure my calves to see how many ye...

Happy first day of Autumn!

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:48:48 EST

My favorite season! The leaves are just starting to turn here, and I heard some geese this morning, but didn't see any flying over our house yet. 465

Since I last blogged, I did end up with a small gain, but I managed to get that off, and am now at 284.

We had Domino's pizza for supper last night, and I had some of the leftovers for lunch--that's good for some water weight gain, but I'll get that off, then keep going.

I'm still using my Fitbit eve...

I narrowly avoided a gain this week

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 08:21:04 EST

My weight graph tells me that I'm losing between a quarter of a pound and a half-pound per week, which is about right for the way I lose.

This week I narrowly avoided a gain. Ended up losing 0.01 of a pound!

Since I got it, I've been wearing my Fitbit every day--until yesterday. Yesterday I wore something without pockets, and just couldn't be bothered. It was TOO HOT to care about getting my steps in anyway.

Today is supposed to be very hot again too, but I'm ...

Two weeks with my Fitbit and averaging my weight

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 09:10:45 EST

I'm loving this Fitbit!

My weight tends to vary wildly every day, so I've decided to track my weight loss by AVERAGES instead of whatever number I see on any particular day. I think that might give me a more realistic picture of what's happening.

My sister gave me a Fitbit on 07/28/2012, so I've been using it for two weeks now.

The first week I ended with a loss of 1.27 lbs.
This week I ended with a .41 lbs loss, not quite a half-pound, but that's okay. I...

12 pounds off

Sun, 5 Aug 2012 12:41:57 EST

As of this morning, I'm back to the 12 pounds off I got to earlier this spring. I'm now 285, and aiming for the 270s.

Having the instant feedback from the Fitbit is really motivating, and I'm eager to keep going.

I've had the Fitbit for a full week now, and already I'm seeing a slight difference in my activity. I'm getting more steps in every morning, which really helps, because then I don't feel like I have to walk a ton all at once in order to meet my daily goal (for ...

Ten pounds off

Thu, 2 Aug 2012 08:51:36 EST

287 today. That's back down to my original 10 pounds off that I hit earlier this spring, but wasn't able to keep. Hopefully I'll be able to do it this time, and keep going.

Since my sister gave me a Fitbit last Friday, I'm down 5.6 pounds, so I'm really happy about that.

Even though I can't yet walk 10,000 steps a day, I've been walking between 5000-7000, which is a lot more than I normally do.

I have to be careful though. I twisted my knee and put my knee bra...

Under 290 today

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 08:55:20 EST

289, headed for 282, which is my 5% off. I hit it once earlier this year, but couldn't stay there. I'm hoping I'll be able to get there, and even lower, this time.

It's going to be very hot and humid here today (like it is most everywhere in the USA), so it's going to be hard for me to walk a lot, but we'll see what I can manage.

Hope you all enjoy your Tuesday!

Keep walking... 311

Lots of steps, but I hurt my knee

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 11:21:14 EST

Amazingly enough, I ended the day yesterday with 7307 steps. That's a LOT for me, and I was excited about it, but I hurt my knee. It feels like I twisted it a little bit.

Since I'm so out of shape right now, I wonder if I should take it easier trying to get as many steps as possible? I didn't really feel like I overdid it though.

Does anybody know any good exercises to strengthen knees so they don't "twist" so easily? I can twist mine just by stepping wrong when I'm swee...

I'm up SIX pounds, but I'm not defeated

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:40:33 EST

Several things combined to cause a bad weight loss week for me. I had to move my ticker back UP to 292 this morning. 39

Part of the gain was due to normal fluctuations; part was my own fault.

Even though I'm discouraged that six pounds of previous progress got wiped out, I'm not defeated because I have a Fitbit now, and I think it's going to be an excellent tool for me.

My sister brought me the Fitbit yesterday, and after charging it, I was eager to...

My sister gave me a Fitbit Ultra!

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 15:02:48 EST

My sister, GOIN4GR8, gave me a Fitbit Ultra! 304 247

I just got it all set up and walked my first 1000 steps with it.

I love numbers and "data", so this is going to be very helpful to me.

It's giving me a new "spark" (hee hee) to get going on my food tracking and walking again.

As I said to my sister earlier this afternoon, let the thinness begin!
311

Suffering through heatwaves when you're this big

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:21:16 EST

Every year I vow that THIS will be the last summer I suffer through the heatwaves being this big.

For several years I made NO progress. This summer I'm eleven pounds down from my highest weight ever, but in high heat and humidity, eleven pounds isn't even a drop in the bucket.

This is now day six of the current heatwave, and again I say, next summer I WILL BE LIGHTER--I don't care how much, just as long as it's some--than I am right now, so that the heatwaves will be a l...

How on earth did I lose four pounds during a heatwave?

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:46:22 EST

The heatwave here started last Thursday, so this is day five of it.

With all the heat, inactivity, and potato chips eaten, I figured the scale would show that I was up several pounds.

To my surprise, I had lost FOUR pounds--during a heatwave! I'm amazed.

It's really been too hot to eat. We've been eating watermelon or yogurt for breakfast, and pasta salad for lunch and/or supper--oh, and an ice cream bar here and there.

Whatever's going on, I hope i...

I keep bouncing UP the scale

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 08:58:17 EST

Here it is, July, the second half of the year, and I'm not making much progress.

I got to a new low of 282 this spring, but wasn't able to stay there. I've been bouncing between 286-290 for the last month or so.

Part of this is just because of summer. I wish I could enjoy summer, but I don't. The heat does me in, and I end up doing more SITTING than anything--and of course it doesn't help at all that I'm 100+ pounds heavier than I ought to be. :(

I think what ...

When I say slow, I mean SLOW

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 11:36:21 EST

I know that weight loss isn't "linear", and mine sure isn't. Huge zig zags are more the way I go.

I don't lose every week. I don't even lose every month, but June does seem to be a losing month.

My weight loss is slow. How slow? THIS slow:

3 weeks ago: Lost 1.01 pounds
2 weeks ago: Lost .51 pound
This past week: Lost .31 pound

You can see the losses are getting smaller and smaller, so I'm probably due to stop losing again for awhile.
...

My new big goal

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:47:33 EST

I was just telling my sister that I have a new goal--I want to be small enough, and fit enough, to be able to easily get up the bleachers in the gym when my oldest grandson graduates.

He'll be a junior this fall, so that gives me about two years to make the goal. Losing as slowly as I do, I'm sure I'll need every minute of the two years--but I can really see myself lightly climbing those bleachers.

Of course, the joke will be on me if we get to sit in chairs on the main ...

Lawn mowing and onion rings

Wed, 6 Jun 2012 20:28:37 EST

I worked at my computer most of the day today, and didn't think I'd get many steps in, but I took a break and mowed part of our lawn (until it started to rain).

My stepson treated us to take-out from a local snack bus for supper tonight, and I had an order of onion rings (yum!), but after supper I got out and did a little work in the yard, and walked three "yard loops" tonight.

One time around our yard gives me about 200-ish steps, so even though the onion rings cancelle...

A bad thing about being fat: will I fit in the car?

Tue, 5 Jun 2012 19:36:11 EST

We had an adventure today. After grocery shopping, my husband and I went to our car, only to find out that it wouldn't start. Hubby checked everything under the hood that he could think of, and guessed that the starter had probably gone on it.
The car was deader than a doornail, and wasn't going anywhere.

While we debated on what to do next, our neighbor happened to come along and saw our predicament. He offered to take us and our groceries home, but had to walk back to his o...

I want to weigh less than my husband again

Mon, 4 Jun 2012 15:13:48 EST

I just realized that hitting my summer goal of 272, and weighing less than my husband again, might happen right around the same time.

Hubby isn't as much of a scale addict as I am, so he only weighs once in awhile. Last time he weighed himself, he was 273, but he's been eating ice cream and drinking soda lately, so he isn't losing any weight. If he keeps eating his ice cream, I might have a chance to catch up to him.

If he lays off the junk food, he'll start losing fast...

Down ten pounds (again)

Wed, 30 May 2012 10:55:42 EST

Okay, let's see if I can keep off the ten this time, and keep going towards my summer goal of 272.

I'm 287 today, so 15 pounds more to get to the summer goal.

Well, sitting at this computer won't help me reach that goal, so I'd better go get productive. We had a very strong thunderstorm come through last night, so I have branches to pick up, and lawn furniture to stand back up, and of course there's plenty of other stuff that needs to get done too.

Enjoy your ...

25 pounds off: my new goal for summer

Tue, 29 May 2012 08:13:16 EST

I'm slowly re-losing the pounds I had regained.

I needed a goal to work towards for this summer, so I've picked the goal of having taken off a total of 25 pounds from my highest weight.

288 this morning, and I need to be 272 to hit this goal, so that's 16 pounds to take off this summer.

This is a HIGHLY ambitious goal for me, but we'll see what happens.

104

Regained ten pounds, GRRR!

Wed, 23 May 2012 15:07:37 EST

It's a constant thing with me: zig zagging up and down the scale, but mostly always up.

A month ago I was so excited because I had hit my first 5% off, which was fifteen pounds, plus another inch off my waist.

I wasn't vigilant, and I regained 10 of those pounds, within about three weeks.

I *was* going to leave my weight ticker where it was until I got back down there again, but it might take me awhile, so I just moved it back up. :(

I'm 290 today, ...

I'd love to not roast this summer

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:42:58 EST

Hard to believe that Memorial Day is only a couple of weeks away, which means the start of the "summer season".

At my size, summers are brutal, and it's hard to do much more than sit in front of a fan with a glass of ice water, just trying to get through each day.

I'm now down 15 pounds from my highest, which is barely a drop in the bucket when it comes to feeling more comfortable in the summer, but it's a start.

I've decided that my summer project will be wor...

Another inch off my waist

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 08:20:29 EST

The waistband on my jeans was feeling a tad looser this morning, so I measured my waist, and am another inch smaller.

I've got a LOT more inches to lose before my waist is back to a "normal" size, but it was a nice surprise seeing that progress on the tape measure today.

15 pounds down and 5% off

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:31:54 EST

I was surprised this morning to see that I'm now down 15 pounds from my highest, and have reached my 5% milestone.

This gives me hope that maybe I can take off a little more, even though it's very, very, very, VERY slow going.

Some number notes for myself

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:47:25 EST

I'm now 13 pounds lighter than I was.

I want to go from 297 to 197, so that's 87 pounds to go.

I weighed 289 on 01/01/2012, so have taken off 5 pounds during the first quarter of the year. (I had a regain of a few, so it's actually a few more, but I'm not counting that.)

Averaged, that's a little less than a half-pound loss per week. If I could keep that up for the rest of the year, I'd be happy.

I'd like to do just a tad better than that though,...

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