The New Year

I achieved a big accomplishment in 2010. I lost a total of 23 pounds. I'm trying not to be negative by saying "I wish it would've been more" because 23 pounds is a great amount of weight to be rid of. I look at this loss as a success because not only did I lose it, I kept it off. It was interesting to pass numbers and hope that I never go back. I started the year at 197. By the middle of May I finally left the 190's behind (in truth I stopped nursing in May so I could finally really work on my weight loss). October I said goodbye to the 180's and haven't gone back, even on my binge days. That's my big success. It's one thing to lose the weight, but it's another to really keep it off. Don't get me wrong, I'm always frustrated when I gain a couple of the pounds back and then have to re-lose it, but the point is to keep moving forward and do better the next day. I ended 2010 at 174.0; it was a successful year.

I've started this year off a couple pounds heavier than I ended last year. New Years was rough for me. Christmas was no sweat, I don't think I gained anything. I really tried to avoid over eating and sweets. New Years was a whole other story. I ate and ate and ate. I ate sugar. I over ate. I ate left overs. And I still have apple dip in my fridge. So I started 2011 at 176.0. My goal is it lose 26 pounds, it was just 25, but I figured I'd aim for an even 150 end goal. My next goal will be to lose the 26 pounds by May, then keep it off until December. That's my goal.

I did make some other personal goals this year and maybe I'll share those some other time. It's going to be a great year!

I was watching the Today show on Tuesday and they were talking about weight loss. One idea from there on how to stay on track with weight loss is to, one, write down 10-15 reason WHY you are losing the weight and post them where you can read them everyday. That way you have a constant reminder of why being healthy is important. I figure the best place to put that list would be on your fridge, so you see it when you are making food choices. The second thing they said was to make specific goals and coordinate them with a date, for example "I want to weight 165 by February 1st". That way, you have a pushing factor to keep you on track. It could be as simple as "I want to not eat sugar until after April 1st" or "I want to make it to my 2 year anniversary of a life without chocolate". So here are my specific date goals:
*I want to weight 165 by February 1st.
*I want to weight 160 by March 1st
*I want to weight 155 by April 1st.
*I want to weight 150 by May 1st.

Last thought, I read online this morning that Drew Carey has lost a ton of weight lately. Google it, it's crazy to see. Good for him! In an article he said a quote that I want to write up and put on my fridge or bathroom mirror, he said "Crappy food is not a reward - it's a punishment". So many things I eat make me feel awful; pizza hates me, but I continue to eat it. So that's my other new goal, eat things that make me feel good and avoid the foods that I know make me feel yucky.