Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was equal parts relaxing and busy, which is always nice. On Friday night, I spent four hours at Starbucks working on my current fiction novel with my writing partner. On Saturday, I got in a killer workout, laid out by the pool, & my mom and I worked together to completely reorganize our kitchen. (We got rid of so! much! stuff!) And on Sunday, I accompanied my mom to her 5K race, we went out to breakfast afterward, and then took long, wonderful naps (over four hours for me!) in the afternoon. It was a great weekend!
Healthwise, last week was a really great week for me! I am concerned I’m going to fall off the wagon because that’s what I tend to do. I’m super passionate and laser-focused in the beginning, and then once it all starts feeling hard, I give up. I’m hoping that I won’t do that this time around, so these check-ins are helpful!
I exercised 6 times, something I’m really proud about. I haven’t been exercising as much as I should lately, and I think knowing I could add my exercise to MyFitnessPal and gain extra calories helped me find the motivation to wake up and get out there.
Here are my workouts last week:
- Monday: Stationary bike interval workout (34 minutes)
- Tuesday: Elliptical interval workout (30 minutes)
- Wednesday: Couch to 5K (28 minutes)
- Thursday: Elliptical interval workout (30 minutes)
- Friday: Stationary bike interval workout (30 minutes) & a strength circuit (15 minutes)
- Saturday: Couch to 5K (30 minutes) & an arm workout (20 minutes)
- Sunday: Rest day!
I did pretty well with my goals, too! I tracked every day in MFP, and though I had a goal to exercise every day, six out of seven days ain’t none too shabby! My third goal was to start using the stairs at work, which I did most days, and getting up from my desk every two hours, which is a goal I, surprisingly, had a difficult time doing! I really need to set a timer to remind myself to get up and move a few times a day.
So, with all that said, how did I do this week? Well, I lost 4.2 lbs! Whoop, whoop! It puts me at my lowest weight yet this year and I am very, very proud of that number. I worked hard for it! I still need to lose about a pound per week for the next three weeks to win my DietBet, but I’ve built a great buffer. As long as I stay true to getting in lots of cardio workouts, eating healthy (and tracking!), and not drinking my calories, I think I’ll do just fine.
Next week, my goals are:
- To continue tracking daily in MyFitnessPal. I didn’t find this too difficult last week, but I’m going to keep this as a goal until it becomes more of a habit.
- To drink water with every meal. While I gave up soda this week without too much difficulty, I still tend to drink other things aside from water (coffee, Gatorade) with my meals.
- To get up from my desk every two hours.
How do you stay focused on a big goal when you find yourself losing motivation and/or momentum? (I am so worried I am not going to be able to keep this up for longer than a week or two!)
That is a fantastic loss! Great job!
Great job! You are really inspiring me to add healthy habits. I am just starting out adding exercise back into my life after three years of doing nothing (other than being pregnant + raising babies) and the next step is going to be the food, which I am scared about!
Way to go, Stephany! What an awesome first week! Major props for working out 6 out of 7 days! Don’t beat yourself up about taking a rest day – they are just as important. I really need to start following your lead and get in more strength workouts. I did one last week + my Pilates class. Going to aim for 2 + Pilates this week.
I had a great first week too, but I think it is mostly due to the dietary changes I made following my doctor’s appointments. I tested negative for Celiac but I have all the symptoms so she told me to stop eating gluten for 30 days to see if I feel better. Well, I do – and I’m down 8.5 lbs! I have a feeling that is mostly due to cutting out gluten because my bloating has also started to get better. I did stick to my calorie goals and workout goals (mostly – I missed some yoga + strength training) last week so I hope some of that loss is due to my hard work.
I struggle with losing motivation after the first week or two. I’ll stay on track if you stay on track? 🙂 I’ve never tried the buddy system before. It’s tough to stick to such a low calorie deficit when you’re the only one doing it. One of my friends wants to get pizza one night this week, and then there’s Easter and that’s a recipe for disaster as I’m responsible for making desserts. I think this will be the toughest week out of the four just because I have those two temptations.
Congrats, friend! This is just awesome. I’m so happy for you 🙂 Keep your eye on the prize and no matter what, be kind to yourself by engaging in positive talk (rather than focusing on what you didn’t do, focus on what you DID do) throughout the process and that will help you. I mean, not having soda last week? That’s awesome 🙂
Oh I totally struggle with the motivation thing. Especially when the cravings hit. This is where the Facebook and DietBet group come in. If I get a major craving I’m going to force myself to scroll through the posts in both groups to re-motivate myself. Something I realized last week is it’s actually REALLY satisfying to say no to things and to be disciplined. I haven’t forced myself to be like that in awhile so it felt good.
WE CAN DO IT 🙂
Way to go on your first week! That has awesome! Hopefully seeing those kind of results will provide even more motivation to stick to your plan. I try to stay motivated by keeping my eye in the prize. So with CFA studying, when I wanted to give up I thought about how badly I wanted the designation and that kept me focused on what I had to accomplish that day. The same was true for my weight loss journey. I was losing weight for my sisters wedding and when I would want to quit, I thought about how those pictures from her wedding would be around for we and I wanted to look good and feel good in them
Woo, way to keep it up your first week! I feel like the first week is always the hardest so if you can keep going there, you’re on the right track.