Ready... set...
... GO!
It's the 1st of February. Where did January go??? I suppose 2015 has decided that it's marching on with or without us, so those of us who wanted to ease into the year need to pick up the pace!
This means that I have 11 months to reach my 60lb weight loss goal for 2015. A goal that I'm tweaking slightly because I've learned some new things this month which have altered my thinking as it pertains to weight loss. I'll explain...
Ultimately, I want to achieve fat loss and size loss. Weight loss, which is literally tied to the scale, will be one way of measuring my success BUT it's certainly not the only way. When the scale doesn't budge even after you've made positive changes in your activity level and your food choices, it can be so frustrating, but the scale could be misleading. This is what I've concluded after reading blogs of other dieters, searching fitness websites and trying to find common threads in the information that's already out there.
The 'calories in < calories out' rule seems to ring true, but the calorie limits vary depending on your current weight and your activity level. One thing I learned, which I'm going to test this month, is that it's possible that I'm not eating enough. Many dieters will probably agree that when you're trying to lose weight, you tend to think that you need to eat as little as possible and exercise as much as possible. It's easy to see why many of us quickly get fed up with such a mundane routine. Whereas I set myself a target of about 1500 calories a day, I've checked my daily calorie requirements using a few online calorie calculators and it turns out that if I want to lose between 1-2 lbs a week, I can eat anywhere from about 1970-2350 calories a day, on average. So you might think that eating 1500 calories per day would help me lose more weight quickly, right? Apparently it doesn't work that way, especially if you're exercising as well. Your body needs to be fed enough calories to work efficiently, give you energy for exercise (particularly weight training) and avoid holding on to the weight you want to shed, which happens when your body thinks it isn't getting enough food. So, in a nutshell, my food revelation this month is that I need to eat the 'right' amount of calories to kick start my metabolism and give my body the proper nutrition and sustenance. Let's see if that brings a significant change in February.
As I already mentioned, I stuck to my exercise plan this month but now I want to take it to the next level. I'm used to hearing and reading that fat loss is attained by doing more cardio (walking, jogging, running, elliptical trainer, skipping, etc) but I'm reading more and more about the benefits of weight training for women. My fear has always been that I'll get bigger and gain more weight by doing this (which initially does happen with me) but perhaps I haven't given my body enough time to adjust. Weight training leads to increased lean muscle mass and more fat burned, so, as my trainer explained to me, I shouldn't be discouraged if the number on the scale increases or stays the same for a few weeks. It will eventually go down but the best way to track results is by measuring fat loss and checking my body measurements.
So that takes me back to my earlier point: ultimately, I want to achieve fat loss and size loss. Specifically, in 2015,I want to lose 4 dress sizes. That's what I meant by tweaking my goal a bit. I will try not to get discouraged by the number on the scale as long as I'm seeing the right changes in other areas, but it's tough. The temptation to weigh yourself to see progress is so strong, but if my dress size drops, I'll be ecstatic!
January is gone. It won't come back. I see February as a 'recharge' month. 28 days of trying something different in the hopes of yielding good results. I believe that I'll have something good to report at the end of the month and I look forward to sharing that!
A few helpful links for calorie calculators and trackers:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com
http://www.caloriecount.com/tools/calories-goal
http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=36&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=7&cpound=263&cheightmeter=180&ckg=60&cactivity=1.55&printit=0&x=44&y=11
http://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-calories-per-day/
This means that I have 11 months to reach my 60lb weight loss goal for 2015. A goal that I'm tweaking slightly because I've learned some new things this month which have altered my thinking as it pertains to weight loss. I'll explain...
Ultimately, I want to achieve fat loss and size loss. Weight loss, which is literally tied to the scale, will be one way of measuring my success BUT it's certainly not the only way. When the scale doesn't budge even after you've made positive changes in your activity level and your food choices, it can be so frustrating, but the scale could be misleading. This is what I've concluded after reading blogs of other dieters, searching fitness websites and trying to find common threads in the information that's already out there.
The 'calories in < calories out' rule seems to ring true, but the calorie limits vary depending on your current weight and your activity level. One thing I learned, which I'm going to test this month, is that it's possible that I'm not eating enough. Many dieters will probably agree that when you're trying to lose weight, you tend to think that you need to eat as little as possible and exercise as much as possible. It's easy to see why many of us quickly get fed up with such a mundane routine. Whereas I set myself a target of about 1500 calories a day, I've checked my daily calorie requirements using a few online calorie calculators and it turns out that if I want to lose between 1-2 lbs a week, I can eat anywhere from about 1970-2350 calories a day, on average. So you might think that eating 1500 calories per day would help me lose more weight quickly, right? Apparently it doesn't work that way, especially if you're exercising as well. Your body needs to be fed enough calories to work efficiently, give you energy for exercise (particularly weight training) and avoid holding on to the weight you want to shed, which happens when your body thinks it isn't getting enough food. So, in a nutshell, my food revelation this month is that I need to eat the 'right' amount of calories to kick start my metabolism and give my body the proper nutrition and sustenance. Let's see if that brings a significant change in February.
As I already mentioned, I stuck to my exercise plan this month but now I want to take it to the next level. I'm used to hearing and reading that fat loss is attained by doing more cardio (walking, jogging, running, elliptical trainer, skipping, etc) but I'm reading more and more about the benefits of weight training for women. My fear has always been that I'll get bigger and gain more weight by doing this (which initially does happen with me) but perhaps I haven't given my body enough time to adjust. Weight training leads to increased lean muscle mass and more fat burned, so, as my trainer explained to me, I shouldn't be discouraged if the number on the scale increases or stays the same for a few weeks. It will eventually go down but the best way to track results is by measuring fat loss and checking my body measurements.
So that takes me back to my earlier point: ultimately, I want to achieve fat loss and size loss. Specifically, in 2015,I want to lose 4 dress sizes. That's what I meant by tweaking my goal a bit. I will try not to get discouraged by the number on the scale as long as I'm seeing the right changes in other areas, but it's tough. The temptation to weigh yourself to see progress is so strong, but if my dress size drops, I'll be ecstatic!
January is gone. It won't come back. I see February as a 'recharge' month. 28 days of trying something different in the hopes of yielding good results. I believe that I'll have something good to report at the end of the month and I look forward to sharing that!
A few helpful links for calorie calculators and trackers:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com
http://www.caloriecount.com/tools/calories-goal
http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=36&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=7&cpound=263&cheightmeter=180&ckg=60&cactivity=1.55&printit=0&x=44&y=11
http://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-calories-per-day/
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