I’ve been counting calories, recording my food, and exercising for 6 weeks now. Two weeks ago I joined Curves as my “starter gym” and was weighed and measured. In a few weeks I’ll find out if I’ve lost any more inches.

Weight loss is still very slow – which I know is supposed to be a good thing – so losing inches is a big focus for me at this time. I’d really like to be 2 sizes smaller in pants and a size smaller in shirts before I go on our family vacation this summer. I’ve almost reached the “one pant size” drop and am starting to look a bit silly in my previous pants. Just wish I could say the same thing about my tops!

I joined a CC group weight loss challenge and I think I’m really going to like it. It’s a small group of people from all over the world and we’ll be spending a year getting to know one another, sharing tips and tricks and our wins and bad days, and just generally supporting one another on our journeys. I think it’s going to be a great group because it’s such a large mixture of people with a common goal – to lose between 50-100 lbs in a year through diet and exercise.

I am in love with my new running pants. I know fat women shouldn’t wear spandex but 1) I’m still in awe that I fit into them (they’re not plus sized) and 2) they’re much easier to walk in than bell-bottomed yoga pants! Besides, they give me incentive to keep exercising so that I can get into the next (smaller) size of running pants.

I’m consistently hitting my calorie goals now. No more days under the 1200 mark and 90% of my days are close to the 1500 mark (my goal is a 1400-1600 calorie range). No recent food related digestion issues but I’ve had a few bad days due to stress. Good thing I’ve taken up walking because on my “stress” days that’s what I did – instead of stuffing my face I walked. Go me!

Yesterday marked a month of the new lifestyle change. I’m sleeping better and feel a bit more focused. My clothes are looser and I needed to buy a new belt last weekend. Not much weight loss but definitely inches. Small victories. I’ll take it.

I went to Curves tonight. People seem to be really divided on whether or not they like the place but I’ve a friend who is a big fan of Curves and I’d be lying if I didn’t say her high recommendation didn’t have a lot to do with my decision to check out their services. Seeing her results and listening to A’s opinion did have an influence.

I’m going to Curves with my neighbour J. It’s good to have a partner so I don’t have excuses not to go. This week I’m only going twice and next week will likely be the same. Guess I’ll working my way up to 3 trips a week.

I’m still walking daily although I only did a 2 km stretch today. I logged 5.6 km yesterday but usually average about 4 km.

I’m planning on joining a 5/10 km walking clinic through the Running Room at the end of March. If I can keep improving my distance and pace in Feb and early March I shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping up. Looks like I’m on track to make my goal of joining a learn to run class in fall. Go me.

Now that I have a baseline series of measurements so I’ll have a better idea each month as to how I’m progressing. Stay tuned for more info 🙂

As for the school front – I’m spending the long weekend immersed in textbooks and articles. About time I’d say.

We’re having a pretty stressful time at work lately and I was really worried that after the day we’d had yesterday that I’d just go home and eat a tonne of junk food or grab something to drink that would be packed with sugar.

I had so much angst and nervous energy to burn I think I vibrated most of the way home on the train!

When I got home from work, I immediately changed into my workout clothes and hit the treadmill for a walk. I ended up spending an extra 20 minutes on the treadmill which increased my normal daily distance from 4 – 4.25 km to 5.6 km. I don’t think this distance will be a new standard but at least I now know I can walk 5 km (slowly) without killing myself!

After the walk I grabbed dinner. Normally I don’t exercise until after dinner but burning off the energy really helped me stay on track for the rest of the night. No snacking or sugary drinks consumed 😉

There’s snow and slush all over the sidewalks and it’s not easy to walk around the block at the moment. I have a treatmill and Wii Fit at home but am looking to add a few more activites to my day.

I’m supremely introverted & lack free time due to juggling work and school. Cheesy excuses I know, but let’s be honest and call a spade a spade. If I have to join a gym I’m not likely to go. Which means I won’t be getting any exercise.

So I’m looking for new ways to expand my exerise routing in the home – at least until the snow clears. I think I’ll start with the basic beginner exercises on the Beginner’s Corner section of the site but I’m not sure if I should be using investing in hand weights, resistence bands, or just use cans of food?

Warning: Post contains lots of boring diet lifestyle change ramblings. It’s either that or I start writing about how far behind I am in school again. Trust me, the diet/exercise stuff is probably more interesting.

For the first 10 days I wrote down everything I ate and when, but didn’t include calorie counts with the food listing. About 10 days ago I started adding the calorie counts as well. Boy was I unpleasantly surprised ;(

Successes: For the last week I’ve walked up all the stairs I encounter on the way to work (5 sets). Especially when I didn’t want to. I’ve also gotten into a routine where I take the round about way to/from the little girls room at work, which means I get to walk up and down yet more stairs.

A month ago I couldn’t walk more than 15 minutes before I started wanting to find a comfy chair and curl up with a book. Now, I’m walking 45-60 minutes a day on a treadmill (started at 2.0 mph, now at 2.5 mph 1% incline) everyday – whether I feel like it or not. Other than these two items, I’m still pretty sedentary for the bulk of my day; lots of time spent sitting on my kiester reading & typing due to office work and school.

I know these are small successes. I lost about 6 lbs in the first week and have lost another 6 in the last 10 days. Mostly water weight I’d guess. However, I need to celebrate my small successes in order to stay motivated to continue.

On the bright side, I need to wear a belt with some of my pants to keep them from falling down. I may not be losing a tonne of weight but I’m definitely losing some inches!

Challenges: Hitting my minimum calorie mark!

I’m shooting for 1400-1600 calories a day but have really struggled to get my calories over the 1000 mark and to (at minimum) 1200. I know it’s not healthy to eat less than 1200 calories a day so I need to find ways to make better choices when I plan my meals. I hope to hit the mark with more frequency in February.

Some days it feels like I’m doing nothing but eating and I’m still short of the minimum calories. I eat 3 small meals and at least 2 snacks a day. Sometimes I splurge and have three snacks. I haven’t been hungry in weeks. Hopefully that’s a good sign.

I was never much of an eater. I’d frequently skip meals and even go days without eating. I know, how can one get to be as overweight as I am if I didn’t eat much? Well, when I was eating, it would be the wrong things and I did drink a lot of empty calories in pop and juice every day. I’ve cut out pop and most sugary fruit drinks from my diet completely as of 3 weeks ago and am having difficulties finding ways to replace the calories. I do feel more alert and less sluggish now.

While my blood sugars are normal, I do have a family history of diabetes so I’m trying to keep both my sugars and carbs down based on a recommendation from my doctor. This makes it harder to eat “junk type” snacks like granola bars to up my calorie counts. Or even lots of fruits and fruit juices. My sugar goal is no more than 22 grams a day and the carbs goal is to stay under 160 grams each day. I’m more successful at meeting the refined sugar goal than the carb goal at the moment.

I’m allergic to peanuts which means what few tree nuts I eat I have to get in their shells and crack them myself. It’s a lot of work both avoiding peanuts and peanut related products and finding quick and easy sources of protein. I also have some problems with digesting dairy products, wheat and eggs. I really have to limit how much of these items I consume or else my body rebels. Thankfully, I can eat egg beaters (egg whites/egg substitutes) with no repercussions.

Lessons Learned in January: It’s all about taking baby steps.