Planet Plan It

I’ve got a plan and I know how to use it!  I’ve thought about what helped me drop 55 pounds (which I have kept off) and I’ve found a way to bring those tools back into my life to help me lose more. 

Calories IN – Meal Planning:  I’ve been really good about planning dinners, but unlike during my 50-Pound Drop, my breakfasts, lunches, and snacks have been catch-as-catch-can.  Planning lunch and snacks will be of particular importance since that’s where I usually find myself hungry, baffled, and on a carb hunt.  I’ve set a daily calorie goal, and I’ll map each day’s way there.  From a very helpful web site (http://www.personal-nutrition-guide.com/) I’ve found just the food diary to help me.

Calories OUT – Exercise: Fortunately I really do love working out.  Biking, swimming, cardio equipment, hiking, step aerobics: you name it, I’ll try it.  As a matter of fact, this week I’m going to try my first Aqua Kickboxing class and my first Zumba class!  I need to stick with it, but push myself harder in my workouts.  Also, I need to figure out how to get good cardio workouts after surgery.

Measure – Not just food, but ME!:  One bit of weight loss I never followed on my own was measuring my body with a tape measure.  I guess I thought that monthly change changes in inches wouldn’t be as noticeable as changes in pounds.  Yet when I look at the past six months, I lost just over 7 pounds but more than 20 inches.  I need all the motivation I can get, so bring back the tape measure!

Pictures:  Pictures of me are always a huge weight loss motivator for me.  Whenever I get complacent, I just look at a recent photo, and Oy Veh!, I’m off and running again.  Think about it.  I’d just finished a triathlon, feeling strong and accomplished, when I saw this:

Ack!  Is that what I look like on a bike?!?  All descriptors kept to myself, let’s just go with the fact that this motivates me to up my cardio and keep unpacking my saddle bags.

Goal – Before I learned that surgery was in the works, I’d set a Dec. 31 goal of partying like it’s 1999.  That is to say I was aiming for 199.9 pounds.  Now I’m at a loss of what sort of goal to set.  A number goal is actually something I cannot control.  My goal will need to be food or exercise related.  Any ideas out there?

Accountability:  In addition to blogging at least 3 times each week, at the end of each month, I’ll dedicate a blog to pictures and measures.

So there’s my plan.  What’s yours?

~Karin