RESULTS: Lost 2 pounds for a total of 4 pounds!
I have to admit, losing a couple pounds the first week definitely makes you want to keep going. Having it happen again in week 2 is even more invigorating!
I did want to tell you that the scale I'm using is not a digital scale, so I'm rounding to what appears to be the nearest pound. Also, these scales always make you wonder about their accuracy because you might step on with the needle at 0 exactly, but when you step off, the needle is at 2 or so. It makes you wonder – do you subtract 2 from the number it originally gave you? Or what? Haha!
I've decided that for this challenge, it doesn't matter. If I really do lose 1 pound a week – I mean WHEN I lose a pound a week – the scale will show a decrease in weight over time regardless of how precisely accurate it is or isn't in general. Using the same scale on the same place on the floor at the same time of day is widely regarded as being an accurate way to measure, and that's how I'll be doing it.
This week I didn't do too bad, but not as great as I wanted either. I missed a couple days of exercise in the middle of the week just from being busy with work and not prioritizing my walks. I haven't done as much strength training as I wanted, but I figure if I keep add in new things a little at a time it won't be overwhelming and I'll keep up with it. So I'm not going to beat myself up about it yet.
The biggest help so far is the MyFitnessPal app. I used it to stay under my daily calorie goal almost every day. Wednesday night, John and I enjoyed a couple glasses of moscato (one of our favorite wines) along with a huge spread of cheeses, chocolates, and other goodies leftover from Christmas (while we watched Iron Man again, fun!). John's brother and sister-in-law sent us a basket of Michigan treats – cherries, chocolate-cherry covered pretzels, chocolate-covered cherries, and more. YUM! So I was over by 786 calories that day. (It was so worth it! Haha!)
If you are looking for an easy way to track your calories, try this free app (and/or use their website if you don't have or want to use a smart phone). I think the only foods I have trouble entering is homemade food. Everything I've ever eaten at a restaurant is in the app, and everything I've ever bought at a grocery store is in the app.
When I make something at home, like a cheese pasta casserole we all like, I go to the Recipes tab and enter all the ingredients: 1 16 oz box of Barilla rotini pasta, 1 24 oz jar of Classico pasta sauce, 16oz mozzarella cheese, then tell the app how many servings that made, and it tells you the calories per serving. Awesome! And if you make it the same way every time, it will now always be saved in your Recipes.
Hope that was helpful to you! Keep at it – we can do this together! 😀
