The Naked Truth

After a week of pondering, worrying, stewing, and such I think I'm ready to get going.  Here are my measurements at the beginning of this adventure.
Age - 53 years
Height - 5'7"
Weight - 178 lbs.
Neck - 15"
Bust - 41"
Waist - 35"
Abdomen - 44"
Hips - 43 1/2"
Thigh - 24 3/4"
Calf - 15 1/2"
Ankle - 9"
Upper arm - 13 1/4"
Wrist - 6 3/4"

Now you know the awfulness of my situation.  I look fairly proportionate overall.  Gravity, stress and overeating have taken their toll on my once beautiful body.  I can accept aging in the form of gray hair and wrinkles, just not a saggy, baggy, low energy body.

Today I went to the gym (a small affair at our local hospital consisting mainly of cardio machines such as treadmills and bikes, with some free weights to round things out) and used a treadmill to walk 30 minutes, 1.43 miles, burning 164 calories.  That's almost one third of the calories I need to reduce daily to reach a goal of losing a pound a week.  I actually want to do more than that but let's be realistic and start small.  Actually I hope to end small, but you know what I mean.

I live in a two story house and go up and down the stairs many times each day.  I don't count the times, maybe I should, anyway I know I burn off some calories that way.  For now that is the extent of my exercising.  When the weather turns to spring I will walk outdoors for longer and add bike riding for variety.  We have twenty miles of bike trail here and it is smooth and fairly level.  Currently the sidewalks are covered with ice and snow, not conducive to safe walking.

The other half of the equation of losing weight is cutting down intake.  Many tout the benefits of six small meals each day.  I have tried that and end up eating way too much.  Three nutritious meals and two well planned snacks are better for me.  This week's goal is to have a snack plan; I already have a meal plan. My husband is not interested in losing weight at this time so I'm still planning meals to satisfy him and our teenage sons.  I attempt to eat smaller portions and fill up on veggies, either cooked or raw or both.

One more component in losing weight is drinking adequate water.  I got in the habit of drinking ten (8-9 oz.) glasses of water each day when I was pregnant.  At first it was difficult because I wasn't used to it.  I told myself that I had to drink lots of fresh water to keep the swimming pool full.  After a while it was a habit and I could tell a difference when I didn't get enough.  I like my water "room" temperature.  We have lived in San Diego; Mount Vernon, Washington; Dale City and Stafford, Virginia; Provo and Midvale, Utah; and now Audubon, Iowa.  Only in Mount Vernon and here have I been able to drink the water from the tap.  Everywhere else I had to have "bottled" water because of the taste.  In San Diego I had water delivered in five gallon bottles; In Virginia I bought six gallon bottles at Sam's Club, exhanging the empties for full each month.  In Utah I bought five gallon bottles and filled them at the grocery store for 39 cents a gallon.  I tasted the water here and found it to be tolerable and decided to save money and not buy water.  The children didn't like it so Steve installed a filter on the tap and they drink filtered water from the tap. 

I keep track of how much I drink with a Post-it note on the wall and a pencil on the window sill near the kitchen sink making a tally mark each time I drink a glass of water.  I don't sip water, I fill the glass and drink it down.  I find that refreshing, fast and easy.  And I'm not lugging water around with me as I go about my day.  When I do go out for errands or such, I fill a store bought water bottle and take it with me.

Yes, drinking that much water makes me pee a lot!  But everything I've read about losing weight says to drink lots of water for a variety of reasons: facilitate movement of fat to cells for burning, carrying waste to blood to get rid of it, relieve headaches and joint aches, help control appetite (maybe you're just thirsty, not hungry), and such. I put up with the frequent bathroom visits as an acceptable side effect of reaching my goal.

My first GOAL is to see 170 on the scale for over a week.  I will report on my weight when I reach that goal.  I don't know about anyone else, but my weight can fluctuate three to five pounds over night depending on what I did or didn't eat and drink.  Hence I won't be reporting a day by day weight--too depressing for me.  When I reach a goal or once a month whichever comes first is when I'll report on weight.