You Have to Start Somewhere

I imagine that most people who are looking to get healthy do not like the number that looks back at them while standing on the scale. I'm right there with you! It was made even worse yesterday when I gained 6 pounds simply by buying a scale that actually worked (and I was really hoping the doctor's office scales were wrong!) While I understand that weight is not the be all end all when determining how healthy we are, we do have to start somewhere and we may as well start there. As I was sharing this with some friends today, one of them asked me, "you're not going to post your weight on your blog, are you??" After only a moment I determined that YES, I am. One big part of this blog for me is personal accountability, and I can't think of anything more motivating than admitting my starting weight to the world ((gulp)) and being up front about my goals.

So here goes. I started my challenge on December 26, 2011 and on that day, I weighed 140 146 pounds, which may or may not sound bad until you pair it with my (non)height of 5'2". Unfortunately, that height and weight combination lands me firmly in the lower end of an overweight BMI- 26.1 to be exact. A healthy weight range for my height is 105-135, but knowing my propensity to gain weight rather than lose, my goal is get to the lower end of that range. But a goal without a deadline is completely pointless, so I needed to determine how long it would take. Instead of picking a deadline at random, I decided to map out the weight loss to see how long it should take. Healthy and maintainable weight loss stipulates a loss of 1-2 pounds per week, so on my planner I put a goal down each week. Some weeks I subtracted 2 pounds and 1 pound other weeks, but each time writing down my NEW weight. This helped me see my realistic goal of losing 30 pounds by May 28th... just in time for my wedding anniversary!! The added benefit of mapping out your weight loss like this is encouragement - it's very easy to get discouraged when a week goes by and you don't see much movement on the scale. But if you're comparing it to your weekly goal instead of your long term goal, you'll see that you're right on track and will be much more encouraged.

Well enough about weight, especially my weight! Hop on your (hopefully accurate) scale and get your starting weight, grab your planner, and create your own weight loss map!