First (official) Week

Well today is weigh-in day and I was not looking forward to it for a couple of reasons:

First, I weighed myself at a couple different points during this week (probably shouldn't have, but oh well) and, according to the scale, I had gained weight. Not a lot, but any increase in the scale number is disheartening. The most disheartening was that I've been really good this week!

Second, a couple of people have brought it to my attention that the reason the number on the scale may have increased is because I've been doing a lot of strength training - weight lifting, push ups, crunches, etc - in addition to the cardio exercise, and strength training builds muscle. I'm still out on the debate between muscle and fat and the weight difference between the two - I've heard it's the same, I've heard muscle weighs more. I don't know for sure. Either way, I know the working out I've been doing is a good thing so I'm not going to stop, it's just frustrating to not see progress as a result.

Third, it's always difficult to remember that the less weight one has to lose, the slower it comes off. This is one of those universal truths that are annoying to face when trying to lose weight. However, as long as I keep up the good habits I'm forming, I know I will ultimately have success. So, I'll keep focusing on the good things and try not to get too disheartened by the little bumps in the road.

One of the people who brought the muscle/fat dilemma to my attention also suggested I keep track of my measurements in addition to the scale number. This way, I'll see progress regardless and it will be more encouraging. So, here are the stats for today:

Starting Weight: 150
Change This Week: -0.2
Total Change: -1.6 
Current Weight: 148.4

Starting Measurements:
Arms- 11 inches
Waist- 33 inches
Hips- 40 inches
Thighs- 23 inches


P.S. I have another sponsor - thanks to Nate and his wife! :)

Starvation Is Being Fought!

I have another sponsor! Thanks to AO! :)

My total funds raised so far is $7/pound which is $140 when I reach my goal, which is approximately 583 meals!! Awesome!! Let's keep it going... who wants to be my fourth sponsor?? And who wants to be my first recruit to join the team??

Random, somewhat related story...
This morning I had every intention of grabbing a handful of pennies from our change jar at home to bring to school for a craft. They were sitting on my kitchen counter and in the hustle bustle of the morning I ended up forgetting them. So when I arrived at school, I quickly sent an email to all the teachers asking if anyone would be willing to donate some pennies to the cause... not only did I receive donations, but I ended up with triple of what I needed! I know this is a silly story, but I was just thinking how if I hadn't asked I wouldn't have had any and I would've had to completely change my lesson plan for the day. I just took this as an example of how in the Bible Jesus says, "Ask and you shall receive." Now, I know we don't always get what we want when we ask Him for things, but He ALWAYS does provide what we NEED, even the seemingly "silly" things! I know He could provide food to the millions of starving children around the world without my help, my Lord doesn't NEED me, but I love that He WANTS me and is USING me to help! What a humbling lesson to learn...

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

So far this week...

Ok so it's only Monday, but I did start on Saturday so I'm already nearly 3 days in, "officially." :) So here are some updates on progress...

I worked out on Saturday and Sunday with my workout buddy - we are going through a program that is supposed to be for people just getting back into working out; however, it's written by an ex-Marine, so it's definitely more like boot camp than anything else and it's NOT easy!! BUT we're keeping up with it and, though we're sore, it's encouraging to see progress! For example, last week we did a lot of upper body stuff - push ups, a sequence of arm/shoulder exercises, etc - and then yesterday we had to do 5 sets of 10 push ups and they were easier to do than I thought they would be! Still not a piece of cake (are push-ups ever a piece of cake??) but I definitely can feel that my arms are getting stronger.

My daily calorie limit is 1370. Although I earn more by exercising, I am trying to keep those as "calories out" and not turn them into "calories in," so that I actually am burning the calories, thus losing the weight. For example, on Saturday I consumed 1361 and burned 252.  So technically, I could have eaten another 261 calories; however, by not eating those calories I will actually lose weight rather than maintaining my current weight. Make sense?

On Sunday I consumed 1422 and burned 180 by exercising. So in this case I did "eat" 52 of my exercise calories, but there was still a balance and that's still achieving the goal in my mind.

Today so far I'm doing well. I'm trying to be extra good because it's my husband's and my 2 year wedding anniversary and we are going out to eat tonight... so I will definitely be doing some hard core cardio this afternoon in preparation for that. ;)

One more note - I'm going to add a section in the margins where I'll be posting some good, healthy recipes that I find throughout this endeavor. I already have a couple to start with and they're so yummy!! Check it out!

First Sponsor!

Thanks to D&CE for signing on as my first sponsors! :) My husband is also sponsoring me - he says he doesn't count, but I say he totally counts! And Nate has already raised $73/pound! Way to go!!

I'm kicking around the idea of continuing this mission after I reach my goal weight. The thought I have is to personally donate an amount of money for every day that I keep the weight off. I don't yet know how much that will be, but I don't want to just stop this outreach once I attain my weight loss goal.

More Details

Forgot to include this in the other post... yes, I am super wordy, you'll have to get used to that. :-p This is Nate's blog entry with the specifics on helping us send meals to starving children:

(click here-->) The Redistribution of Weight: How It Works: "Have you ever been in, or supported someone who was in, a walk or race where you raise money by asking for donations by the mile (like- you ..."

Beginning the Journey

Many of you know that last year (Oct 2009-July 2010) I lost 20 pounds. Most of that I lost while my husband, Tim was deployed for six months. I took up running (because it was a way to feel "close" to Tim, an avid runner, while he was gone) and, combined with eating healthier and tracking my eating habits, I had wonderful results! My plan when I started was to lose a total of 30 pounds, but unfortunately, I pushed myself a bit too hard in my running training and after a minor injury in November 2010 I stopped running... and stopped tracking what I was eating... and needless to say I gained back 10 pounds since then. So now I need to lose a total of 20 pounds, again, to reach my final goal.

When the new year started, I heard a DJ on the K-LOVE radio station testifying to the success of a weight loss journey she took, in which she had people pledge a dollar amount per pound that she lost, and then she donated all the proceeds to a Christian charity organization. I really wanted to do this, myself, but I couldn't find an organization that really stood out to me, so I gave up on the idea.

Recently my friend, Nate, decided to take action on the same thing and he has chosen to donate proceeds to "Feed My Starving Children." This, I thought, is a brilliant idea - take what we, as Americans, have an abundance of, and literally share it with the rest of the world! Now, no one can feed the world on their own, so Nate and I and all the others joining us in this cause, ask you to please prayerfully consider supporting us in our efforts to lose weight and feed the hungry. There is a link to Nate's blog in the left column, on which he is tracking his progress and he also has a lot more details about the organization we will be supporting. There is also a link to the organization itself so you can read up on it yourself if you'd like.  Of course you can also help by joining our cause! It doesn't matter if you have 5 pounds or 105 pounds to lose, every little bit counts - and it only takes $0.24 to feed ONE meal to ONE child.

One more thing I want to share with you is this: in the grand scheme of things, I don't have a lot of weight to lose; however, food has always been a battle for me. I am not blessed with a fast metabolism and I have an annoyingly strong weakness for sweet things. I have realized that the only way I can win this battle is by making a permanent lifestyle change. Not just dieting to lose the weight, but transforming and refining my eating habits from harmful to healthy. I posted the passage from 1 Corinthians in my header because I am attempting to internalize the truth that my body is not mine - it was created for my use by my Lord and Savior and because of that, it is my responsibility to be a good steward of it and use it for His glory. Becoming healthier will be a physical, emotional, and spiritual refinement for me. I need your support in prayer more than anything else.

With all that said, here are the starting statistics: according to my information from the Weight Watchers program (which is what I followed last time) on healthy weight ranges, I should weigh between 114 and 137 pounds for my height (5'2"). My goal is 130 and I'd like to meet this goal by July, and then be able to maintain my healthy weight for as long as possible. Here is a picture of my starting weight from this morning:

Technically, my starting weight was 150. This past week I began to track what I was eating (on www.myfitnesspal.com) and worked out every day. I have a workout partner now which helps a lot, and she is also endeavoring to eat healthier. So, I've already lost 1.4lbs! :) I am tracking what I eat which keeps me accountable food-wise and I will post every day my total calories consumed and what type of exercise I did, and any other tidbits of information I'd like to share with you.

Please let me know if you'd like to sponsor me, or Nate, and definitely keep checking back to our blogs for updates! Let's feed those starving children!!