At last!

Weight loss at last! I cant believe it actually happened! I have lost 0.5 kg, and only in 3 days. Now no one can convince me its water or muscle weight. I worked so so hard for this. Putting in 130 minutes of aerobics and 30 of conditioning each day.

Just as i had thought-it was my diet that was holding me back. For the past three days i upped my water intake and it actually helped me feel less hungry hence making it easier to avoid junk food. Ive been eating pretty much the same stuff but avoided margarine, juice, cookies and biscuits which were pretty much part of my daily diet.

But the one thing that has really helped is slowing myself down. My plan had been to lose atleast 1kg a week and when i maintained my 75 for 3 solid weeks you can just imagine my disappointment.

Well, after reading several success stories i noted that most of the ladies who managed to lose weight and keep it off took from 6 months to one year to do it. This way they were able to change their habits slowly. I have settled on 8 months and by my calculations, if i lose 2.5 kg per month/0.5kg a week, i will reach my goal weight of 55kgs by september 2010.

Billy Blanks Cardio Circuit 2- Another Notch In My Belt!

Do you remember the tale of my 9 aerobic Dvds? Well, i decided i wasnt gonna let them gather dust. I decided to do each one for 7 days. The first in the series was to be Billy Blanks Cardio Circuit 2.

This Dvd really kicked my ass but it just may be cuz i was really unfit. For 7days i did that and a one hour walk on most days. Though the scale did not budge by the end of the 7days, my bro mentioned that my arms were looking more toned and asked if i had been lifting weights. Actually by then i hadnt started my arm conditioning programme so i was thrilled.

Anyway, though my weight has remained the same, i have gained more confidence and feel that my physical fitness has improved. My knees dont hurt as much though the are still noisy when i climb stairs or squat.

I have managed to form a habit of waking up at 5am to do my aerobics and im proud of that. I like that time because of privacy which enables me to concentrate better on what im doing. Also anytime i dont do my exercise i just feel like something is missing. I am transforming myself from a couch potato to a fitness junkie and loving it!

Now the one thing standing between me and my ideal body is my horrible diet. I know i need to change so im working on it from today. This week i am doing Gay Gasper's aerobics for dummies, one of my old time favourites. I will combine that with a one hour walk daily and a sensible diet and let you know how it goes in 7days.

I Want To Introduce You To The Food Monster!

Yep! Thats me, hopefully soon to be the old me. I have this peculiar relationship with food. According to the little research ive done online, i happen to be an emotional eater. Now, most people use food to comfort themselves when sad or stressed but i use it for any emotion, sad, stressed,anxious, happy u name it. This means that im always eating.

I also tend to think about food a lot and crave carbs especially white/refined carbs with lots of sugar. Obviously not very good for weight loss. I dont salty snacks. Maybe i should be grateful i dont like both, otherwise i would be as big as a house by now.

Anyway, i just have to confess that i have a problem with my diet. My ability and commitment to exercise is brilliant. For example today I did my Billy Blanks Tae Bo Cardio Circuit 2 then had a one hour walk. In the evening i had a little weight lifting session to tone my arms. Its beyond me why i cant commit to a healthy, low calorie diet. I just cannot resist empty calories esp bread, biscuits, cakes and cookies. Everytime i try to go off them i feel like my life is dull, full of gloom with nothing to look forward to. Im currently trying to find ways to make my days more satisfying without food.

Another thing that has almost had me in tears today is the fact that through out the day i was able to control my calories but one little slip up just precipitated a downward spiral that just made nonsense of all my effort today. This is a very common scenario and often ends in disappointment and me giving up.

However, it is quite clear that right now i do not have the luxury of quitting. Im a 25 year old, 5'3 tall weighing 75kg or 163 pounds with a 42 inch tummy (please note that i havent even had a baby yet). Im at my highest weight and my knees hurt when i stand after sitting for sometime. I suspect that my 7kg weight gain may have a part to play in that but im going to see a doctor just to be sure im healthy.

Anyway my point is i cannot quit as it is no longer an option. I must find ways to reign in my appetite. I have to lose 20 pounds. I just gotta.

Just had to report that i didnt lose any weight last week though i really was desperate to as i was going for a friend's graduation party. None the less i had fun. I also continued with my cardio streak which is good. The only thing i have to do now is to watch my diet see how it goes this week.

The struggle continues

I have never before struggled this much to shift my weight. Every week i come up with a new strategy and every time I fail. Well, im done struggling. From now on im just gonna do it. I have successfully lost significant weight before and i know I can do it again. All i have to do is get in the groove.

My weight for the last 2 wks has been 75 kg. 3 weeks ago it had climbed to 75.5 but i was able to obliterate that 0.5 kg.

For the week that passed my goal was not to lose weight as such but to get back to cardio. I planned to have atleast one hour cardio exclusive of my salsa classes. I am glad to report that i did very well in that respect, i even surpassed my own expectations. The only drawback is that by yesterday-saturday, i was feeling quite drained. However today i have regained my energy and drive to do better next week. Oh the other draw back is that i didnt lose weight but maintenance is better that weight gain so i am not complaining.

Now this week-starting tomorrow, my main goal will be to reduce my calorie intake to 1600 as i continue with my cardio streak from last week. I am hoping to lose atleast 0.5 kg by the end of the week. Hope it works out. I also plan to cut out alot of the junk ive been taking in. Will report my progress at the end of the week.

And so begins the loss of inches.

I am addicted to the scale. There i said it! I know that the scale is not the best means of measuring weight loss progress but nothing beats the feeling of stepping on it and realizing you have lost a kg or two.

I have read and been told that one of the best way is to have an item of clothing that is currently a few sizes too small and try to fit it at the end of each week. I followed that advice and that is why i have 20 tops that dont fit. I call them "inspirational pieces". None has fit me to date. Maybe im too ambitious. Maybe i should have bought just 2 sizes smaller instead of 4. Anyway i decided to give away some of them so i can buy stuff that actually fit me. Having all those small clothes just made me depressed.

The other way of measuring progress is to use a tape measure. I noticed that every inch corresponded to 2kg loss. Its been consistently so. Now you see why i prefer the scale. Tends to move faster than the tape measure or inspirational pieces.

Anyway, now that i decided to do things differently, i am trying to put less emphasis on the scale and more on the tape measure. After all i think getting slimmer as opposed to lighter.

Ive been taking a tape measure to my tummy for the last week and have lost half an inch. Im very excited. Im tempted to weigh myself to confirm but i dont want to be disappointed. I will wait till next week 3 days after my period. Im looking forward to shedding more inches.

Water retention?

A day after writting the post below i weighed myself again & guess what? I lost 1 kg! Crazy right? I had to use 2 weighing scales to confirm. It obviously was not attributable to anything i was doing although i have been in the process of making some lifestyle changes. Research on the web has led me to believe that it may have been water weight. After all it was only 5 days to my period, now 2. Still, its very suspicious. Anyway i weighed myself again and im still 74 kg. My goal is simply to lose half a kg by the end of this month. The way to do it will be to have at least an hour of cardio daily and to cut out junk food from my diet. Will let you know how that goes.

Back to square one

When i first started this blog i was 72kgs and i was quite frustrated having gained 5 kgs. Today i weigh 75. I dont even know wat to say. I have been exercising and somewhat watching my diet for the last 2 wks but all ive managed to do is gain 2 kg. However i have lost half an inch on my tummy so i dont know how to interpret that. I am hoping its water retention although i dont remember ever suffering from that. Though it is exactly one week to my period. I sure hope its not fat gain cuz water retention i can deal with. Im just gonna make sure that im taking 8 glasses of water, exercising, eating more fibre & al try to get me some vitamin B6, potassium and magnesium. Anyway i will report back in 3 days tell you how it goes. And oh i stopped my salsa classes for atleast a month. I hope to use that time to do some weight lifting/conditioning exercises & maybe skip some rope.

A tale of 8 exercise dvds.

My journey has not been as smooth as i would have liked. In the past week i havent been able to do much exercise as i was unwell. I am not proud of my eating habits either but i am trying to add healthier options to my diet everyday.

Anyway back to my title. I have in the course of one year amassed a total of 8 exercise dvds. They are;
1. Turbo jam
2. Suzanne Cox dance aerobics total body toning
3. Denise Austin boot camp
4. Billy blanks tae bo circuit 1
5. "get ripped
6. Pump it up
7. Billy blanks abs boot camp
8. Pilates dvd
9. Yoga dvd.
Ha! I just realized they are 9. With all these dvds you would expect me to be a very fit person wouldnt you? Trouble is, the dvds dont work themselves and my ass has been too lazy to make use of them.

One day i took out the whole collection and put them in my vcr cuz i realized i didnt even know wat is in half of them. Anyway, i made a promise to go thru all of them in the order listed above. I was to dedicate 3days to each. Well im proud to announce that im on dvd no 2. Im not working out everyday like i wanted to but at least im progressing. I did day one of dvd two yesterday. Today i was too tired to wake up early so day two will probably be tomorrow. Dont worry, i didnt skimp on exercise today. I went for 80mins walk and one hour salsa class. I more than compensated for not working out with suzanne cox & co.

One step forward two steps back

Monday was a very good day for me. I managed a deficit of 500plus. I also had sufficient intake of water and 2hours of cardio including my salsa class. Now yesterday was just something else. My breakfast and lunch were perfect, even went for a 80mins walk before lunch. However things went downhill from there. I got a craving for biscuits, which i indulged plus juice. Then i had some crisps, then tea, bread and some more tea and 2 mandazi. All this made me unable to stomach any supper. Im even afraid to calculate the calories. The positive side of it was the exercise so all wasnt lost. I just have to try harder today.

A million first days

Today is my milionth first day. Ive always been saying that tomorrow i will begin my diet & exercise plan and that tomorrow never arrived till today. My problem for the last 6 years is that i manage to lose some bit of weight but always manage to gain it back. My plan this time is to develop healthy eating habits and incorporate exercise into my lifestyle and see what happens. I feel great about this. Its gonna work.