Weight Loss

One of the many hats I wear at Deer River HealthCare Center is that of a therapist educating individuals who are going to have the lap-band weight loss surgery about the importance of exercise. I have done this for more than a year now, but typically went home and made the same excuses that my patients made to not exercise. So, I figured I better start practicing what I preach. Since having kids I have put on some weight. Not a lot, but enough to have me classified as over weight on the BMI scale. Being that for every 1 lb that you are overweight 4 extra lbs of stress is put on your joints, with my diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, it is important to protect my joints as much as possible. High cholesterol runs in my family, and mine has typically been high as well, making it even more important for me to maintain a healthy weight. Plus it is a great example for the kids, not that weight is a concern for them :)

So why am I telling everyone this??? One of the things I tell my lap band patients is to tell others about your exercise and weight loss goals. This way you are accountable to someone other than yourself. It is much harder to make excuses to others than to yourself. So, I am making myself accountable (in a very public way).  Although I have attempted to eat healthier before, I have never really officially attempted a diet. However, I don't necessarily consider this a diet but lifelong habits I would like to establish. Kyle and I each got a calorie counter app for our phones. That is as complicated as we are taking it...monitoring calorie intake and calories burned.

My goals:

• Exercise 5 days a week (a combination of aerobic, flexibility, and strengthening)
• Eat within my daily calorie allowance for a weight loss rate of 1 lb per week (livestrong.com has a great place to figure out what your daily calorie intake should be and to monitor your progress)

My hoped for results:

• More energy
• Health
• Less joint pain
• About 25-30 lbs of weight loss putting me in a healthy weight category
• I would SERIOUSLY love an added benefit of dropping a bra size or two (my apologies to any males who are reading this and now feel I have given too much information)

I have been at it for 5 days (hey small steps are important as well). Here are my results:
Weight on Jan 1: 143.5  Weight today (Jan 6th): 140.5  Net: DOWN (YIPPEE) 3 lbs
BMI on Jan 1: 26.15      BMI today (Jan 6th): 25.69  Net: DOWN (YIPPEE) .41

Previous weight loss over last 3-4 months just trying to watch portion sizes: DOWN 5 lbs (I was 148 lbs)
My chest and neck measurements are down 1 inch in the last 5 days
Waist measurement is down .5 inches

Tried the elliptical machine at the Y yesterday. Was absolutely DYING after the first 3 minutes, but managed to push on to 5 minutes. Thought I was not going to be able to walk after wards because my legs were absolute jello. The 20 minutes I then spent on the exercise bike was a breeze following the elliptical. I hope to gradually increase my tolerance to the elliptical because they are seriously cool, but also because the old guy next to me totally put me to shame!!! 

So this is my method of being held accountable (thank you for putting up with it now and on future posts and cheering me on). Hopefully I can keep this pattern going and make it a habit for long term healthy weight management.