Week 3

Today marks the first day of Week 3. Only 49 more weeks to go. I checked in at the BEEP (bariatric exercise and education program) on Friday and have officially started my 12 monthly check ins. I plan to check in around the 10th of every month to stay consistent with the insurance requirements for the diet documentation. Bob the Trainer was pretty impressed with my level of documentation. (I'm tracking daily weigh-ins, calorie intake with the percentage breakdown, exercise type, length and calories burned for each day.) So in the past couple weeks of the new diet plan, I've discovered that it's pretty difficult to hit that 40-40-20 balance food goal. I've hit it a few days, but normally I struggle at the end of the day and realize that I've eaten too many carbs. Granted all the carbs I'm eating are from fruits and veggies, so they can't be all that bad... but I know that a carb-is-a-carb-is-a-carb. My calorie intake has been pretty good - ranging between 1000 to 1400 calories per day. Bob the Trainer wants me closer to the 1400 range, but my goal is to stay closer to 1200 which gives me a cushion to go a bit higher some days. Plus I feel like I'm eating SO much food because much of it is low-cal veggies. When you take out the high-cal pasta and bread from your diet, it's amazing how much more you can eat and still remain in the same calorie range each day. I've started taking a multi-vitamin. And I think between that and the increased protein intake, it has really affected how I'm feeling lately. I seem to be less fatigued. And my mind doesn't always go to food, food, food - so the cravings have really decreased a lot. I think both have a lot to do with eliminating the carbs from breads, potatoes and pasta. I definitely feel like I have more energy. My goal is to exercise at least 3 times per week for now. I'll increase that to 4 days in the next couple months and increase again when I'm comfortable with that regimine. I want to slowly build the workouts into my daily routine and let it become a habit that I enjoy rather than a chore that I loath. Last year I started out at 6-days a week from the very beginning and I think I was over doing it and getting discouraged because it felt like too much of a time committment. I ended up with an arm injury which turned out to be the result of not stretching properly before my workouts and I ended up with a pinched/damaged nerve in my neck/shoulder which radiated down into my arm. So I'm being careful to stretch properly this time around. So now to the question of how much I've lost? UGH! I'm fluctuating back and forth with 3 pounds. From my starting point I went up 3 pounds at the end of last week. But now I'm back down to the starting point again. The good news though is that my body fat percentage has dropped a bit even if my weight has not. Talk to you soon! ~Pam