NYR: 2009 Update, and 2010 Goals
Jan. 18th, 2010 10:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupIt's been fifty-four weeks today since I decided to lose weight last year. In that time, I lost more than seventy pounds (a full third of my bodyweight) and learned a lot about healthy eating, exercise, and their effects on my mood, energy levels, and motivation. I haven't been this happy in a decade.
There are other RL factors involved, of course. And while Weight Watchers Online provided me the framework that led to my success, I'm not necessarily going to endorse it over any other healthy method of weight loss; it was just the one I used as my measuring tool. It helped me pick low-calorie healthy foods (and I'm not talking gimmicky stuff, I mean actual tasty fruits, veggies, meats, etc.) and keep a handle on my fitness, but it pointed the way-- it didn't force me to do anything. Consistency-- repeating the new habits long enough for them to stick-- and support from friends and family were what made it really work for me.
I'm 5'9", and started January 2009 at a weight of 224.4 lbs (102 kg). I wore a size 18 dress, a size 38DD bra, double-Q pantyhose, and hadn't been able to wear any of my rings for years. Today, I weigh 151 lbs (68.5 kg); I wear a size 4 dress, a size 32C bra, size B pantyhose, and my rings all fit again; and I had to take two links out of my watch!
Interestingly, I'm starting to get the opposite criticism from family: when I told my mom what size I wear now, she accused me of risking anorexia. Um, no; I knew no-one in my family was ever really athletic, which was always part of my problem, but my mom's learning curve on the subject of what exercise can do for you is apparently even steeper than mine. Compared to what I was eating in the middle of the actual weight-loss phase, I eat like a horse now-- 38 points per day on the WW plan, in the ballpark of 2,000 calories per day, or about 200 more than the DRV for my gender and age-- and I just don't gain weight. My weight has stuck between 149 and 153 pounds since the end of September, solidly in the middle of the recommended zone for my height (135-169 pounds).
The problem, from Mom's perspective, is that last time I weighed ~150 pounds was in high school, and I was a size 10! So to her, size 4 means "terminally skinny". I have to admit, I was kind of shocked by the down-size too, but it's made shopping for clothes a lot of fun. It's all the exercise, I'm sure; I've been doing two to three hours of high-impact elliptical every week, with about another hour of stretching all added together.
Keeping up the exercise schedule is going to be the real challenge for me, going forward. I mean, for more than a decade the most exercise I was getting was "get up and walk from the couch to the computer desk", or "walk around the grocery store". All that exercise eats up a lot of time! So, to that end, I've decided my 2010 NYR goal is going to be fitness-- and making sure my weight stays where it is, no swings either direction.
A measuring tool I've seen recommended along those lines is the President's Challenge; it looks do-able, I think. Also, running a 5K at some point during the year-- I'm not quite up to that distance yet on the elliptical, but I should be by my birthday in March. Anyone have any other recommendations?
~
There are other RL factors involved, of course. And while Weight Watchers Online provided me the framework that led to my success, I'm not necessarily going to endorse it over any other healthy method of weight loss; it was just the one I used as my measuring tool. It helped me pick low-calorie healthy foods (and I'm not talking gimmicky stuff, I mean actual tasty fruits, veggies, meats, etc.) and keep a handle on my fitness, but it pointed the way-- it didn't force me to do anything. Consistency-- repeating the new habits long enough for them to stick-- and support from friends and family were what made it really work for me.
I'm 5'9", and started January 2009 at a weight of 224.4 lbs (102 kg). I wore a size 18 dress, a size 38DD bra, double-Q pantyhose, and hadn't been able to wear any of my rings for years. Today, I weigh 151 lbs (68.5 kg); I wear a size 4 dress, a size 32C bra, size B pantyhose, and my rings all fit again; and I had to take two links out of my watch!
Interestingly, I'm starting to get the opposite criticism from family: when I told my mom what size I wear now, she accused me of risking anorexia. Um, no; I knew no-one in my family was ever really athletic, which was always part of my problem, but my mom's learning curve on the subject of what exercise can do for you is apparently even steeper than mine. Compared to what I was eating in the middle of the actual weight-loss phase, I eat like a horse now-- 38 points per day on the WW plan, in the ballpark of 2,000 calories per day, or about 200 more than the DRV for my gender and age-- and I just don't gain weight. My weight has stuck between 149 and 153 pounds since the end of September, solidly in the middle of the recommended zone for my height (135-169 pounds).
The problem, from Mom's perspective, is that last time I weighed ~150 pounds was in high school, and I was a size 10! So to her, size 4 means "terminally skinny". I have to admit, I was kind of shocked by the down-size too, but it's made shopping for clothes a lot of fun. It's all the exercise, I'm sure; I've been doing two to three hours of high-impact elliptical every week, with about another hour of stretching all added together.
Keeping up the exercise schedule is going to be the real challenge for me, going forward. I mean, for more than a decade the most exercise I was getting was "get up and walk from the couch to the computer desk", or "walk around the grocery store". All that exercise eats up a lot of time! So, to that end, I've decided my 2010 NYR goal is going to be fitness-- and making sure my weight stays where it is, no swings either direction.
A measuring tool I've seen recommended along those lines is the President's Challenge; it looks do-able, I think. Also, running a 5K at some point during the year-- I'm not quite up to that distance yet on the elliptical, but I should be by my birthday in March. Anyone have any other recommendations?
~
