Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Day 174 - 161.2 Consistency & Motivation

Today's official weight at LA was 162.0, which is 45.2 pounds down. 17 more to goal.

I started my 7th food diary today. There are 4 weeks in each. Up until a few weeks ago, I could say there were zero blank days--that every day was a food-tracked day--but I skipped logging food over vacation and I skipped this past weekend when I had the PMS meltdown. All in all, though, that's not a bad track record for 6 lunar months.

I know that the consistency is what's made the difference this time. And the accountability of 3 weekly weigh ins/meetings at LAWL has been the motivation for the consistency.

But it's not just food, it's exercise too. Thanks to my trusty exercise log in Excel, I can see that I've been exercising since March 23rd. That's almost 5 months of working out regularly. The motivation to stay consistent is definitely running--working up to that 5K on September 16 (which I officially registered for today) wasn't just going to happen overnight. I needed weeks of consistent effort.

So now what's my motivation? I look good and feel good. I'm in smaller clothing sizes. Several people have told me to stop losing weight or I'll be to thin (as if). So I must admit, I'm feeling less vigilant about my pursuit of The Goal. I want to reach 145 pounds. I'm going to reach 145 pounds. But how quickly? It's not a huge deal right now.

The most important thing is getting the weight off so I can run faster and longer. I want to be able to run a half marathon next year, either in April in Indy or in October in Evansville (maybe both, dare I dream it!). And 17 pounds is still a lot of extra weight to carry when running 13 miles.

And I'd love to be sans muffin top (God, I hate that description but dammit, it's what it is). But truly, other than that, I'm happy with my body. I'm not happy with my saggy boobs (sorry, TMI), my saddlebags, and my stretchmarks, but these things aren't going away when another 17 pounds are gone. So I've got expensive underwear and I look good in clothes, which is cheaper and less invasive than a visit to Dr. 42420. (we have a plastic surgeon in Henderson, Kentucky who advertises himself as "Your Local Dr. 42420." Like I'd ever go under the knife for a "discount" boob job for only $2995.)

Off to the gym in an hour. Hope you are having a super day!

3 comments:

Tigerlilly said...

That is fantastic!! 6 months of food tracking...almost 5 months of working out consistently.. you are my hero! :) That is what I am working toward doing.. and I think I will steal your idea of food journals.

OH!! and congrats on signing up for the 5K... your going to do awsome!!

ws said...

45.2 lbs down! wow, that is awesome. I sometimes think of months in terms of lunar cycles (i.e. 28 days) instead of calendar months...it would be easier if there were 13 months and all were the same # of days, in my opinion.

You still have another whole month to train before the 5K - you'll be even speedier by then. And depending on your "goal" I definitely think you can manage a half-mary in the spring.

Plastic surgery kind of freaks me out - though I won't say I don't consider it frequently...

Lori G. said...

That's fantastic -- 45 pounds in 6 months -- that's so awesome. I'm so proud of you, Laura. I remember all of the things you wrote back in the amazon days. You always inspired me with your running back at your higher weights. (Not that I was going to run but I thought, hell, I could go to the gym too at least!)

And you're right that recording your food is a key to your success. I record my food but I'm not recording points and I don't know why I'm so resistent. But you! WOW. You look so happy and pretty but more importantly, you FEEL happy and pretty and that's the big victory as far as I'm concerned.

Congratulations again!