Another 2...

I know, I know it has been over a week since I have updated my blog. I am still around and I am still working out. It has been a rough and stressful week. I was so inundated with homework last week that I just didn't have time to post. Good news is though, when I weighed in on Sunday I had lost another two pounds. Sometimes I wish it was like 12 or 13, but I will take the two. I subscribe to an email called Losing It With Jullien M. and she had a great post she sent out this week titled, "Be Proud of Any Success!" She made a good point in her "blog" she said,

"There's no such thing as mindless weight loss. You can't sleep off the pounds or take a miracle pill that burns fat. Losing weight is about making the right choices, every single day, in a variety of different situations. But even if you see the pounds coming off slowly, that doesn't mean you should throw in the towel. As one teammate explains, this journey may be slow going sometimes, but every milestone counts! "Many of us are losing between one and two pounds, and we all sound the same... just one pound but its okay since I'm heading in the right direction, wish it were more, only 2, etc. What I want to say is that the one and two pound losses are AWESOME!!! They are not something to just 'accept' or 'wish that it were better... Slow and steady wins this race people! And we need to be HAPPY with those 1 and 2 pound losses... no not just happy, but HAPPY!!

I think when we see those HUGE losses on The Biggest Loser, we think that we should be pulling bigger numbers ourselves, but NONE of us are able to work out, sleep, eat, work out, eat, sleep, and work out some more. We are living in the real world with families, jobs, and activities. It is not an excuse! But getting one really good workout in per day, eating healthy, and working at obtaining a doable calorie deficit that you can be happy with and make a new healthy habit, is something to be proud of... remember, a 1,000 calorie deficit each day for one week equals 2 pounds and the end of the week. So those 1 and 2 pounders have to be celebrated. I am guilty of it myself... 'just 1 lb, but I at least it is in the right direction'... instead it should be 'YIPPY!! I lost ANOTHER pound this week!!'

A half pound, 1 lb, 2 lbs are success, and so anyone who achieves these smaller losses in a weeks time are successful too! I just want us to celebrate being a success — no matter how small the loss may be.

So CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who lost pounds this week... keep up the good work and pat yourself on the back — yes, even if it were a pound, do it! Pat yourself on the back and tell yourself that YOU are a success!!" –fit4deb"

When it comes down to it, it really does take an active effort to reach a goal of losing weight. One pound equals 3500 calories. Some people eat more than that a day. If I ate like that everyday I would be so out of shape and 10 pounds heavier. For me to lose 2 pounds that means that I have cut my intake and burned 7000 calories. That is a lot of calories. So when I lose 2 pounds I need to remember that fact and be happy. My new goal is to lose 2-3 pounds a week until our baby is born in August, so if I can keep this up I will be able to reach my goal and then some.
One of my other goals this week is to cut down on my soda intake. I try hard to limit it everyday, but I ultimately want to cut it down to one or two a week instead of two a day. I just have a very hard time drinking water. It has to be very cold because if it is warm it always tastes funny, but when it is cold I have real sensitive teeth and it hurts my teeth, so I have to use a straw. Not my favorite thing to do, but I need to make the sacrifice and use the straw.
Here at work they are starting a weight loss challenge and I am going to enter it. It is only $15 dollars and the winner takes the pot. I don't know if I am going to win, but I can sure as heck try and give it my best. Something more to give me some motivation and spur me to keep working. There are supposed to be 10-15 people entering it, so 15x15=$225 which would be awesome to pad my wallet with.