Week 1

Today is Friday and the end of the first week of serious dieting.  B and I drove to Auburn on Wednesday and back on Thursday and I faced the challenge of sticking to a diet while on the road.  We at out at O'Charley's (salad) and I skipped the free hotel breakfast and ate my bar.  I went to the gym the afternoon I got back.  I originally thought I might go to the gym after working my 12-13 hour shift but have found that very difficult.  So mostly I am going to the gym on my off day.  I also increased my morning walk with the dog.  I am finding my apple watch and it's activity tracking app to be very useful.  MyFitnessPal has calculated for me a 1500 calorie day but I am shooting for 1200.  Also, another tip I've found useful is to not eat my exercise calories.

The first week of any diet plan I have ever started (and believe me, I have started many) is always the hardest.  The withdrawal of sugar is the main reason.  I would say that I had been eating 2500-3500 calories a day to maintain my current weight and exercising very little.  A basic google search teaches us that you need only cut out 3500 calories per week to lose 1 pound a week.  My goal was 2.5 pounds a week so I figure I've cut out at least 1000 calories a day and am trying to exercise an average of 250 calories per day to get my 2.5 lbs.

Now this may surprise other dieters out there but I did not get on a scale when I started.  This is for the same reason I hadn't stepped on a scale in over a year: fear.  I am afraid of how much over 200lbs I have reached and I couldn't face that truth. This is tricky because I am relying entirely on how I feel and how my clothes fit for a measure of progress. But it is also keeps at bay that discouragement you feel when you plateau.  I had a goal - to fit into my jeans by time for the cruise and I was going to diet as hard as I could for the next 6 weeks.

Now for the progress.  This morning my work clothes which had been feeling a bit tight have started to lessen up.  Yeah!