Goal Report 2 of 2 for January - April Challenge

I'm going to make you read a while before disclosing my success or failure. In case you missed the first report, please click here to bring yourself up to speed.

So I had to lose 7.8 lbs. in two weeks to make the 15 lb. weight loss goal. Last week I lost 3.4 lbs. leaving me with 4.4 lbs. to lose this past/current week

I went all out, pulled every ace out of my sleeve and, in my opinion, kicked ass. I scarcely ate yesterday and when I did the choices were deliberate and strategically chosen. I went to yoga again and it was awesome again. Afterwards, my friend Kelly and I stopped in at a coffee shop where I drank a double shot of espresso straight. The logic behind this was that I would burn calories all through the night and give my metabolism one last shock to the system.

This is where I hope to amuse you with my neurosis.

So, naturally, I couldn't sleep. Not just because of the caffeine, but also due to the anxiety of weighing in this morning. I tossed and turned all night and finally at 3:00 am, it hit me. If you weigh in now, you can put an end to all this madness and get some rest.

So I got up, stripped down, and weighed myself. I was shocked! Still an entire 1.6 pounds off from making my goal! I stepped off the scale thinking what an awful time it was for the scale to break and stepped back on. The result was the same.

So I threw my clothes back on and went and laid back down. Then another thought hit me. You can go running! You still have three hours to try to make this goal! Yeah, well, that thought left as soon as it came and I instead chugged an entire nalgene bottle full of water and proceeded to toss and turn until 6:10 when I got up, peed, stripped down and got back on the scale. The result was 2 ounces less than it was three hours earlier.

So alas, I fell short of my fifteen pound goal by exactly 1.4 lbs.

I'm mildly disappointed but also happy to move on to the next challenge. I lost 13.6 pounds in 2 and a half months. I started in the 180's and am now in the 160's.

I also learned a whole lot about my body since January and limits and moderation. I also learned that the last two weeks were pretty miserable and how I never ever want to be a prisoner to food like some people I know. I learned I really need to become even more active since I love food so much. Sacrificing food because you're too lazy to exercise is unacceptable. You'll inevitably fail, or worse, condemn yourself to a life of misery and guilt. My habits have changed, my outlooks have changed and mentally, something just sort of "happened". I honest to God don't think I could go back and do some of the things I may have done six months ago ever again. This challenge helped me to re-wire the part of brain that deals with food, diet and exercise. So for that, it was a success. *Actually, I'd like to add here that it wasn't just this challenge. I think this challenge was the final icing on the cake after three cumulative much healthier years - each one a little better than the previous one. I've changed these past three years. For the better.

So here's some stats for the past fifteen weeks:

Starting weight January 4, 2008: 183.4 (includes Christmas heft)
Ending weight April 11, 2008: 169.8
Average weight: 176.35
Average weekly weight loss: .91

So here's some privileged information for you from 2007:

Starting weight 2007: 175.8
Highest weight 2007: 178
Lowest weight 2007: 169.2
Average weight 2007: 173.3

Note that I am currently a mere 6 ounces away on April 11 from my lowest weight of the entire 2007 year.

I understand that the stats for the average weekly weight loss for the past fifteen weeks are skewed and useless. It includes ups, downs, and three pound losses. However, I'm going to use it anyway. The next challenge is a mini: 6 weeks. We start with today's weight and the final date is May 23 - the day before my 26th birthday. I learned these past fifteen weeks my body likes moderation and consistency so my goal is six pounds in six weeks: realistic and attainable.

In case you're wondering why I just spilled all this obsessive, personal information, I did it for me not for you. If you care, cool. If not, cool. This blog helped me to walk through how I really feel about all this and give myself a fair and honest evaluation.

And as promised, here is the line graph for the past fifteen weeks.

Jessica = red line
Mike = black line


I don't know how to make it not too small or not too blurry, but you get the point.

And just for shits and giggles, here's last year's graph. Where there are line breaks, we skipped weighing in that week.

Mike kicked my ass! LOL.

So you won't here from me about all this again until May 23.

Now back to less purposeful blogging......