Weightloss Woe-be-gone!

Are you tired of hearing about my fitness goals yet? I sure am tired of making them, breaking them, and making them again. Maybe this time they’ll stick. John and I have both been disheartened by the lack of weight loss (read: weight gain) progress we’ve made in our lives lately. We typically do really well on diet and nutrition during the week and then completely blow it on the weekends. We only eat out a few times a month but when we do, apparently, we go whole hog. Also, on the weekends we tend to enjoy the occasional (read: frequent) glass of wine or beer and with alcohol comes snacking. Not good. With the cruise just under 8 weeks away (!), we figure it’s time to step up our game. Yes, cruises can be gluttonous by definition so we might as well be in shape before boarding the ship, right?

For more than 2 years, I have tracked my workouts. I try to work out 20 times in a month. I have a chart on the fridge and I just write down what I did. It’s easy to slack on working out regularly when you don’t have a constant reminder of what you’ve actually done and when. This has worked pretty well for me in keeping to task and I’ve foisted it upon John too. Each box has a section for my workout and one for his too. I’m such a taskmaster. I will always maintain that having a workout buddy is crucial to fitness success. Even though John and I don’t often exercise together, we do keep each other accountable.

While I do keep up with my workouts, I feel we both could be doing more. We’re now going to basically a 24 workouts a month schedule and using Friday as a rest day. We are both making a concerted effort to add strength and intervals and for me to run more often. Wish me luck on that endeavor!

Because I’ve had lots of success writing down workouts, I need to extend that to my diet. In the past, my efforts at food journaling have lasted approx. 1 ½ days. I quickly tire of counting calories and gauging portion sizes. As I mentioned, weekdays are not the issue. By the time I get to Saturday when I should be writing down “Big fatty burger and deliciously salty French fries” my chart has long been pushed to the side. This time, I vow it will be different. John has discovered the Lose It app on our iphones. I’ve used fitness apps before and found them cumbersome (see above: 1 ½ days of food journaling). Lose It, however, has a much friendlier interface. I put in a goal of losing 1 lb. a week but really if I don’t lose it that quickly, that’s okay. I’m trying not to focus as much on the scale as changing my weekend eating habits. It will be difficult but again, I hope this reaffirmed interest will help me lose it weight-wise and not lose it by eating badly on the weekends. Get it?