Ok, I'm starting this because of Tim's suggestion for accountability. I will post at least once weekly with status updates, discouraging/encouraging moments, etc. Hopefully, I will have some followers so that I will actually have someone to be accountable too :) So here goes nothing and we'll see how it goes! :)
So for me, my Harajuku moment was more of a cumulative process. At a routine doctor's visit the first part of January, I was told I had high cholesterol and my weight was a whopping 198 pounds! I have struggled with my weight my entire life (I weighed 220 pounds when I graduated from high school) but I have been below 198 for about 4-5 years. This caused me to critically evaluate other areas of my life. I usually have a, let's just say healthy, sex drive and attributed its decline as of late to stress associated with graduating from medical school, transitioning to "normal" life, board exams, etc. Next, I realized that I no longer felt good naked. I'm one of those people who just enjoy laying on MY couch, watching MY tv, and being totally uninhibited. Finally, the culmination came when I got out of the shower, looked in the mirror, and noticed the excessive "hail damage" covering my ass and upper thighs! Something HAD to be done!!!
I started monitoring my caloric intake and some light exercise. Then I was browsing around on my Kindle one night and happened upon 4HB. It just MAKES SENSE! I haven't been doing it long but my totals as of now are:
Starting weight: 192 lbs
Week 1: 183 lbs (-9 lbs) This loss was accomplished strictly reducing and monitoring caloric intake. After weigh in, I started the SCD!
Took my first measurements to track inches
Week 2: 180 lbs (-3 lbs; -6.25 inches)
NO MORE HAIL DAMAGE!!!
Week 3: 175 lbs (-5 lbs; -3 inches)
I've been a little discouraged this week. I think because I was weighing daily and it was showing NO weight loss. I increased my protein from 20g to 30 g for one day and felt so full and bloated ALL day :( SO, I decreased my protein back to 20g and feel great! I weighed/measured yesterday and, as you can see, I'm still getting results!
As far as exercise, I've been doing about 10-15 minutes on my elliptical followed by about 45 minutes of kettlebells 5-6 days a week. Yesterday, I nixed the elliptical and extended my kettlebell workout. I'm going to try this for a week and see what kind of results I get. My "problem area" has always been my upper abs and am truly seeing fabulous results! Also, I couldn't believe I was able to get rid of all that "hail damage" in just 5 days with kettlebells! It was truly amazing.
THE GOAL: I would LOVE to lose down to 150 lbs but realize this is really ambitious. I want to be 160 lbs. My MAJOR goal is to wear a two piece bathing suit on my celebratory cruise on May 14. I'm scared that even if I lose and tone enough to wear one, I'll still have the "fat kid" mentality and not feel comfortable but we will see :)
PS: The picture on my blog profile is from my wedding about 10 months ago. I used this picture because I'm currently at the same weight as my wedding day :) I will try to post some more picture as my weight loss (HOPEFULLY) progresses :)
