I wanted a place on the fitness map to call my destination. So I weighed myself, grabbed a BMI calculator from the first place Google directed my browser, and chose a goal weight that corresponded to a BMI on the high end of healthy. Also, yes, it's also an even forty pounds lighter than I am today, which is a nice round number.
As my Wii Fit would say, "That's obese!"That still isn't a complete goal, though. In the metaphor, I know where I'm driving, but I don't know how fast. Should I burn rubber and try to make it three states over in an hour and a half, or just mosey on over whenever I feel like it? I had to set a pace for myself here. I've heard that 1.5 pounds a week is an ideal goal for sustainable weight loss, and that sounded great to me, so I ran some numbers. That was about six and a half months. I could do that!
The thing is, between now and then I'll also be moving from Canada back to the US, getting a job, dealing with Dad's medical stuff, and who knows what else. In the US, I'll be closer to friends and family who will want to eat out more often than Chris and I do up here, and who knows what access to exercise equipment I will have? Also, I have a lot of other goals for myself I'll want to accomplish between then and now, and I'm not willing to put my life on hold just to reach a number on the scale. Not wanting to see my fitness goal slip away and leave me feeling worse than when I started, I slowed it up just a touch and set my goal at eight months.
You know what? Let's put it in bold.
My weight-loss goal is to weigh 146 pounds on September 20th.
Now, how the heck am I going to do that? Well, that's the flexible bit. I'm working to improve both my diet and exercise. I eat about 90% of my meals at home, where I'm focusing on lowering my intake of processed carbs, eating gobs of lean protein, and as many fruits and vegetables as I can stand. I'm working to cook meals from scratch where possible, instead of relying on processed and pre-made foods. I'm not the most experienced cook, so I still fall back on a decent amount of pre-made foods, but I'm working on mastering the basics of healthy cooking from real ingredients.
I'm also currently playing EA Sports Active 2 on the Wii for my primary exercise. There are a couple programs available for players, and I'm doing the nine-week fitness program, which is an all-over fitness plan that incorporates intense cardio and moderate strength training. I work out four days a week with EASA. It's great, and I will post an in-depth review of the game in the next week or so to come. One of the best things about the program is how it incorporates a heart rate monitor into the workout, so you have an accurate count of calories burned while working out. On my off days, I'm playing Wii Fit Plus for the longer, less intense cardio the game offers, as well as yoga.
I'm currently logging my food and exercise over at MyFitnessPal, if you're interested in an up to the minute log, click here. I'm still struggling with a bit of sickness, so my eating is a little sodium-heavy as I drink soups. Other than that, I'm happy with how my calories have been working out, even yesterday when I had a hamburger and poutine at Harvey's, a kind of upscale fast food place here in Toronto. I also walked for over an hour and ice skated that day and kept the rest of my eating tight, which is what it's all about. It's all in the balance.
So there it is. My goal. My destination in this fitness journey. Even if you call it my resolution, I won't be offended. I have the desire. I have the knowledge. I have a plan. I'm not saying I won't tweak the plan, especially as it gets warmer and there are more activities I can do outside the house, but this is solid foundation, if you ask me.
So here we go. This is it. The journey of a lifetime (er, eight months), starting with a single step.
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