1st weigh in...

Wednesday night was my first weigh in and I released 4.2 lbs! My pal Nancy compared it to about 3 cups shy of a 5 lb bag of sugar. I like that! My pants are feeling a little looser so I am feeling really good and want to keep going. My biggest obstacle right now is fueling up correctly. I want to eat good food (calories) not food that will just keep me going. It's like premium gas as opposed to regular unleaded. Or going to Am/Pm vs. Chevron. You pay more at Chevron but that fuel treats your vehicle much better and it runs cleaner. Am/Pm fuel is cheaper but doesn't run so clean. In the long run it's not going to keep your vehicle running as "healthy" or as long. That's the same thing with food. I can eat a low amount of calories, but how much sugar and sodium am I consuming along with that to clog up the pipes? Healthy food is going to keep me running longer throughout my day in between "fill ups".

Ruby

First of all, I have to thank my buddy Jill for the suggestion of putting our treadmill in our living room. She said, you could watch tv while you move, just keep moving....great idea!! So, this afternoon I decided to get on the treadmill and watch a one hour tv show. I found the show Ruby on the Style Network. It's a show about this woman, Ruby, who wants to release about 300 pounds. This episode was a recap of her first 100 pounds released. She is such an inspiration not only because of her dedication to her plan, but her incredible energy! She has such an amazing outlook on life and herself. I will continue to look to her for more inspiration! So....I walked for one hour at 3mph and burned 490 calories!

RMR

I just found out last night about RMR, Resting Metobolic Rate. It's the amount of calories at my height and weight that I burn just by being me. Mine is about 2800 calories a day! I was so happy to figure this out because I've always been confused about how many calories to eat when your watching your intake compared to how many calories to burn. Ok, I'm still not completely understanding of it but I do have a better idea. I know that if I eat 1200 calories per day and burn off 500 extra from exercising that's 2100 calories burned in one day! I also found out that 3500 calories burned is equal to 1 pound of fat lost! I am so glad to find this out. It gives me something I can truly control :) The information about the RMR I found out is at Webmd.com/diet.

Day 2 Eating + Exercise

I'm back from working out and I would have to say it was a success! I walked on the treadmill for 40 mins at 3mph giving me 2 miles burning 239 calories! See http://www.everydayhealth.com/Calories-Burned-Walking.htm Then I went to the pool and swam 8 (25yd) laps freestyle and 4 (25yd) laps breast stroke and that took me 11 mins 160 calories burned! See http://www.everydayhealth.com/Calories-Burned-Swimming. I feel it was a great start. I wanted to lay out what I am eating so I can look back and see why I was successful or where I could do better because of a set back. So far I have had oatmeal for breakfast (110 cal) Lite and Fit yogurt (80 cal) coffee w/creamer (120 cal) and a protein bar after my workout (210 cal) This gives me a total of 520 calories eaten so far today, and 399 calories burned! Woo hoo! It can only get better from here!

Day 2

I just got off work, well 1 hour ago, and I still haven't left for the gym. It's easy to get comfortable when I get home. I think I'm going to take my gym stuff with me to work and just go straight from there. Then I don't have ANY excuses. I think my worst habit is talking myself out of working out. I need to get over that if I want to be successful. So I'm off! We'll see how it goes....

Day 1

A road trip is a journey we take with a destination, a goal at the end. Let's say we are moving from California to New York. Well, we have to plan first and execute next. Of course when we reach our destination, how do we survive, what is our strategy for sticking with it? Starting today I am executing my own road trip. Debbie's Weight Release Road Trip. Weight "Release" because when we lose something we usually want to find it ;).... Just like a regular road trip, a health plan involving eating and exercise require the same types of actions. We get started off smooth but are assured that throughout the trip there will be some stops, maybe some detours or even road blocks, not to mention the distraction of others in the car. How do we handle ourselves? How do we keep it positive even when the going gets tough? This will be my journey and I hope you will join me so we can all make it successfully to our own destination.
I started a Weight Loss Challenge today with the Kroc Center. It's a 12 week challenge, like Biggest Loser. We meet once a week on Wednesday and have an official weigh in. After that, for the rest of the week, it is up to me to manage my eating and exercise. The female and male with the highest percentage of weight loss wins $300 toward membership to the Kroc Center. I really feel like I can win. So, for the next 12 weeks I will be talking about the challenge and what I'm feeling throughout and how my road trip is going. My destination,....80lbs in 8 months....My starting weight.....240lbs! Here...we...go!!!