My Plan

My plan to shed around 85 pounds over the next year is pretty simple: create a caloric deficit of around 7000 calories each week. To do this I will eat better and exercise more.... A LOT MORE!

I started by eliminating the empty calories in my diet. This meant giving up my daily iced or frozen coffee as well as the 16 ounces of soda that I consumed on a regular basis. Those two changes alone save me at least 700 calories a day. SEVEN HUNDRED CALORIES! (That is 73 pounds a year!) I no longer drink any calories. Since I'm only consuming 1400 to 1500 calories a day I want to spend them on food! Ice water is my new BFF. Not only does it taste better, but I can burn up to 70 calories a day just to warm it up! (That's like an extra 6 minutes on the elliptical!)

I decided the best way for me to lose weight was to do it slowly, steadily, and naturally. I knew that in order for me to lose weight and keep it off I needed to make permanent lifestyle changes. I use an app called LoseIt to track every single calorie I consume. This not only helps me track my calories, but I can track my exercise for the day as well. I can see very quickly if I have had too many carbs or if I've consumed too much fat for the day and make decisions for the rest of my meals based on that information.

The biggest (and most difficult) change has been increasing my physical activity. I decided my goal would be to exercise at least 40 minutes every day. I decided to break up my time into two different workouts. I have been waking up early to get in anywhere from 20-30 minutes on my elliptical trainer. I never thought I could enjoy early morning workouts, but they make me feel GREAT! I usually get in another 30-45 minute workout in the late afternoon or evening. Breaking up my workouts has allowed me to work out much longer each day than my 40 minute goal which has allowed me to lose nearly 8 pounds in two weeks.

My goal is to lose about 2 pounds a week for the next 43 weeks or until I lose around 85 pounds. While I am ahead of my goal, I don't think I can continue to lose four pounds a week. (It isn't healthy!) I want my changes I make to be healthy and responsible. Like I said earlier, these are changes that I will have to live with for the rest of my life so I need to make sure I can live with them!