Weight Loss Week One

Week one is down and I'm feeling super motivated!

Calorie counting has been a great help. I can't count the number of times where the simple activity of finding out how much that extra food would cost me then entering it into the ap on my phone has made me turn down seconds, or skip a section of the meal I know is particularly calorie laden. Just yesterday I was eating a chicken cesar salad and was surprised at how many calories are in one. The meal was also served with garlic bread which I love but as I sat and stared at it (guessing at how many calories it might contain) I realized I wasn't hungry to the point that I needed it. In fact, I saved some of the salad and the garlic bread for my girlfriend to have for lunch the next day!

Counting calories hasn't been my only hobby though, I've also started adding some cardio to my weekly routine. Cardio has been the bane of my existence for as long as I can remember. It was something everyone had to do and since I was overweight, I had to do even more. For a while I managed to assuage my guilt over skipping cardio by doing weight lifting instead. Where cardio was boring, weight lifting was fun. Where cardio was long, weight lifting was quick. Where cardio seemed to do nothing short term, weight lifting gave noticeable results almost weekly. Now as I look back at my previous experience with cardio I realize that most of my issues stemmed from a lack of motivation and giving up too early.

I want to be healthy and make a change. I'm surrounding myself with positive people and activities while also putting an end to all the half truths or trades I've been doing with myself.

Speaking of activities, the company I work at is having a biggest loser competition! While I don't know much about the t.v. show this friendly competition is different. Anyone who was interested reported for weigh ins where their weight was kept 100% private. Then the keeper of the weights divided all the participants up into six teams. Each team has three months to lose weight and at the end one team will be picked as the victors! Being placed in a team is surprisingly motivational. I hadn't realized how much it would help to have people to talk to about the same issues I'm having. We've been swapping tips, issuing challenges, joking around, but most of all, motivating each other! You're not just exercising for you, you're working for the whole team. You won't just hurt yourself by eating that chocolate bar, you're affect the team. While that second one may seem a bit negative, sometimes that little extra thought has been enough to stop me from doing something I really shouldn't have.

All in all, this week has been an amazing one and I look forward to my team's first official weigh in next week!

What I've learned
Overestimate your food's calories and underestimate the ones you've burned. Nobody's perfect so we will all forget to enter food sometimes. It could be as small as big as an entire meal, or as small as the dipping sauce. Overestimating your calories can counteract those mistakes and even if you don't miss anything you'll be pleasantly surprised in the end.

Being part of a team rocks! From motivation to tips an advice, having a group of supportive people is enormously helpful. I know I've gushed about it already but I can't recommend it enough for anyone out there trying to lose weight

#weightlossjourney