kimmers for life

Trimming the fat: week 2

I can't believe it's already time for my second weigh-in post! This week was definitely more successful for me, which is great because it's left me feeling really motivated.

New weights:

Kim: 162.5! 162.5! 162.5! (-1.5)

Nick: 208.5 (+1)

(He weighed himself twice to be sure.)

(I did the same thing last week.)

Overall I am down half a pound and Nick is down one. At least we are both overall in the minus column.

This week I used the treadmill several a few times ok fine once. But! I also went for several walks around the neighborhood with Nick, and I tried hard to focus on eating healthier. I ate a lot less meat than I normally do, and I made a conscious effort to include vegetables with every meal. I bought stuff for salads and actually used it before it went bad, which is a huge improvement for me. (Generally my fridge is where lettuce goes to die.) (Even though I really, really like salads! It's just so much freaking effort to use everything before it goes bad, and carefully wrap up what's left after you make the first salad, ugh.) I snacked on baby carrots, pretzels and red grapes far more often than I snacked on junk.

And I lost a pound and a half!

You mean this shit actually works?!

This next week I plan to start using my big exercise ball to do some crunches and maybe some planks. I'm also starting the Couch to 5K today, and I plan to do that four to five times per week on my treadmill. Nick is actually interested in giving it a try too, so maybe we can keep each other motivated. We are both completely incapable of running for more than about a two minute stretch, so I'm really eager to see if this program works for us! (We're also both completely horrible at sticking to programs or plans of any kind... see also: Livestrong calorie counting, which we have started, successfully lost weight while doing, and quit at least four times.)

I'm in a great place right now. It's amazing how motivated I feel after losing just a pound and a half!

What do all of you do to stay motivated? 

Trimming the Fat

Nick and I have recently come to the realization that our wedding is 12 months away... and our engagement photo shoot is 4 months away... and we would each like to lose about 10 well maybe more like 20 oh ok fine 30 pounds before either of those events actually rolls around.

Yes that's right, I said each.

And 30.

And 4 months.

Yes, we're panicked. Oh hell yeah we are! Too bad this realization couldn't have sunk in a few months ago. As things stand now we're each left with the grim task of losing nearly two pounds a week between now and our engagement photo session.

I think our current lifestyle of work-ear-watch-tv-from-couch-while-snacking-sleep might need to change a bit if we're going to meet our goals.

So, I'm going to do something a little bit terrifying, in the name of accountability and shaming me into actually making this happen and being a skinny bride, dammit!

I'm going to post my weight on my blog. My horrible, awful, shameful start weight, and my weight every week thereafter, to track my progress.

And I'm going to post NIck's too, because that's what happens when you date a blogger, your personal shit gets posted online.

Disclaimer the first: clearly, I know this is not a "huge" number in the grand scheme of things, and I'm certainly not calling anyone at or above this weight a fattie. But FOR ME, this is a horrifying number because it represents a solid 20 pounds gained in less than a year. It represents too little exercise and too much couch snacking and not fitting into ANY of my much loved designer jeans anymore. It represents  hating trying on clothes and hating dressing up and just feeling fat and frumpy and unattractive (and TIRED!) 24/7.

So with that said...

STARTING STATS:

Kim

height: 5'9"

weight: 163

Nick

height: 6'0"

weight: 209.5

Disclaimer the second: I am really not at all sure that my goal weight (which is simply to be AROUND 135) is actually attainable. I weighed about 130, 135 all through high school. Since then my "normal" weight was always between 138 and 145, usually closer to 145, and that was easily maintained without dieting or exercising or turning down ice cream. I am really not at all sure what the hell made me suddenly gain a staggering 20 pounds. Age? Stress? Lifestyle changes? Some combination of the above?

All I know is that right now? I am miserable when I look in the mirror. Nothing is remotely toned. I have stomach pudge for the first time in my life. I cannot bear to think of my thighs. I get winded taking a 20 minute walk around town. I'm tired and lethargic more often than not. My True Religions are gathering dust. One way or another, something's gotta give! And if I start losing weight, and I get down to a weight that isn't 135, and I'm happy with it? That's totally fine. That's great! I just want to be happy in my own skin again.

Look, I just would really like to wear a bikini on my honeymoon and not feel like a total hippo.

And maybe if I think about having to post this every Friday, and having all of you see my progress or lack thereof, I will actually be motivated to make this happen.

Earlier this week, Nick and I decided to implement a weight loss competition program. We're starting off small, and will likely modify as we go. So far the rules are thus:

1. Be conscious of everything we eat. Try to reduce the amount of snacking we do, and also try to choose better snacks. Extremely limited quantities of dessert (God help us).
2. Walk every single day, for at least 30 minutes a day.
3. Take our bikes out two days a week, in addition to the walks.
4. Weigh in every Monday to check our progress. Try to resist weighing in the rest of the week. Try to forget that I posted my weight on my blog, you guys! Jesus.
5. Post an update here every Tuesday with updated weights and a quick summary of how we both did during the week.

That's it so far! So now I want to know from all of you: do YOU have any current fitness goals? How are you working toward them? And what can I eat a gigantic bowl of without consuming half a day's worth of calories in one sitting?!