07 October, 2011

-1.6/+0.2: Success In Spite of My Best Efforts


Blogging? Check.  Tracking? Not so much.  Somehow, despite the fact that I didn't track what I ate for most of this week I was able to lose.  I think I can attribute the loss to the fact that I intended to track every day.  So while I never wrote it down, I was continually seeing in my mind what it would look like if I did.

The anticipation of this blog post is also a big motivator.  When I know that I'm going to hold myself publicly accountable on weigh-in day I'm less inclined to allow myself to slip as much during the week.

A 50% achievement rate on my two goals from last week is something I can live with when I have a 95% good weigh in.  A loss of 1.6 pounds for the week is right in line with healthy weight loss, though a loss of 1.8 pounds so that I didn't still have an overall gain would have been better.

For the coming week I have set two goals, one old and one new:
Goal 1: Track Everything
I don't believe for a second that I will achieve continued success by "tracking in my head".  This goal goes back on the list every week until it happens, and after any week that it doesn't.

Goal 2: Drink More Water
For a little background on why this is a goal:

In addition to attempting to achieve my tracking goal from last week, I'm adding a goal to drink a minimum of 32oz of water per day.  I'm aware that this is well below the recommendation, but I have to start somewhere right?  The water bottle I have at work is 32oz, so I expect that convincing me to fill and drink it once a day won't be too terribly difficult.  

This goal is important to me for three reasons.  The number one reason is that water is a requirement for a healthy body.  The second is that it aids in weight loss.  And the final reason is that water is essential for successful workouts and workout recoveries.

Two small goals in one week is plenty.  Small, achievable changes are key for a father who works 40+ hours per week and has a home to keep up with.

One last thing.  You may have noticed that I'm now tracking two numbers in the title.  The first number is the result for the week; the second is the result since the inception of this blog.  This\ is extremely helpful because the first number tells me the direction and distance I have traveled this week and the second number tells me the direction and distance of my journey so far.  It's incredibly motivating for me to see a loss like 1.6 pounds, but it’s also a kick in the backside to see that overall I'm still up by 0.2.

That's all for now.  I'm looking forward to another week of continued success!

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