Getting back to normal

And today's weight was 186, so obviously a lot of that nonsense is behind me. But seriously, let's make magic happen today. I'm going for 20,000 steps and some strength training at the gym tonight. I'm going to give a quick run a shot, just to see how far I have to go with that. 

That is all. 

Ooof!

I have to remember to write here all the time, not just when things are going well. This weekend I ate pretty much everything. I'm not going to recap everything (beer, cake, chips), but there was just a lot of food in my path, and I did very little to get out of its way.

Today I got on the scale and was 189. Basically a 6-pound gain just over the weekend. A lot of that can be attributed to post-party bloat, sodium, whatever. But seriously, that's kind of gross. (Actually, what's super gross is that I weighed 197 last night. Really? I gained 14 pounds in a day and a half. Whaaaaat?)

All right, so we're back in track, and moving on with our life. And today's eating and working out (Zumba, followed by trampolining) was spot-on. My Fitness Pal tells me that:

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 168.6 lbs in 5 weeks

Nice!

It works if you work it

So, the month of January was full of ups and downs. I had a bit of stress worrying about some tests and let that distract me. I didn't fully feel the pressure of the contests I've entered. (Dude, there's real money on the line. My money.) But over the past week, I've gotten serious, and even learned that moderation can be a part of "getting serious." There was a good-bye lunch for some coworkers where I made a great choice for lunch (442 calories!), but I also couldn't resist the cheese biscuits (I despise wasting food!) and added 330 calories to my otherwise healthy meal. And there was chocolate cake!

But for the rest of the week, I really pulled it out. Logging all my food (not just when it looked pretty on paper!), and generally being serious about stuff. I had two days this week where I walked more than 20,000 steps (yesterday was 25,000), and I've been going to Zumba 2-3 times a week. And so despite a month of the scale going up, then down, then up, then down, then up again, today, I present you with:

Weight: 183.4
Fat: 36.7%
Water: 46.3%
Muscle: 30.4%

So, not just weight loss, but definite fat loss over last time, and even some muscle gain! Woot!

So, it's February 1. I like February. It's a nice, solid month with exactly four weeks in it. Perfect for getting really serious about one's goals. My friend (Hi, C!! Oooh, I should start calling her Hi-C) is on board for this, too. We're talking about losing 10 pounds in February.

I intend to accomplish this through diligent food logging, weight training and starting to run again. I bought a heart-rate monitor, so I can start to determine whether my working out is actually in the most productive (fat-burning) zone. I got a new pair of running shoes this week, and I'm so excited to get started, that I even woke up early (for me) this morning! So....good luck to everyone else with your goals this month!