Making Strides
Since I rebooted my fitness journey in May, I've had a lot of success. I've been making small but easy to maintain strides towards a better lifestyle: logging my calories again and staying within a budget, increasing my daily exercise, drinking more water, eliminating evening snacks, being more mindful while I'm eating, and more.
I'm happy to say that as of this morning, I've lost 26 1/2 pounds! The goal is to lose 20 more by the end of 2020, and then to keep the ball rolling into the new year.
Here's a photo of me from this morning.
Me flexing an 8-pound weight in my left bicep
I apologize for it not being a full-length photo, but I thought it would be the best comparison to the following photo of me from May 29.
Me making a muscle with my left arm.
For those of you who are wondering, I am using the Noom app to track calories and activity, as well as learning a ton through their helpful advice. You might be able to have similar success just by tracking your calories and activity on a free app like LoseIt. If you do so, I'd recommend consulting the following chart from the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion to set a daily calorie goal based on your gender and age:
Appendix 2. Estimated Calorie Needs per Day, by Age, Sex, and Physical Activity Level - 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines | health.gov
health.gov
To lose a pound a week, you need to eat 500 fewer calories a day. For me, since I'm nearing 50 (in September, believe it or not) and have a fairly sedentary lifestyle, my daily goal is about 1,300 calories. I eat a little more on days when I exercise, based on how many calories I burn. Most calorie-tracking apps can help you with that part. The most important part is setting your daily goal, because some apps have a default setting that I believe assumes you're in your 20s. This is probably why I used such an app for years and just maintained my weight. Although to be honest, I also wasn't as consistent!
Benefits so far: my knees are doing much better. I have more flexibility, and my blood pressure is nearly back into the normal range!
Let's keep this run going!