Day 8 of the Challenge

Good Morning and Happy Thursday!

Well it was a week yesterday since I began the challenge and I am feeling more like my old self every day. I weighted in at home yesterday at 152 that means I lost 5 pounds on the first week of the challenge. I can't complain with that. I have decided to take another approach to tracking my food and figuring out what I choose to eat for the day. I was at Barnes and Noble and found a great food and exercise journal. I fell in love with it and thought it was exactly what I needed. I have been enjoying figuring out what I am going to eat and get my numbers just right. I have been listing to Jillian Michaels podcast on my ipod when I work out and have gotten tons of wonderful information. This is what I have decided to do with the diet: I am eating 1200 calories a day, 40g fat, 120g protein, 90g carb and 20g fiber. I enter each food I eat with the count of macro nutrients for each food. Total them up for the day and make sure that I am staying in my totals. It is some work but I enjoy sitting down in the evening and making a plan for the next day. I have to admit I have been a little scared about adding more carb grams into my diet. Before I think I was eating less than 50g. But so far so good and I have been kind of watching to see how my body reacts. I have also been keeping tract of the amount of calories I burn. I have a polar heart monitor I wear when I am at the gym to see what I burn. I have been trying to get a 500 calorie deficit each day. This would be combined from calorie reduction and exercise calories burned. I am sure it sounds like a lot of work for some but so far it is working for me and I am able to get a little more variety into my diet. I am hoping by doing this I will be less likely to binge.
So I have set a realistic goal of losing a pounds a week. If I lose more great if not I can be happy with a pound and now that I am right on track. So if I can do that I can lose 11 more pounds before the challenge is over. I know it will start getting more tough as I get closer to my weight loss goal. But I am excited about that the challenge and this new journey to fitness and health.