Starting Stats

I guess I should start with some initial measurements and whatnot.

Height: 5'5"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Waist measurement (at smallest point): 34 inches
Hip measurement (at largest point): 43 inches
Thigh measurement (at largest point): 25 inches

Is that all? Hell, I don't know. But it's what I've got.

Now for some goals.

Goal weight: 140 lbs (or -20% of my current body weight)
Goal waist measurement: 30 inches
Goal hip measurement: 40 inches
Goal height: 5'10"

I'm not too hopeful about the goal height. ; )

But for the rest...I think those are reasonable goals. I know the goal weight is, I just don't know what to expect on the waist and hip front. Oh well. I suppose we'll see.

Medical issues? You betcha. I have asthma, high cholesterol, a herniated disc, broken bones in my knee from 16 years ago that never set right, shin splints, anemia, and a hypoactive thyroid.

So I guess I need a plan next, that goes along with both my goals and my medical issues.

I want to start out by giving my diet a little makeover. Not too much...I am already really good about staying away from fried foods, potato chips and the like, and I'm a vegetarian. So, I'll add more vegetables, and decrease the bad carbs...I think that taking my lunch with me to work every day will help with that, since work is where most of the bad food comes in. I don't want to give up my morning coffee or my evening beer...I'll switch to light beer, and drink less coffee, but cutting them out completely leaves me a miserable, wretched shell of a human being. I need to be sure to keep good snacky foods around me, like almonds or SunChips or all natural granola. I also need to be WAY better about drinking water...I have this great 3 liter bottle, and if I could get to a point where I drank one of those a day...that would be excellent.

Now for exercise. This is my main problem. I get up, get ready, and go sit at a desk all day. And, when I come home, I sit some more. Bad, bad, bad. My favorite things to do for exercise are walking and swimming, because those are both lower impact cardio exercises that I can do for a long time and that require nothing more than a change of clothes and/or an iPod. Walking is easy, as long as I can make myself do it...I just have to come home, feed the dog, change, and then go out on a walk around my neighborhood. Or, when school starts, I can do it in the gym either before work or after school. Swimming is a little more complicated, only because it requires either finding a free lane in the pool or driving to my mother's house. Either way, I need to do ONE of these activites EVERY SINGLE DAY. I can do both for 45 minutes to an hour, and that should do something at least.

My problem with perfectionism is that, if I can't do my whole walk, or swim for a decent amount of time, I will chalk it up as "not worth it" and I won't go. What I need to remember, and what I have to remind myself in here, is that I'm not doing ANYTHING right now. Something would be better than nothing.

Taking my vitamins and my thyroid medication is absolutely necessary for my success in this. Not taking them makes me tired, sluggish, and forgetful. So, no more forgetting those.

Finally, I can't weigh myself every single day. I do that now, and it just leads to me feeling either miserable or like I can cheat. Once a week is good...Fridays, maybe.

Ok, I guess that's it to start. My plan is to write here every day, about how I've done that day, obstacles, successes, etc. I guess, if I have to pick a goal date for something, I'll say that I'd like to have significantly made progress by the end of the year, and I'd like to have reached at least my goal weight by the time the Spring semester ends. Those goals seem really far off to me, but I would imagine they're appropriate. It is 35 pounds, after all.

: )