First Quarter Scores - Week 12 Summary

Teresa Marie's New Leaf Relativity: 
It's About Making Good Choices

At the end of last week - the end of March, it's the close on the first quarter of the year. WOW - this time has gone so quickly. Time to reflect on my journey so far - this blog will focus on the number, my next blog will discuss some of my tips to others looking to turn over a new leaf and live a healthier life. In a nutshell turning over a new leaf is simple - just eat right and move more. Now the execution of that is challenging!

This week I made more progress. I am anticipating a slow week or plateau ahead, but so far I have continued downward.  I was able to get in a good amount of exercise and stuck to my food plan. This week I lost 3.5 pounds! Down is Good. This keeps my weekly average to 3 pounds lost.

The first quarter is a good time to huddle up and check my progress against my goals for life- and this year in particular. 

Here we go - given the list of goals at the start of the year, I grade myself excellent A+ on 3 out of 7, the remaining 4 progress to be made. 

Teresa Marie's New Leaf Goals

• EXCELLENT: Maintain eating/workout plan to support 1-2#/wk average.  There have been few if any issues with my maintaining my meal plan. I consistently hit my nutrition targets. My binges have been a bite here or there - the highest I think I've been on a single day is 1500 calories. My weight loss has been 3#/week so I'm tracking exceptionally against this goal.
• EXCELLENT: 10K# steps a day In the beginning of the year this was a challenge goal for me - and the days that I'm working in the office it is something I have to think about constantly. That said, I'm on target and averaging about 13K steps a day. The highest day was around 13-24K steps. I'm definitely much more active now!
• EXCELLENT: Drop 3-4 sizes by May ​29 As of today, I'm already down 2.5 sizes. My hips are 10% smaller and my waist is 8% smaller than they were measured at the first of the year. Working out has decreased my size - a pound of muscle is smaller than a pound of fat! I will probably drop 4 sizes. Then need to re-evaluate for end of year. 
• FAIR: Wear High Heeled Shoes. Knowing that I was writing this blog, today was the first day I'm wearing heels. Nice sling back pump stilettos. The extra height is so noticable.  For me this goal is not about the fashion, it's about ankle strength and balance. I haven't worn heels since I broke my ankle a few years ago. I was able to keep them on for 4 hours til I felt to weak. 
• NOT YET: Achieve 5 pull ups / 50 push ups Still working on strength. This is a good goal for the next period to start to make some progress.
• NOT YET: Train for a big event (specifics TBD)  In a few weeks I'm doing a 10K walk. There is the Biggest Loser event in the fall which is interesting. I was considering doing a long bike ride charity event also - however an avid long-distance biker friend recommended against it. So I'm still looking for something fun. Any recommendations?
• NOT YET: Master Yoga I've only been a few times so far this year. I have a DVD at home I've used. Good plan 0 but not there yet. Master is such a strong word. I should change it to "Fan" 

Here were the numbers for the week (As of Friday March 27th)

I'm feeling the changes in my body size and strength. A few people are starting to notice changes in my physical appearance. Well more specifically it's women noticing - guys are either clueless or not sure what to say :) or nearly 40 pounds this year alone just isn't enough  considering how obese I started out.   I'm also hearing people's stories of weight gain or loss, and lots of excuses for inaction (on the part of others.) 

It's never too late to make the choice to live a healthier life! Are you ready to turn over a new leaf?

Teresa Marie

P.S. Comments on my blog welcome :)