Guess What I'm Doing This Year :-)

Tuomo writes: Soooo it's 2009, big whoop-dee-doo, right? Wrong! It's time for the (drumroll) New Year's Resolution for weight loss 2009 (groan!).

Right before the holidays I happened to come across a picture taken in June, weeks after I had gotten off Weight Watchers for all kinds of reasons, and man was I crestfallen when I realised how "thin" I looked. To be honest, not thin as in to have been able to fit in my 34" jeans but definitely less Jabba the Hutt-like what I feel like when I see myself in the mirror these days... Clothes have been getting tight in course of the past month, and I have to admit that I feel a bit out of breath when I walk up and down stairs. Not to mention the fact that I've been just out of energy to do anything other than shove more unhealty food in my mouth.

This year I haven't waited for the new year to roll in but started in small steps. For example, rather than completely purge the fridge of food that is bad for your health, I've done this gradually. This year this process has been motivated largely by the fact that I had stayed up late about a month ago to bake a fruit cake following a Finnish-style ("Pirkka") recipe. The cake was supposed to be part of the dessert assortment, but unfortunately the guests were so stuffed after the main course that none was eaten. As a result, I've been nibbling at it ever since until last Thursday when I gave the remaining 1/3 to my brother. If someone has to deal with the calories stored in, they might as well be unleashed by him :-)

In other words, I've been easing myself gradually in making decisions advocated by Weight Watchers, including registering my initial weight ( Jan. 5 216.5 lbs, or 97.9 kg). I allowed myself to indulge in the remaining slices of the fruit cake with my afternoon coffee, but I balanced that out (sorta) by working out twice to my brand new Tae Bo DVDs and Wii Fitness. I also checked out the Gold's Gym that recently opened in Langley on Friday, so now that the fruit cake's almost gone, it's time for some heavy duty gym workouts to allow the thin version of me to emerge.

But before we go into strategies and such, let's crunch some numbers:
"Maximum Take-Off" weight: 216.2 lbs
10 percent loss: 21.6 lbs
Weight at 10% weight loss: 194.6

So how is Tuomo going to achieve that goal? Well, here's an article I read a short time ago on Sympatico on how achieve weight related goals:

Many would say the key to success is to recognize that our New Year's
fitness resolution is simply a GOAL, and that in order to succeed, we should
apply the same principles as many organizations do when planning their next
business year. The first step is setting the goal. A common analogy used
in organizations is that a goal should be SMART if it is to be achieved:

S for Specific – Choose a specific outcome to achieve as a result of
your plan to be fit. For example, I want to lower my cholesterol or lose weight
versus I want to be healthier or look better.

Tuomo’s Specific Goal: I want to lose weight.

M for Measurable – I want my cholesterol to be under 5.0 or I want to lose 10 pounds are quantifiable goals.

Tuomo’s Measurable Goal: I want to lose at least 10% of my body weight, which is 21.6 lbs.

A for Achievable - If the smallest you've ever been as an adult is a size
10, it might not be achievable to aim to be a size 0. Perhaps if I'm currently a
size 18, was a size 10 when I was 18-years-old, then now I would like to be a
size 14. That seems achievable.

Tuomo’s Achievable Goal: I want to weigh max. 196 lbs, potentially 180-185 lbs. I want to be able to fit in 34" jeans. I have plenty of those in my wardrobe :-)

R for Realistic – Maybe running a marathon is not a realistic goal given
your commitments, even though it might be achievable if you had unrestricted
time to train. Be realistic about what it is you want to do – if it's not
something you enjoy, you're less likely to stick with it. Remember, physical
activity can be any activity that elevates your heart rate and uses your
muscles. If you enjoy hiking in the outdoors, plan brisk walks or snow shoeing.
Go dancing if that's what you like to do.

Tuomo’s Realistic Goal: I think 185 is realistic and doable. I want to reach this goal weight by means of monitoring what I eat by following principles of Weight Watchers and other similar sources of "wisdom" like Biggest Loser, etc.

T for Time Bound – Set a deadline, or set multiple deadlines for various stages of progress towards your goal. For example, I want to lose 10 pounds by May 24, 2008, so I need to lose about 2 pounds per month.

Tuomo’s Time Bound Goal: I want to have lost 10% of my weight by the end of March, i.e. I want to weigh about 195 lbs (88 kgs) by March 31. Weigh-ins take place on Monday mornings so as to avoid the previous pitfalls due to weigh-ins on Saturday mornings, i.e. eating everything in sight over the weekend...

In addition, I have set the follow mileposts (2 lbs/week) to help me stay on track:

Jan 12: 214 lbs (96.7 kg)
Jan 19: 212 lbs (95.8 kg)
Jan 26: 210 lbs (94.9 kg)
Feb 2: 208 lbs (94.0 kg)
Feb 9: 206 lbs (93.1 kg)
Feb 16: 204 lbs (92.2 kg)
Feb 28: 202 lbs (91.3 kg)
Mar 2: 200 lbs (90.4 kg)
Mar 9: 198 lbs (89.5 kg)
Mar 16: 196 lbs (88.6 kg)
Mar 25: 194 lbs (87.7 kg)

Which would then allow one more week to catch up in case of plateaus, lapses, etc.

So there! Now please keep me accountable and egg me on - I'll keep you posted as we go :-)