Getting Fit - The Last 5-10 Pounds

I've been working to get fit for 6+ months now, having started with exercise last fall and adding a healthy diet as a New Year's resolution. To date, I've lost between 15-20 pounds, so I know it's working. But it's working as slow as slow gets. And in everything I've read, they say the last 5-10 pounds are the hardest.

Some people say it's self-sabotage. Or that because you are close to your goal you ease up and become less disciplined. Others simply say the weight loss becomes so slow that you give up.

I'm determined to make it and to keep it off, and wanted to share some of what's worked for me so far and ask for your advice for continued success.

Here's what's worked for me so far.

• Setting the clock weekdays for 1 hour earlier and using the time for a morning workout. I mix up the workouts too, some mornings doing yoga and ab exercises, other mornings cardio or workouts with weights.
• Establishing my daily caloric output. There are a lot of online tools to do this, but my favorite is www.caloriecount.com. This site lets you plug in your body type and activity level, and calculates approximately how many calories you expend in a day. Then it gives you the opportunity to add specific activities, like yoga, bicycling, or cleaning for example. I'm sedentary, having a job where I sit most of the day, but I add in my daily workout and any additional physical activities (like when I spend 4 hours doing intense cleaning).
• Once I know how many calories are being burned in a day, all I have to do is keep my caloric intake less than that number. And calorie count helps you track that as well (along with your nutrient intake).

Sounds simple enough. But it is hard. Hard to get up early in the morning when everyone else is sleeping. Hard to limit my caloric intake when I really would LOVE to have one of those girl scout cookies (actually I would prefer the delicious, best I've ever had in my life, coconut cupcakes that my neighbor baked and brought over recently).

So I guess the main thing is to keep plugging away at it, even after a day of blowing the caloric deficit or omitting the daily workout. The main thing is to get it right on a routine basis, and not sweat the mess ups.

New Years Resolutions for 2011

Anyone reading - please feel free to hold me to these. I appreciate your checking in with me from time to time to see how I'm doing and to keep me honest. I'll do the same for you if you like, just let me know in the comments.

2011 New Years Resolutions and Goals

1. Get fit - enough so that I can wear a 2-piece bathing suit this summer (if I decide I want to).
2. Eat healthier - less meat and more fruits and veggies - the closer to being how it is offered from the Earth, the better.
3. Read the bible, cover to cover. Something I've always wanted to do and have started a few times, but never finished.

Realistic? I think so. Anyway I'm keeping it simple to better my odds of success. Too many years' goals get lost and abandoned, and I want these to stick. Good luck to everyone in the new year!

Five Things I Hope to Accomplish This Summer

Fun related:

• A Trip to Disney World – This is something I've talked about summer after summer. Our last visit was just after 9/11, the park was empty – no lines, no wait. But the kids were too young to remember. It's way past time for another Disney vacation.

Writing related:

• Work on my Novel – Get at least half-way through the rewrite of my novel, Hope and Faith. The Humble Fiction Café writers' group classes for our Six Month Novel Project (6MoNo) will be completed. No more excuses!

• Write one short story and post to my blog. This is part of my New Year's Resolutions.

House related:

• Wash the windows on the front and sides of the house. I recently did the back windows and they look so much better!

• Organize and clean out my office. Perhaps a better name for my office would be multi-purpose room, as it serves as my day job office, writing space, and sewing area (lol – as though I sew). It also contains the household record-keeping area, bill-paying site, reference books, and the piano. It has a tendency to collect material, and needs a thorough organization/cleaning.

What's on your agenda for the summer?