Gotta Start Somewhere!

Hello Readers,

This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. As I was taking my before photos (in a bikini!) I had to take a moment to let out a little sigh, I really have let myself go! This is a process, and a journey, and everyone has to start somewhere, so rather than being ashamed of myself I post these photos with pride! I'm proud that I have made  a decision to get healthy and lead a better lifestyle.

I will be counting calories every day using the Loseit! app for iphone. It can be found easily on the app store. Loseit! uses your current weight and your goal (mine is to lose 2lbs per week) to calculate automatically how many calories you have for the day. Every time you eat or drink something, you log it in the app using their HUGE database of foods. Popular restaurants are included as well so you can really keep tabs on what you're eating with ease and little effort. There is even a barcode scanner to scan grocery store items that may not be in the inventory, and you can customize the app by creating your own foods if there are recipes you make often. It's a great app!

I will be tracking my weekly walks with the runkeeper app for iphone. This app tracks how far you've walked and uses GPS to determine how many calories are burned based on your speed. I will log all my exercise into the Loseit! app also, because you are allotted more calories to eat based on the exercise you do. I want to make sure I am losing weight the healthy way at a rate of 2lbs per week on average, so that I don't put it all back on the minute I'm done losing it! I really want to make a lifestyle change, not just a quick weight loss fix.

On to the good stuff. I will also be monitoring my measurements every week using an excel spreadsheet I created to track my BMI, weight, body fat % and inches lost. It was really easy to create and I would be happy to send the file to anyone who wants to use it.


Measurements will be taken every Sunday, and photos taken on the last Sunday of every month (to really show the progress) so that I can really keep tabs on how well I'm doing with all this. So, without further adeiu, here is my "before" statistics, keep in mind, we all have to start somewhere!

Body Measurement Chart
Measurements	This week	Last week	2 weeks ago	28-Sep-14
Waist (narrowest)				34
Waist (at navel)				40
Hip (widest)				44.5
Thigh (widest)				26.5
Neck (narrowest)				13.5
Bicepts (widest)				13
Forearm (widest)				10.5
Wrist (narrowest)				6.5
Total Inches	0	0	0	188.5
Body Fat %				38.89
BMI				29.1
Weight (lbs)				186
Total Inches Lost	188.5	188.5	188.5	0
Goal Weight	150	150	150	150
lbs lost this week	186	186	186	0
lbs left to goal	0	0	0	36
Goal Body Fat %	26	26	26	26
% left to Goal	12.89	12.89	12.89	12.89

As you can see, I have a long way to go, my current body fat % is 38.89, that's a far cry from the 26% I would like it to be. Similarly, I have 36 lbs to lose to reach my goal weight. Here are my before photos:

As you can see, I have a long way to go. I was mistaken for pregnant the other day, and now I can see why, my stomach (after birthing 3 babies and a lot of unhealthy choices) sticks out similarly to a pregnant woman's belly. I can't wait to shed some extra pounds and proudly show off my bikini bod at the beach next summer!

Here goes nothing!


J xo