It is time to get back on My Fitness Pal. I used My Fitness Pal throughout my pregnancy with William, because I didn't want to gain too much weight. It helped to hold me accountable to what I put in my mouth. I also used it regularly before getting pregnant to help lose weight that I had gained after graduating college and sitting at my job. Well it is time to get back on that band wagon of tracking what I put in my mouth to help prevent future weight gain.

I wanted to share this with you all, because I think it is important to talk about what makes you feel good for your own weight. Often we have some idea of what our ideal, personal body image looks like. Some times that is realistic an some times it is idealistic, but I think we all have a goal for ourselves. We also have a feeling at a certain weight where we feel comfortable. I had just mentioned to Chas last week that I just felt "fat." I know that I am not that big compared to others, but I just notice that it is harder to run fast, I want to do more sit ups to help with strengthening my core and I just need to work on toning up. Sure enough when I stepped on the scale I say that number that I knew would be my current weight, but I had been denying.

I had lost the baby weight from being pregnant with William. I got up to 150-155lbs when pregnant with him, which was perfect. That is right where I needed to be. Then with breast feeding and taking care of a baby I got down to 130lbs. My normal body weight is 135-140lbs. The weight where I feel the most comfortable is 135lbs. So when I stepped on the scale this week and it read 140lbs I knew I had to make some changes. I know 5lbs doesn't seem like much, but my pants are tighter when I weigh 140lbs compared with 135lbs. So for my own self-esteem and feeling comfortable in my clothes I prefer to be closer to that 135lb mark. I think we all have that weight that feel more comfortable at. It might be our goal weight, but it is a weight that we are content with. That is what I hope you take away from this discussion, figuring out where you feel most content with yourself.

I don't mean to throw out these numbers and have you judge if you think 140lbs is too skinny or too fat. That is not the point of this post. This is the share with you that we all have that goal for ourselves. Well my upper limit is 140lbs. So I have some work to do. I have been running and working on training for a half marathon. I do think that some of that weight gain has been leg muscle strength, but some has been more flab in the abdominal region. After having a baby, getting that abdominal strength back is so important and hard to do. So my goal is to track what I am choosing to put in my mouth, try to do more strength training, continue to run and hopefully start some yoga classes.

I have shared in previous posts that it is important to set specific goals so you can measure if you have accomplished them. That is what I am going to do, put together 3 goals and then try to follow up in a month and see how it went meeting those goals.

My 3 Weight Loss Goals

Do sit ups/planks before going to bed (spend 5 minutes doing a little core strengthening before crawling into bed). I want to do this during the week (Monday through Friday).
Track what food I put in my mouth using My Fitness Pal. I want to track my intakes every day for the next month. I want to see trends in how I am eating during the week and the weekend and see where I can make some changes.
Start some new strength training. I have some credit to go to a yoga class. I want to start my attending a yoga class at this new studio and try to go 2 times in the next month. I also would like to lift some weights at the gym. Goal is work out at the gym and lift weights 4 times in the next month (that could be once a week over the next 4 weeks).

There you have it ... those are my goals for the next month and hopefully I will be able to accomplish those goals. I think they are realistic and totally achievable. I will check back in the next month with a follow up to how this weight loss trek is going.