The first 20 pounds

So this is what has being going on since my lost of this first 20 pounds. It all started when I attempted the couch-to-5-k program. If you've never heard of it, it basically teaches you to go from being a couch potato to running 5k in 9 weeks time. As hard as it was I did make it to week 3 and right at the end of that week is when my knee started hurting. Bob and I also joined a gym at that time and I think between the 2, my legs weren't used to all that working out and just gave out on me for a little while. I was out of commission from the gym and jogging for about 2 weeks. I even took 5 days off from work to give my leg some time to heal. It still hurts a little but I am back in the gym and will try C25K again once I lose some more weight.

I have also changed my eating habits a little. I am very picky and don't like a lot of healthy foods and that is how I got to where I am. But I have cut out the sodas, chips and other junk foods. I am counting calories and that is a big eye opener. When you know you can only have so many calories, and you see that the burger from a fast food joint is almost all the calories you can eat in a day, you realize that you don't want that burger anymore. Right now I am eating a lot of tuna, chicken and ground turkey. I don't eat much bread anymore (which is hard for me because I LOVE my breads) If I do have bread it is whole wheat. I try to make myself eat more veggies and fruits. (I still need to work on that) One main thing that I do is a drink a TON of water. That is usually the only thing I drink all day. When I am at work I flavor my water with crystal light. But at home it is plain water. Yesterday morning with breakfast I had a little bit of OJ and that was a treat for me. I do let myself cheat every once in a while because you need to, but even when I cheat I don't go overboard. I still stay within my calories for the day when I do.

At my job, they started a Biggest Loser competition and that is another thing that helped me get started and stay on track with my weight loss. I would love to win but I don't think that will happen. It is hard to compete against guys who seem to lose it much easier the us women do. But it still is fun to see how much weight I can lose. Unfortunately I started my weight loss before the competition started so 8 pounds that I have lost doesn't count towards the competition. Oh well I am doing this for my health and not for the competition. I'd like to win but that is not what is important in the long run.

This first 20 pounds was pretty easy to lose and I think I did it pretty fast, but I have seemed to hit a plateau with my weight loss. This is where it is going to be hard and where I can't give up. Just because it's not coming off as fast, doesn't mean I need to stop and be discouraged. As long as I AM losing and not gaining, that is all that matters!!!