Tuesday, October 7, 2008

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves."

~ William Shakespeare

Now that I have my running goals squared away I feel it is necessary to re-think my weight loss goals. In case you aren't a regular follower of this blog, I started this blog last November two days after I started Weight Watchers. I was simultaneously inspired to do so by Mihow's blog post about losing weight. I also had a writing bug that I needed to attend too so I figured, why not use a blog to journal about my experience? I figured the blog would help enforce a self imposed discipline to write and if I shared my weight loss story, maybe I would inspire others who may in turn help fan my flames of self motivation.
It's not quite 11 months later and I have lost a total of 10.6 pounds of which I am very grateful. I do believe that by this time had I not started some type of program I would probably have gained weight by now instead of losing it. In the last few years that has been the trend as my metabolism is definitely slowing down. So I feel good about what I am doing. Besides, what would be the alternative?
I feel that the big difference about my striving to lose weight this go round is my attitude. I do not plan on quitting until I reach my goal and I become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. I knew that trying to lose weight for all of the common reasons would not be easy for me. I felt the key to my success would be to keep my program in the forefront of my mind. This has probably been the most difficult part. There are so many other things that are so much more interesting to think about! I have noticed over the past 11 months that it helps me if I continually find ways to keep myself motivated. It seems like now is the perfect time to set some new goals.

Recently I came upon The Blog Action day for Poverty. The idea is that on October 15, 2008 bloggers could each take some sort of action to help fight poverty. It is suggested on the site that if you have a personal blog, you may document a personal activity that is helping the disadvantaged.
It just so happens that Weight Watchers is presently promoting a Lose For Good campaign. For every pound of weight lost by a WW member between September 7th & October 18th Weight Watchers will donate the equivalent of a pound of food up to one million dollars.
I have lost only .4 pounds since it started, so I was thinking I could set a goal in order to get in on both the Blog Action Day for Poverty as well as the Weight Watchers campaign. Including today I have 12 days left, which is almost 2 weeks to lose for the Weight Watchers campaign. WW says if you carefully follow their program you should lose between 1-2 pounds a week. So I am thinking I will set a goal to lose 3.6 more pounds to add to my .4 which would make it a total of four pounds of food that would be donated by WW.
I also decided that I could weigh myself on the 15th for the Blog Action Day for Poverty event and report on my progress. I could also personally donate a pound of food for every pound I've lost to the local food pantry as another action as well.

So these are my new goals. I'm upping the ante a bit with decidedly small milestones. Hopefully this will speed things up for me without my biting off more than I can chew...literally! Then maybe I could help someone else in the process as well and that always feels good.

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4 comments:

Kitty said...

that's awesome. Goals are wonderful.

Two weeks is such a short time! But it's worth taking a shot, why not? And for a good cause. In some ways this larger cause may be a better motivator than just a goal weight?

I think I have to set a goal, too. It's so hard to get up early to get to the gym these days! it's cold and darker!

dianasfaria.com said...

Thanks Kitty. I know I am worried about the time frame but I really want to try it. I know when I've set goals in the past it helps me even when things don't work out perfectly. So if I wind up losing 3 pounds instead of 3.6, I'll still be pretty happy.
I don't know how anyone gets to the gym so early before work. I give you a lot of credit!

MuseSwings said...

Goals are the only thing that get it done. Good for you!
My goal today is to give you an award - stop by my blog when you get a chance.
Cynthia

Anonymous said...

Di - this is fantabulous! Yeah for setting fitness goals! Yeah for great ideas! Yeah for being my SIL!