Starting Measurements & Weight Loss / Fat Loss Goals

Posted in: Getting Ready for the Challenge, July to October 2009, Suzanne's Weight Loss Journey | 3 comments

Tomorrow (Monday) I’m starting my 12 week program/challenge/cycle, so today I weighed and measured myself. I’m going to use those measurements to set goals and to track my progress.

Weight: 138.8lbs
Thighs: 22 1/2″
Hips: 38 1/2″
Waist: 30 1/4″
Body Fat %: 22.30% (10mm) (using Accu-Measure - you can use my body fat percentage calculator)

Note on the body fat percentage: Personally, I feel I’m actually at a higher percentage. But unless you’ve got a real good reason, the actual number doesn’t matter as long as you use the same method each time to measure your body fat. This way, it will still track any progress you’ve made.

Also, notice that I haven’t set a weight goal. To me, unless you have a significant amount of fat to lose, it’s better to go with a body fat percentage goal — especially if you’re working out. It’s happened to me several times where I’ve lost fat and gained muscle; the scale didn’t move a whole lot. (This is especially true with beginners. It usually happens to be if I’ve had to stop training because of an injury. It’ll be interesting to see if it happens again this time. I couldn’t train for strength because I had a broken wrist and then pulled a pec recently.)

I’ve been seeing a nutritionist, so I’m also going to take into consideration some of the nutrition goals she’s set for me. I know there’s a whole controversy over soy, but she (and my doctor) have recommended 2 servings of soy a day to help with menopausal symptoms. From what I’ve read, as long as you don’t go overboard with soy and as long as you don’t have a history of breast cancer, this should be fine.

These are my goals for the next 12 weeks, with an end date of October 5th. Your goals will be different, naturally!

As per Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, I’m setting out my goals as positive affirmations:

I am feeling full of energy and strong at 18.27% body fat or less by October 5th, 2009.
My heart is healthy because I’m eating fish (salmon) twice a week and taking 2 capsules of Omega-3 fatty acids a day, and eating other sources of healthy fat.
My muscles are strong and my bones are healthy because I do weight training 3 times a week. My heart and lungs are fit because I do interval training at least twice a week.
I feel energized because I keep my body hydrated with an extra 20oz of water or more a day.
I feel light on my feet and bloat-free because I eat a maximum of 4 servings of “bread” a day or less (bread, cereal, pasta, wine, etc.)
My hot flashes have gotten under control because I’m eating 2 servings of soy a day, plus 1tbsp of chia seeds and 1 tbsp of wheat germ.

Note on the “bread” goal. My nutritionist recommends that I eat no more than 3 to 5 servings a day of what she calls “breads and alternatives” — which is equal to 15g of carbs. A serving to her is: 1 slice of bread, 1/2 cup cereal, pasta, rice, mashed potatoes or ice cream, 1/2 cup wine, 3 cups popcorn). I know I feel better the less bread/alternatives I eat. If I can stick to 3 a day that would be amazing!

I don’t have a goal to eat protein with every meal and snack, because that’s something I tend to do, anyway. Same with veggies and fruits. But if you want to eat more fruits/veggies as a goal, you can set that out as a positive affirmation, too.

I’m going to print out my goals and read them each morning. This will remind me of my goals, what I need to do during the day and that I want to keep heading in the right direction.

One tip I read about in the Burn the Fat Inner Circle is to record yourself saying your goals and sticking it on your iPod/mp3 player — and play that every day. Great tip!

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Eat better, move more, and believe in yourself!