Weekly Weigh-In #24: Renewals

When I was in high school, my parents decided to go to Hawaii for their 20th anniversary.  They sent my brother and I to stay with our grandparents in Florida, and off they went.  At the time, I thought 10 days in Florida sounded great, and didn't really care too much about the terribly romantic vacation my parents were embarking on.  As an adult, I can now appreciate how wonderful it must have been for them - my dad had a special ring made for my mom, and even pretended to find it in the sand and surf before giving it to her.  In their own way, they were celebrating 20 years of marriage, and renewing their vows for another 20... and beyond.


Wedding vows aren't the only ones that matter, or need renewal.  Renewing your dedication to someone or something is powerful stuff... and we do it, even without meaning to.  Every time I see my best friend, Lenny, it's like we're renewing our pact to stay close even when we're miles apart.  Whenever Paul walks past me, he quietly grabs my caboose and smiles at me - this, too, is a renewal of his vow to love me forever.  

Sometimes, renewing a commitment needs to be more obvious, and more public.  This week, I had one of those renewals, too.  I weighed in on January 17.  Here are the numbers.


Weight: 206
Pounds lost: 2lbs.
Total pounds lost: 63


After three weeks stuck at 208 lbs, I am thrilled to be losing again - and I want to keep it that way.  Luckily, it wasn't just a weigh-in, it was also my monthly visit with Elizabeth.  We talked a little about my goals for the second half of my reducing phase, which I am now squarely in.  This made me realize that I without some goals, I could just let this diet go on endlessly... and I don't want that.  Right then and there, I found myself renewing my dedication to the diet, because the goals we created are reachable, smart and pretty dang awesome.


My 2012 diet goals:


1. Complete the reducing phase of this diet by June.  This simple statement really means I am going to lose all 100 unwanted pounds by June - that's 37 more lbs. to go, in 4 months.  I have averaged about 10 pounds per month all along, so it's realistic, but I am going to have to push myself to stay on that track.


2. After reducing is done, begin the adapting phase, where food gets reintroduced into my daily diet, in June/July. Most people do this over 6 weeks, but I may take longer since I will have been in the reducing phase for nearly a year.  We talked about taking 6 weeks to introduce one meal (with 2 shakes) per day, and then 6 weeks of 2 meals (with 1 shake) per day.  That puts the adapting phase through the whole summer, done around August.


3. Begin the maintenance phase by September 1, and stay with it at least a year.  This means continuing to visit the office once every other week, and maintaining my weight loss for at least one year.  I can continue having one shake a day, and they have high protein snacks I can add - and classes I must attend.  This is why I like this program so much - they have a real commitment to making sure I don't immediately pack the pounds back on, and let me say - I need this.


Along with these food goals, I have begun doing more exercise - I've added Zumba to my routine (and THAT hot mess is a whole other blog...) and will continue doing that for awhile, until it's time to target certain areas at the gym (around summer).  Fitness goals will be another blog, for I haven't really fleshed them out as thoroughly.


If I can reach all these goals, the following glorious moments will happen:

• On our anniversary in June, I will weigh 170 pounds, exactly 100 pounds less than on my wedding day.
• For our anniversary, I will be able to have a celebratory meal with my husband, that's totally within the rules.
• By my 40th birthday in August, I'll be moving into maintenance.  How's that for irony?
• By Christmas, when our family heads to Hawaii for an incredible holiday vacation, I will be a bonafide hottie, and strong enough to hike Diamond Head and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, surf in Waikiki, and play with my son and niece all day long on the beach, without being too pooped to hula at day's end.

So, that's the plan.  And I'm pretty sure I can do it.