Review of the First Four Weeks

Four weeks ago I began a year long journey to lose 50 pounds, 10-20% bodyfat and 5-10 inches from my waist.  I chose to break the 52 weeks down into 13 four week periods in order to better accommodate my ridiculously short attention span. 

The first four week period is over and here’s how it went: 

For Goal #1, which stated that I would walk 56 miles in the first four weeks, or two miles a day, I did not quite reach 56 miles.  Instead I walked 37.8 miles, due in part to a minor setback in the second week.

Goal # 2 stated that I was going to work out sixteen times in the four weeks, eight upper body workouts and eight lower body workouts.  I worked upper and lower body each five times.  Again, due in part to the minor setback.  But also due to work and being tired and busy and lazy!

As per Goal #3 which stated that I would keep a food diary 80-90% of the time or 20-25 days out of the 28, I met my goal.  I kept a Food Diary 20 days out of the 28.  Some days were definitely more challenging than others to write down what I had eaten.  After the first week I began to count the number of calories I was consuming and was subsequently horrified at the amount I was eating.  Following Week Two, I set a mini goal of eating one serving of veggies every day as it was apparent that I was not eating enough vegetables.  After Week #3, I decided that I was eating too much McDonalds food, Cheeseburgers and Crspy McMinis.  That is simply due to being in a hurry and poor planning.

Goal #4 was to drink 84-112 litres of water; I drank 62, more than half the goal amount, and likely more than I would have been drinking had I not set the goal for myself.

The goal that I was 100% successful with was Goal #5, which was to kick the McDonalds Diet Coke habit.  There were some tough moments, though; especially the hottest days were difficult. 

Setting the goals that I did and striving to meet them helped me to lose 1 ½ pounds, and approximately half an inch from my waist.  Bodyfat % stayed virtually the same.  So, there has been progress, not as much as I had aimed and hoped for, but progress nonetheless.

In review, having set the goals was an all around win-win situation for me as it prompted me to workout and go for walks when I would likely have chosen to stay in the house.  Keeping the Food Diary is another win-win situation for me as it makes me think before I eat, and when I tally up my days totals I can immediately see where I could have made a better choice.