Breaking News!!

I think I know why I haven't been losing weight!!!!!!

Breefawn on Spark People (love love love that site) had something about Basal Metabolic Rate on her SparkPage, so I calculated mine. My body uses 1810 calories a day for breathing, pumping blood, metabolizing food, just existing! I had set my calories at 1500-1700 (based on a calculator I did in January-ish). Which means I wasn't even eating enough calories for my body to exist, let alone adding in all the amazing exercise I've been doing! Bree suggested eating at least my BMR in calories, and if I'm still hungry to eat no more than half of what I did in exercise.

And it gets better:

MrsPrincess07 (also on SP) said here's a calculator to figure out what you should be eating everyday based on your weight, height, age and body fat. To lose weight, it said I should be eating between 2081-2212 or 2007-2133 calories a day based on light activity 1-3 days a week. OMG!

http://www.freedomfly.net/Documents/calorie_calculator.xls

SO. I'm re-adjusting my calories to I think 1800-2000 a day. And I'm going to keep doing the exercise, because I love it! And I am SOOOOO excited!!

Goals

I'm really proud of myself today. I went to the gym after work tonight, and did my first strength training workout. I was alternately shocked at how hard it was to do 17.5lbs with one muscle group and yet how easy it was to do 50 with another muscle group. I will admit that I had trouble with the squats- I did take it down to 40lbs, and didn't quite get through the second set. But I will be doing it all within a week, I swear. Tomorrow is a non-strength day, but I've got my gym bag packed and ready to go so that I can use the elliptical at the gym tomorrow after work.

My weight has stayed pretty steady in the past week, so after a chat with Judy (she's married to a dietician, so she's practically an expert) decided to up my calorie intake from 1300 a day to 1500. I was losing with 1300 at the beginning, but with the steady increase in exercise, the weight hasn't moved. So I started that today with the extra 200 to see if that can give my metabolism a kick in the pants. And let me tell you- after a month of 1300, 1500 feels like absolute gluttony!

I was looking back at my life so far in 2009. Its become a very quiet, but very rich life. I've declined alot of invitations for fun things that I would have absolutely done before. And I'm so glad. I've committed to creating this new lifestyle for myself, and I'm doing it. I'm not allowing other things that aren't as important to distract me. I've made the choice to have five non-scale goals be my priority for 2009, and I have the greatest feeling of freedom by not taking on extra obligations. I like this life. I feel good, I know I'm going to feel even better, and I love it.

Biggest Loser on Tuesday was good, it was great to see all the other contestants back on the ranch. Joelle is gone, I'm so ready to be done with the drama and get back to the weight-loss. And oh yeah, I seriously got chills when Shanon hauled Sione across the gym. Damn girl!

I'm totally excited about the giveaways that I posted about earlier. So much in fact, that I think I might be doing my own. Stay tuned!