A Little Backtracking....

BUT FIRST...MY FIRST UPDATE!!

Hi All!

Hope you had a wonderful 3 day weekend! I did!! In case you are just tuning into this blog (and too lazy to scroll down to my other posts) , my name is Tracy (hi!) and I have joined a weight loss contest that started in August and ends in January 2008!

In addition to a big moola payout for the winners, I am also trying to lose weight for my health, my personal well being, and to make all of my thinner girlfriends hate themselves...I was always the prettiest one anyways....

So anyhoo..here is the big update!! On August 24th, I weighed in at 244.8 lbs. This Sunday, September 2nd, I weighed in at......237.8!!! I LOST 7 LBS!! WOO HOO! LETS CELEBRATE! MEET YA AT PIZZA HUT AND....oh wait....never mind...

So, I have been on cloud nine because I reached my goal for the week! My goal was to break 240 in a safe way (no starving, no over, over exertion) and I DID IT!!

You know what? I am so vain, it's all about me, me, me! Let me tell you how my team is doing also! Ken, the only guy in our team , our company's I T Manager, and the sole reason my pics aren't on the blog yet (hurry up, man!) has lost 4 pounds so far, and that was Wednesday! Everyone else is scared of the scale and will not weigh themselves until the next contest weigh in on Sept 21st. But, from what I see they all look great! I want to say "GO TEAM" and don't worry, I will not be posting your weights on this blog! Not this one anyway....

OK, now that the update is over, I want to the backtracking. I kinda got ahead of myself with the posts and wanted to go over a very important part of starting any weight loss program or really anything that is going to be life altering. A pastor once told me that before you start anything, any project - you have to have a plan. And you have to write that plan down, not only to look at it and see where you are, but also to see how far you have come. See ladies, too many times we start something wonderful and we are all gung ho for a couple of days, maybe weeks, some of you a couple of hours, then we lose sight, get discouraged and give up. Then we are back to.....you guessed it, the Lane Bryant girdle section.

But if you take a moment to plan your strategy, and write down the how, when and wheres of it all, you have a bit more clarity . You may even have to alter your plan a few times as you progress with your project, but always focus on your goal. Oh, yes, have a goal!

Sooo, since I am using this blog as my personal memoir of the weight loss battle, I have decided to share my plan of action with you all! Feel free to use mine as a skeleton for your own plan journal !

The Objective: Starting on August 24th, and ending January 4th, 2008, I will be participating in a weight loss contest with four other team members. Our objective is to safely lose as much weight as possible in that time period. (Actually , our objective is to win the cash by any means necessary, liposuction included, but that doesn't look pretty on paper).

My Personal Goal: To be under 200 lbs by the end of the contest (and not 199 and 3/8ths either - substantially under 200 lbs!). I then plan to win the contest and collect enuf dough to go over to Europe and get me one of them men that are on the AfroMatch dating sites! Gotta brush up on my German....

How I plan to meet my Goal: After checking with my doctor, I have decided to follow the Atkins diet. I will follow the diet to the letter, no cheating!

I am also adding exercise to this plan. I will exercise a minimum of 30 min. a day, maximum 1 1/2 hours a day. I will walk or exercise at work on my lunch break at least 3 times a week, for 30 minutes. I will walk my extended route at home 4 times a week and swim two times a week, leaving one day to bitch and moan ... I mean to give my muscles a rest, yeah..

Ongoing projections: My ongoing weight loss goal is 160 lbs. I will continue to follow the Atkins diet and exercise plan already listed, adding weight training with a sexy male trainer towards the end of my goal.

How much will this cost? Groceries for my diet plan will run aprox. $50 a week. The membership to swim at the Y is $35 for the Fall season and walking is free!! Wait, no it isn't...pepper spray is $10, bug repellent is $5, cute new tennies are $45 on sale...yeah that should do it...

My next weight loss goal is:________________________

The last entry I leave blank. My first goal was to break 240, I did that. So, my next goal is to lose a minimum of 15 lbs total by the 21st weigh in. If I lose more, great. I CAN DO IT!

A lot of well meaning folks like to remind me that the best weight loss is slow - you shouldn't lose more than 1-2 pounds per week. They also tell me that it is unrealistic to try to lose 15-20 lbs in a months time..... wellllllll...

Excuse me, but if you hadn't noticed, I'm a Black Woman. You know me....

I'm the ninety year old church mother who gets up at dawn on Saturday morning, cleans, cooks, packages and sells 100 chicken dinners before 2pm so the church lights won't get turned off(church men, you got to step up!)

I'm the crack addict that everyone wrote off, that picked herself up, got an education and is now a successful lawyer (love ya Cookie!)

I'm the single mother that feeds her kids, pays the bills and manages to get her some Revlon from a paycheck of mostly thin air...(love you Mom!)

I'm that nerdy girl that you made fun of cuz she couldn't dance and always did her homework - now you are asking her for a job!

Where and when I enter I carry the entire Black race with me...(That's Paula Giddings, y'all, every Black woman should have that book!)

So.....when you tell me about expectations and reality....I have surpassed normal expectations and made my own reality all my life, this will be no exception. Again, I will do it safely, and I will except any stumbling blocks as a learning process. So nyah!

OK! Q&A time!!

This time, I have a question for anyone that can answer! I am trying to lose as much weight as possible before this contest ends. Right now, I am walking about 7 miles four times a week and swimming about 40 laps 2 times a week. Should I add weight training? or should I wait until after the contest, since weight training builds muscle. Will this add a substantial amount of weight? Thanks to all in advance on this subject.

Well, ladies, time for me to head out, labor day weekend is over. Next post will catch up on Atkins, why all diets work, and why white women are thin and black women are not...

Stay tuned! Stay motivated! YOU CAN DO IT!!

Tracy