276.6

| rachaelxoxo

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Starting Weight: 318.2 lbs.
Weight Last Week: 279.2 lbs.
Current Weight: 276.6 lbs.
Weekly Change: –2.6 lbs.
Total Weight Lost: 41.6 lbs.

Good afternoon, friends!

Is it cold and snowy where you are? It definitely is here! I squeezed in a nice little impromptu workout this morning in the form of ice scraping! It took me a good 20 minutes or so to get my car in working order, and my Fitbit activity spiked quite a bit as I was doing so. I was freezing my butt off the whole time, so the extra steps I managed to take were definitely a bonus and a move in the right direction!

I managed to drop another 2.6 lbs. this week, which is very exciting! That brings my total loss to 41.6 lbs.! I’m very close to my 15% target now — I just have to lose another 6.2 lbs. to get there! With hard work and determination, I think I should be able to manage to do that before January comes to a close.

There are some other exciting milestones just around the corner, too! My 15% target equates to a weight of 270.4 lbs. Once I get there, I’ll only be half of a pound away from the 260s! Thinking of that makes me get a little choked up; I’m incredibly, incredibly excited to be so close to those numbers. Hitting my 15% target also means I’ll have lost a total of 47.8 lbs., which is very, very close to the 50 lb. mark! After I hit my 15% target, I’ll only have to lose another 2.2 lbs. to get to the big 5-0!

So all of those numbers are very much on my radar right now, and I really think the next few weeks are going to be good ones weight-wise!

In several of my other blogs, I’ve mentioned wanting to do a walking challenge — specifically, a daily step challenge. I’ve gotten several replies from people who seem to be interested in participating, so let’s get going with that!

I was going to try to get an estimate of where everyone is at step-wise on their own fitness journeys and set targets based on those numbers, but I haven’t gotten any replies detailing step counts (which is totally fine!), so that’s probably not going to work.

Instead, I suggest we do this: since we’re all likely at different activity levels, then let’s just try to strive for increasing our steps by 1,000 every day for one month. You can accomplish this however you would like: take the dog on an extra walk, do a couple of extra laps around the grocery store, increase the steps you take on the treadmill, pace around your house, dance around your living room, whatever! The possibilities are endless! This is your show!

On my best days, I am hovering around 4,000 steps, so my goal is going to be to increase my steps to 5,000 every single day.

The challenge will start this Monday, January 12, 2015, and it will continue until Thursday, February 12, 2015.

I would like this challenge to be ongoing — every month I’d like us to continue to add 1,000 steps to our daily count! We can certainly re-evaluate this number in February, though.

I’ll update my blog every week and pass along the information Fitbit rounds up for me in my weekly progress reports. I just so happen to receive those reports on Fridays, so I can just add that little bit of information to my weekly weigh-in blogs from here on out!

I really, really, really hope some of you guys will join me in this challenge! You don’t have to have something fancy like a Fitbit in order to participate — you can track your steps by any means you would like (including by just downloading a free app on your phone!).

Keep us up-to-date on your progress over on your own blog, or just come and brag here on mine! If you visit my contact page and send me a message detailing your weekly stats and/or providing me with screen caps of your progress prior to Friday mornings, I can even include your stats right along with mine when I update.

I am looking forward to moving more with you guys! Let’s do it! 😀

To end this cold and dreary Colorado day, I’m going to make this buffalo chicken meatloaf that my lovely friend Alison posted over on her blog, Journey to After.

It looks delicious, and it seems like a pretty perfect way to end my day.

I wish you all an absolutely wonderful week.

Eat well. Be well.

rachaelxoxo

25 thoughts on “276.6”

  1. Congrats on your success so far! That’s amazing 🙂

    I would love to join your step challenge. I’m always trying to find ways to get more steps in, so this is perfect for me. I’ll add you on FitBit as well.

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    1. Hi, and thanks so much for dropping me a line! I really, really appreciate your support!

      I just followed your blog, and I’m excited to read more about you in just a bit!

      I would love it if you joined me in doing this and if you added me on Fitbit! I’m very new to Fitbit (I got mine for Christmas), and I need friends! 🙂

      You can find me at: http://www.fitbit.com/user/3329WS

      Thanks again for your support! It means the world to me! ❤

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  2. Oh my goodness, I’m pretty sure there’s no way I’m losing 2.6 pounds this week! It was a stressful one at work, and while my choices were well within my daily/weekly allowances, they were definitely lacking in quality (like the pizza I’m getting ready to eat for dinner)! But we filed our reports at work today, so I will be hot on your heels! Don’t worry 😉

    I hope you like the meatloaf! I suggest drizzling it with additional buffalo sauce when you serve it. Something about cooking the sauce takes away a little of that lovely buffalo flavor. But it is really delicious! I’m glad you put this back on my radar because I believe I will have to make it in the near future 😉

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  3. You never know — you might surprise yourself! 🙂

    And pizza is OK sometimes — that’s life, and we’ve made a lifestyle change with WW! Too much restriction is never a good thing! I had pizza on NYE (and pasta a couple of nights before that on my birthday!) and I still lost over a pound at the next weigh-in!

    So I have no doubt that you’ll catch up to me! I have a feeling we’ll be neck and neck until the end. 😉

    The meatloaf looks so good in your pictures, and I’m excited to try it. I love buffalo chicken anything! I will definitely drizzle some sauce on top to give it some extra flavor, and I’ll make sure to let you know how it tastes!

    ❤

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    1. By the way, my Fitbit is out and charging as we speak! I had gotten to the point where I thought it was kind of useless, since I didn’t care how many steps it said I had, lol. But I hadn’t considered the social aspect of it! If you guys are watching me, then I HAVE to move!

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  4. That’s so good!!!! I am so happy for you. You have a lot of great numbers coming up that show just how hard you have worked. You can do it! 🙂

    I love the idea of doing a step challenge. I have pretty terrible step counts everyday. I will surely try to keep track of my steps for a challenge, but I don’t have a lot of faith in getting a big number. It could change once tax season picks up because I will be running some volunteer tax sites for work and imagine I’ll be running around everywhere. I will see what my roundup is this week and let you know what I’m averaging.

    It’s going to be so awesome saying you lost 50 lbs. It will be here faster than you know it!

    Amber

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    1. Thanks so much, Amber!

      Whatever you can do step-wise is perfectly fine! Really! Like I said in my post, on my BEST days, I hover around 4,000 steps per day. Lately, though, it’s been too cold + snowy to walk my dog, so I have not been doing so well with my steps + activity. These days, I seem to be hitting 4,000 steps only on the days I go out to shop + whatnot.

      So we’ll see how this goes! 1,000 steps of improvement per day would be so awesome for all of us, no matter where we are in our journeys! 😀

      And yes, I am SO excited that I’ll soon be able to say that I’ve lost 50 lbs.! That’s a big deal — bigger than anything I’ve done so far, I think. It feels good to see my changes paying off! 😀

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  5. I keep forgetting to find my fitbit lol. I haven’t actually worn it since September. I come home from work on Monday, so I will put it on then and get my tush moving! I will add you on fitbit in the meantime 🙂 Looking forward to the challenge!

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    1. Thanks so much! I really appreciate your support! It means so much to me!

      I always look at your steps on Fitbit + I am SO envious! How do you get in so many steps every day?! What do you do?! I definitely need some pointers from you! 😉

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      1. Haha. I walk everywhere and try to not cut corners. So if I need to pop to 5 shops I walk from the closest one past all the others to the furthest so then I have to walk back again. Plus brother lives close but it’s about a 30 minute walk up hill do always go visit him haha x

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  7. A fantastic result again this week, Rachael. Well done you, it’s hard-earned and well deserved, and I’m so pleased that you’re seeing such terrific results from all your effort. All those weekly successes add up, and hey, look at that, you’ve lost more than forty pounds. That really is wonderful!

    We tend to focus on those weekly numbers sometimes, the minus 2.6 pounds, the zero pounds, the plus 1.2 pounds, but the real deal here is in the cumulative effect of staying the course. You’ve shifted more than forty pounds of fat from your body. Just sit back and think about that for a minute, seriously, and enjoy not only how that sounds, how it feels, how it looks, but enjoy also knowing that you’ve shown yourself and everyone around you that you have the drive to lose another forty, and then another. You have the drive to get all the way to where you want to go and you’re dragging others with you, inspiring them, by coming here and sharing your experience. You should feel so proud of what you see when you look in the mirror.

    Well done you. What you’re doing is truly wonderful and I’m excited for you 🙂

    Keep going, and never give up!

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    1. Thank you so much! Your reply here choked me up a bit! 🙂

      There are some days when I really feel accomplished and proud of myself, but then there are other days when it’s a little harder to see how far I’ve come. After I read your comment, I went online + searched for a photo of what a pound of fat actually looked like. I was absolutely SHOCKED at what I found. Then I searched for what 40 pounds of fat looks like — + WOW. It actually is really incredible to see that + to know what I’ve done. It really, really puts things into perspective, + it’s hard not to be proud when you look at that.

      + Yes, you’re absolutely right, too — it’s more about the big picture than it is about these numbers I seem to get so caught up in every single week. The little changes do matter + they do add up — probably in a lot more ways than most people (including me!) realize.

      As the days + weeks continue to pass on, I find myself believing more + more that I can really get this done. I used to believe that I’d be fat all my life — I never really + truly believed that there would be any way for me to change this. Now I’m starting to dream + make plans for the future that do NOT include me being horrendously overweight. I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to get to the finish line, but I don’t really care at this point. I just want to get there somehow, someway, + time is not the most important thing. I’m determined to be healthy + one day I know that I will get there!

      Thank you for always showing up to support me + for leading by example! Your success + your positive attitude is an inspiration to me every single week! When I need an attitude adjustment, I always think of you + your outlook on the whole weight loss game! It helps tremendously! 😀

      I hope you’re having a great week!

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      2. Have you ever checked out ilostwhat.com? I highly recommend it! You just put in the amount of weight you’ve lost, and it gives you random, everyday objects (or animals!) that are equal to that amount. I love it!

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    1. That’s great, Bobby! I am excited that you’re going to do this with me! You seem to be at a point where you don’t have a lot of trouble with follow-through (as evidenced by your 100+ lb. weight loss in less than a year + your commitment to your Daytona 500 challenge!). I, on the other hand, am not so great with the follow-through when it comes to exercise! I need all of the help I can get, so I’m looking forward to doing this with my blogging friends! I know you guys will keep me on track — even if you don’t exactly realize it! 😉 It really helps me to be held accountable! 😀

      I have a friend (in real life) who’s a nurse, + she downloaded a free pedometer app on her phone + just lets it run in the background all day long while she works… She says it works great + gives a good estimate of her steps. I don’t know if the accuracy of those apps are 100% perfect, but it’s better than nothing at all! Maybe that’s a good place to start?

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  9. I’m late on my blog reading again! I would still love to get a fitbit but I definitely have some financial catching up to do first. Those babies are expensive! But, I downloaded an app on my phone with pretty good reviews so I’m going to give it a shot today at work and if it seems pretty accurate, I’ll join in tomorrow for sure!

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    1. Fitbits are definitely expensive — I couldn’t have managed to go out and get one right this second either (because what 20-something just has 100 bucks to blow at the drop of a hat?!). My parents did me a solid by gifting me this! 🙂

      One of my girlfriends is a nurse, + she lets a free pedometer app run in the background of her phone all day long as she works. She says the step count is accurate (or close to!).

      I want people to participate in this however possible — I definitely don’t want you or anyone else to feel like you need to spend money in order to do this. Just do the best you can — any extra steps/activity that any of us can squeeze in during the day is a step in the right direction!

      We are not striving for perfection — we are striving for progress! ❤

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