Report Card

Now that I've had this band for 8 months, I've decided to give myself a report card to grade my progress.

Nutrition A-
Exercise A-
Band friendly food choices B-
Tracking A+
Weight loss A

Am I missing anything?

For nutrition, I rated myself an A- because I make healthy choices most of the time, but I could do a little better. I have the biggest problem getting in a well rounded diet when I don't make time to grocery shop. This is an opportunity for improvement, but all in all, I'm doing well.

I rated myself an A- in exercise because I'm pretty good about exercise and being active, but I'm not perfect. I would like to consistently work out or exercise 6 times per week, and there are many times when I'm closer to 4-5. I'm going to make an effort to get that number to 6, and then maybe 7.

Band friendly choices, as I disclosed in my last blog, is an area that I'm struggling with, which is why I rated myself B-. It would be lower, but I'm truly trying. I don't eat bread or pasta or those things that we all know tend to be problem foods...I have more trouble with foods that are inconsistent. Today I had trouble eating my hard boiled eggs for breakfast. That is a first, and I know I'll try it again. Maybe if I were better about this, I wouldn't try it again, but eggs are a great source of protein, and I don't want to remove them from my diet. I have already eliminated scrambled eggs because those don't go down so well. Over easy are fine, but who wants to make over easy eggs at home with nothing on the side. That's silly. I'll get there.

I gave myself an A+ for tracking, because I still track every single thing I eat, every single day on fitday.com - the good, the bad and the ugly. I also use this blog to track my progress, and both tools have proven to be unbelievably helpful.

I know that I'm ahead of the curve for weight loss, but I think I probably could have lost even more if I had made even better food choices, and exercised even more. I'm in this for the long haul, and as I've said before, I'm striving for progress, not perfection. I'm completely happy with my A, as opposed to A+, and I'll get there either way. It's not a race.

I'm more than 2/3rds of the way done now, and it's only been since last fall. Considering all the weight I had to lose from the beginning, this is a tremendous accomplishment, and I'm really pleased with my progress. I am about 60 lbs from goal (give or take, I'll know more the closer I get). My original goal date was February '09, and I'm definitely on track to hit that. It could be as soon as November, depending on my average loss per week, but knowing the plateaus I will probably encounter as I get closer to goal, I'm sticking with my February '09 date.

I'll be thrilled to be down 150 by my one year mark (which is 19 lbs away), and the rest is just gravy. It all feels like gravy right now - even though I still have 60 lbs to lose, I feel so healthy and energetic. I am fitting into more normal sizes of clothes, my weight doesn't seem to slow me down in anyway, etc... I've already accomplished what I originally set out to do: lose weight to feel better, get healthier and look better. Now I'm just going to lose more, feel even better and look (hopefully lots) better. ;)