August Wrap-up

Well, today was the first day of Steptember - and while I was sitting here watching Masterchef, I started reflecting on my day. Then I realised I'd set some goals for August and hadn't even checked on them for ages... so I got out my data and started reflecting on the month that was August.

I had a couple of goals for August, all data related. The first was to increase my daily step average from the measly 7000 is was to over 8000 per day. My result after 31 days? Average steps 9338 a day. Tick. The next goal was to keep my net calories to below 1500 for the month. My previous two months were around 1650, so it was a drop of roughly 150 calories a day. My result after 31 days? Average net intake 1939 calories a day. Not so tick. My calories eaten were up, but also my calories burned were up. This is the positive I am taking from the month. Although I ate more, I actually tried to negate it a little more than I probably would have, had I not had the goal to up my daily steps.

What am I taking away from this? Food sucks. Not food in general, I love it too much. But my perception of food, and the hold it has over me, sucks. It's the reason I did not lose any weight in August, and the reason I actually put weight on in August. I'm glad I have this data, and I will continue to record it to keep an idea of trend. Over the next 3 months, I have a lot I need to achieve, and I know what I have to do. Am I strong enough? I don't have a choice. I have to be. I'm so glad I didn't order my dress a whole size smaller than I measured. I want to lose weight for my wedding, but I don't want it to be ONLY for the wedding. I want it to be for life.

Which brings me to Steptember. What a glorious day it was! The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and I sat on my ass until 12pm NOT taking advantage of the weather. In fact, I watched all of the cooking shows on TV, and thought about all the things I was going to eat. Lucky I didn't eat them, and just had a hearty breakfast of Beans and Bacon on Toast from the freezer. Thank you Lite N Easy for that. Today was my Gran's 85th birthday, and we had an afternoon tea at her place to celebrate. 'Stuff the Dads' she said. 'It's my bloody birthday and I'm having a party!'. It was a great opportunity to catch up with the family (there are over 50 of us, and that's just Gran's brood and their offspring!) and boy was there food aplenty at the table...

Keeping in mind my decision to own my food choices, I did fairly well. I was restrained, only taking finger food every second time the plate came around, and choosing 3 small items from the dessert table and sticking with them, only going back for a tiny cupcake the second time around. I know I went over my cals for the day, but I didn't go anywhere near where I would have had I not been keeping myself accountable. It's so easy to say 'it's only one day', but that COULD be every day and I'll never get anywhere with that attitude.

We got home around 6pm and I checked my Fitbit. A few hours on the couch and a few hours standing around added up to 3000 steps today. Not bad for not doing much, but 7000 steps short of my daily goal. What did I do? I got changed, got my ass to the gym, and walked for 45 minutes. That's what I did. When I asked Dave if he wanted to come, his response was 'I'm having a lazy day.' And that is perfectly fine. I, however, could not pike out on the challenge that I'd set myself only days before, on the FIRST DAY of the challenge. I sit here now, with 10510 steps on Fitty. I'm roughly 150 cals over my daily net calories. Not a bad first day!