How is September over? It blows my mind! Time is just flying by at warp speed! On a personal level, we had a great month! We went to the ocean for a quick trip, we got some great hiking in and we enjoyed every moment together.
On a weight loss level.....wow...what a month!
I started the month strong. I was going to really nail this month. I was going to explore the realm of being spot on and perfect. But the month turned out to be anything but perfect. I kept my eating under control....but I gained! Yes....seriously! My average calorie count for the month was....... That is TOTALLY in line for weight loss! BUT no...I didn't lose and most of the month I showed up! It caused me to want to give up! I didn't give up. I settled back and tried to figure out what was happening. I don't have the answers yet...but I am formulating my plans for the upcoming weeks. I will let you know in a week or so what my plan is!!!!
In the meantime...lets look at my monthly goals and see how well I did!
1. Track every bite of my food I managed this one. EASY! I tracked everything I ate. I tracked every bite, lick and taste. I did an awesome job with this!! I even tracked at the beach! No problem with this!
2. Save money I actually did really good with this. The savings account did not take any hits and I have put a chunk of change aside!
3. Weigh less at the end of the month This is where things went off track. I did not lose! Most of the month I was up quite high...no matter what I did! It was disappointing, but I am pushing forward and trying to formulate a new plan of attack!
4. Be active at least 4 times a week We walked after work every evening.....that saved me from a colossal failure on this one and gave me a win. My grand plans to ride the exercise bike during my lunch breaks.......work and life got in the way. Yes, that's an excuse and I aim to fix it!
5. Stay within caloric/food budget at least 6 days a week FAILURE! My calorie count was up near the 1600 mark quite a bit of the time. I have done my experiments. I don't lose at that point. I need less calories if I want to lose. So NO....my calories were not in line with where I need to be!
6. Have an average of over 5K steps per day for the month. I managed this one! The long days of walking at the beach really helped, as did the after work walks! But I can mark up a win on this one!
So what are my goals for next month? Yes, I'm aiming for the same. WIth the exception of vacation week. For my caloric food budget, on that week only I will be adding in my exercise calories and using my NET calories for my food budget. We should be doing quite a bit of hiking.....and long hikes makes me ravenous. I will need to be fueling my body. I plan on eating as healthy as possible....to the extent that we are taking carrots, broccoli, grapes, dips and nuts to snack on to give us healthy options! OTher than that week, it will be business as usual.
The only other change? I have decided that I have a nice cushion in my savings account. I would like it to be higher, but I also have a car payment. When I am talking interest, which is the best one to work on? Building the savings or paying off the car? I am paying more money in interest for the car loan than I gain in my savings account. So it makes more sense to throw those extra 'savings' dollars toward the car loan. I will still call it savings....because basically if I pay down the car well above the normal payment it is saving me money! I have a set amount in my mind for my savings account. I will make sure that the savings account does not dip below that account and if it does, I will immediately focus on getting back to that point. Otherwise, I am moving into operation 'pay off the car NOW"! Which is a wise financial decision!
1. Track every bite of my food
2. Save money (pay off the car)
3. Weigh less at the end of the month
4. Be active at least 4 times a week
5. Stay within caloric/food budget at least 6 days a week
6. Have an average of over 5K steps per day for the month.