Week One: First "official" progress report

This morning I "officially" stepped on the scale for the "first" time since last week.  Yeah, I know...I've been on the scale almost every day since last Monday, but this is the first official weigh-in, so shut it.

Anyway, I hopped on the scale and was pleasantly surprised to see I'm down quite a bit.  I double-checked just to make sure.  Sure enough, it registered the same.  Then, knowing my scale is prone to weirdness, I stepped off, moved the scale a couple inches, and hopped on again again.  The scale registered a weight down by two pounds more!  So I stepped off and back on to double check...and the scale confirmed the second weight.  Again I stepped off, moved the scale a bit one last time, and stepped back on...back up a pound.  The point is, in the six times I weighed myself this morning, the scale said I'd lost eight, eight, ten, ten, nine, and nine pounds.  So I think the only logical thing to do is to.......add them all together and announce that I've lost 54 pounds in the past week (8+8+10+10+9+9=54!)  Yay!  All done!  Of course that'll be hard to explain next time I hop on the scale...or even next time I do up my pants.  Fine.  It makes sense to me to average 'em out.  My official weigh-in for week two is -9 pounds.  41 pounds to go.

Here's what I'm thinkin':  Week one was a great test.  I think I started a pretty good pattern of healthy eating, but there are a myriad of things I could do better (or just differently.)  As for exercise, I pretty much walk everywhere I go, so not counting a couple extra walks, I was active but didn't really increase my exercise.  And I had a pretty sedentary weekend.  The rapid week one weight loss is clearly a result of my body adjusting to a healthier diet.  BUT given the fact that I'm consuming far fewer calories than before and adding my plans to increase my physical activity, I'm thinking that a couple pounds a week is easily achievable.

So now here's a little math: the final Monday check-in before my birthday is 21 weeks from today.  41 pounds, divided evenly over 21 weeks is 1.95 pounds a week...1.90 pounds, if you include the extra half week between Monday (Dec 6) and my birthday (Dec 9.)  Assuming a little extra physical activity will bump me up to a steady loss of between 2 and 2 1/2 pounds a week, I could conceivably lose as much as 52 1/2 pounds between now and my birthday...or a total of 61 1/2 pounds on during the whole challenge.  Definitely something to consider as I plan the coming weeks.

For now, to be safe, I'm leaving the official goal at 50 pounds by my birthday.  It's still ambitious and like I've said, the goal isn't important, it's the lifestyle change.  Still unofficially, I'm shooting for 60.  We'll see how my body adjusts in the next couple weeks and decide whether to make it official.  Regardless, it's been a good week and a fantastic learning experience.

Happy Week Two!  Wish me luck!