Week 3: June 24 Weigh-In

Food column: 6 stickers and 1 F. Such a bummer! I was grocery shopping while starving and they had samples. It proved too much for me to resist.

Points accrued: 0

Exercise column: All stickers this week again! I’m really pleased with how well this is going.

Points accrued: 10

Water column: All stickers again here too! I’m better able to tell when my body is getting dehydrated and that has made such a difference.

Points accrued: 10

Weight change this week: I gained 1.75 lbs. I am really bummed about this! I know that one day of samples didn’t do this, but I am puzzled as to what did cause this. It was almost as if my body just said, “Nope. I’m going this way instead.” Very weird. However, I am hopeful and working toward getting a good number this week. I think I’m going to work out a little longer every day this week, maybe that will help.

Points accrued: -20

Total weight loss: 3 lbs.

Total points accrued: 130

Week 2: June 17 Weigh-In

Food column: All stickers for the second week in a row! There have definitely been times where I’ve been hungry, looking at the available options, and deciding not to eat certain things because they’ll either incur penalty points or I will lose my sticker for the day. So far, I’ve not been willing to give up any points or stickers and a lot of cravings are actually going away!

Points accrued: 10

Exercise column: All stickers for the second week in a row here too! It’s fitting into the daily routine very well now. It’s something I automatically include when I’m figuring out how long it will take to get ready to leave the house now. Plus, I feel so much better than when I wasn’t exercising.

Points accrued: 10

Water column: All stickers here as well! Of the three columns, this one is the easiest for me. However, it is absolutely equally important as the other two. It makes a huge difference!

Points accrued: 10

Weight change this week: -2.50

Points accrued: 20

Weight change since last milestone: -4.75

Points accrued: 30

Next Milestone: 3 Weeks

Total weight loss: -4.75

Total points accrued: 80

Week 1: June 10 Weigh-In

Food column: All stickers!

Points accrued: 10

Exercise column: All stickers also!

Points accrued: 10

Water column: All stickers here too!

Points accrued: 10

Weight change this week: -2.25 lbs

Points accrued: 20

Total weight loss: -2.25 lbs

Total points accrued: 50

So far I’m loving my new system. It has made it so there are so many downfalls to eating something I shouldn’t, or not exercising, that it kicks me out of the emotional thought process and I end up doing what I was supposed to do.

I also found that I was afraid to not exercise one day because I didn’t know how much weight I was going to lose so I didn’t want to give up my 10 bonus points for getting all stickers in that column. The same thing happened in the other columns too and now I have an all stickers week! How hard did I try for that before?!?! :)

So far so good….on to round two.

Have a great week!

Change is in the Air

I’m happy to report the health problems I spoke about a few weeks ago have taken a great turn for the better and I believe they will not hinder my weight loss goals! In the meantime, and using that shopping experience for motivation, I have given my program a great deal of thought and I’m excited about some changes I’m ready to implement. I started by evaluating what has been working and what hasn’t. I’m keeping what works and adjusting what doesn’t and here’s what I’ve come up with:

What’s staying:

The daily stickers and Fs are staying. It really helps me to look back and see patterns and realize why I'm meeting or missing my goals.

Milestones are staying, but now they're random. Looking back on my past habits, I don't have much stamina to keep things up if my milestone is a long way off. Now, my milestones will be between 2 and 4 weeks away and determined by the roll of a die.

What’s going:

The sticker or F weekly if I've lost 2.2 lbs is going. I found that if I knew I was doing well early in the week I would start relaxing instead of being strict. I need something other than a pass/fail system here to keep me working my hardest until the end of the week.

What’s new:

I will attach a couple of pictures that explain about this, but I'm moving to a point system. The point system will reward me for losing weight: the more weight I lose the more points I get. It will also deduct points: If I gain weight I will lose points. Also if I eat certain things it's an instant point deduction. The points are structured in a way that I can't do the bare minimum and still get very many points. They're also structured in a way that rewards positive behaviors as well as weight loss.

My goal is to earn a minimum of 1000 points by November 23. If I can do that, I will earn a great reward. (The reward is a personal one and something that I really want, but this system could easily be adjusted to anyone’s personal preference.) In order for me to get it though, I must earn a minimum of 42 points per week for the next 24 weeks. Tables are listed below and they will show that it is possible, but I will have to work hard to get it.

My weekly weigh-ins are now structured in a way that should keep me striving to lose the maximum amount of weight possible. As you can see, the rewards increase as the weight loss does.

Also, if I gain weight there will be penalty points.

Weekly Weigh-ins
lbs lost	Reward
0-1.9	10 points
2-2.9	20 points
3-3.9	30 points
4 +	40 points
lbs gained	Penalty
0.1 +	20 points

I also created some other penalty points:

Instant Penalties
Fast Food	25 points
Candy	25 points
Wheat	5 points

These are designed to make it less desirable to eat these things. Wheat being on the list may be surprising to you, but I have discovered my body does not respond well to wheat. It does hinder weight loss for me, so I really shouldn’t eat it. It has less of a penalty because sometimes it is really difficult to avoid.

Bonus points are available for the following weekly achievements:

Bonus - All Stickers in columns:
Eat Well	Exercise	Water
10 points	10 points	10 points

These are points to reward my positive behaviors. This should also help if my body is having a weird week. For instance, if I’ve lost less than 2 lbs but I’ve done everything I can do, I should still be able to earn 40 points that week. It won’t be easy though…I would have to work out every day and not eat anything I shouldn’t all while drinking my minimum amount of water.

Milestones are now randomly determined randomly to be either 2, 3, or 4 weeks away. There are bonus points available depending on how much weight I lose from one milestone to the next. Here’s the breakdown:

Milestones - 2 weeks
lbs lost	Bonus rewards
0-3.8	20 points
4-5.8	30 points
6-7.8	40 points
8 +	50 points
Milestones - 3 weeks
lbs lost	Bonus rewards
0-5.7	30 points
6-8.7	40 points
9-11.7	50 points
12 +	60 points
Milestones - 4 weeks
lbs lost	Bonus rewards
0-7.6	40 points
8-11.6	50 points
12-15.6	60 points
16 +	70 points

This whole program is a result of my husband and I brainstorming. We worked out the details together and decided no changes can be made to this plan without both of us agreeing to change it. This helped me too because I had a huge amount of input in this new program so I don't feel the "oppression by authority." But, I do have another way to be accountable.

Here's the pictures I promised:

This is a picture of all of the guidelines on one page. I cut and pasted them above individually.

Here's my weekly chart to track how I'm doing:

(There is a column for weight, but I hid it since I'm not a fan of broadcasting that.)

This is a brand new week. My total weight loss count has been reset. Today is day 1 and I’ve already earned my sticker for exercising. My next milestone is 2 weeks away and I’m ready to dig in and work hard.

See you next week!