Breaking down goals: Losing 50 pounds

Weight loss is the bane of my existence. If you go back through these postings, you'll see many, many of them relate to weight loss experiments, attempts to get in shape, etc. And that's just what I posted about on here. I've been battling my weight off and on since college, and it feels like it's going to be a lifelong battle, especially since metabolism starts to slow at 30 and it becomes harder to lose weight.

What's even more frustrating is that I weigh more than I ever have before. I've gained 20 pounds since getting married, so I'm that much further from my goal. It's easy for me to get overwhelmed and a little depressed at the thought of having to lose even more weight, but I'm trying to be positive and break this down into smaller steps.

I've done complicated rewards systems for myself before that didn't really work (obviously not or this wouldn't be an issue still), so I just picked some significant dates for myself, including some holidays and birthdays and thought about some realistic goals for what I could lose in those time frames, and here's what I came up with:

• down 5 by end of year
• down 10 more (15 total) by Valentine's Day (our 3 year dating anniversary)
• down 5 more (20 total) by wedding anniversary (March 9)
• down 5 more (25 total) by Will's birthday (March 31)
• down 5 more (30 total) by Easter (April 20)
• down 10 more (40 total) by Memorial Day (May 26)
• down 10 more (50 total) by birthday (July 16)

There's a big gap between the last two goals, but I've always heard that the last few pounds are the most difficult to lose (I've never gotten to that point, so meh).

I plan to be more diligent about logging my food on My Fitness Pal (I'm amberiam on there if you'd like to be friends or gently harass me). I'm also not buying any more junk food. Even if I say that it's "for Will," I end up eating it, and usually a lot more than I need to. I know that sweets are a huge weakness for me, so I just don't need that temptation at home. I'm also working on getting more exercise, including walking, body weight exercises, and Wii Fit (don't laugh! My muscles are sore!). Being the list-a-holic that I am, I've been working on creating a workout plan for myself. I've also been working on some fitness goals, including a 5K on December 15 and a half marathon in February. 

So why am I writing about all of this? Well, for one reason, I've heard that sharing goals like this with others makes you more likely to succeed. I guess one reason for that is because then people will ask you how your goals are going, and you won't want to confess that you're not doing well. Another reason may be that they keep you accountable by looking at what you're doing and seeing if your actions match the words that you have said. Those are my theories anyway. 

I weigh in on Thursday mornings before eating or drinking anything. I'm not going to post my weight on here each week (although, talk about accountability...sheesh!!), but I will post a brief snippet about my progress either weekly or on my monthly 30 during 30 recaps. 

Would anyone like to be accountability partners? If so, leave a comment here or send me an email/Facebook message, and we can work out the details!