The Beginning of my Dieting Journey in 2020

It is now August 2020 and I am really hitting rock bottom with my physical health struggles. I do want to start off with saying that my weight gain was not because I sat around stuffing my face with food. I have a lot of health issues for my age, one of them being a crazy thyroid. When my thyroid went haywire, I gained close to 40 pounds in a very very short amount of time. It was out of the blue for me and very disheartening. I used to be a very fit person, but then I became the chubby chick and I hate it. So I have decided to try and take my body back. I am not sure if I will be able to hit my weight goal, but I will certainly try my hardest.

Losing weight with my thyroid and other health issues will be very difficult. I figured starting a diet and trying to be more physical can only help. Even if the weight does not come off as much as I would like it to, I will still feel better physically and mentally about making better choices.

My original Summer of 2020 plan was to be hiking the Appalachian Trail, something I have been planning for 5 years. Sadly Covid-19 hit and my plans were canceled (and I have no idea in the future when I can reschedule). When I realized my dream hike was dead I let my depression take over and have not been as proactive with my health as I wish I had been this summer. With my new diet and lifestyle change all that will be different now. I plan on making a lot of healthier changes in my life.

So let me first state my goals:

1. Attempt to lose 35 pounds

2. Eat healthier

3. Be more active

My plan to help me accomplish my goals:

1. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app to help me calculate and track my calories.

2. At least once a week I will go on a hike or do some other physical activity.

3. At least once a week I will do some kind of at home workout.

4. Working on more meal prep and eating at home.

MyFitnessPal app to help me track my calories and weight progress.

I added in all of my information in MyFitnessPal app to calculate the recommended calories I should be eating a day to lose 1 pound a week. They recommend starting off with this goal when first getting going, but after a while I may adjust the calorie numbers to lose a little more weight weekly. We will see how I am feeling down the road. So, starting off I am supposed to keep my calories under 1390. If I plan accordingly and make good decisions, I think I can reliably meet this goal. Diet officially started Tuesday, July 27th.

My recommended daily calories to lose a pound a week.

With planning on losing a pound a week, I should be on track to lose 22 pounds by the end of 2020. Realistically I expect to fluctuate a lot, especially around the holidays. My reason for making a blog post about this is to hopefully have more accountability on my part. By posting this online I am sharing my goals with the public and not just simply telling myself I will be making these life changes but actually proving I did.

Before posting this I completed my first week of my challenge and so far, I have not gone over my calories. I actually ate less than my recommended calories every day. Some days were lower than others, but the first week went better than expected calories wise. I am working on meal plans and buying only healthier options for meals every day.

Week 1: Weight loss was 1.6 Ibs. A great first week!

**Follow to see future update posts with how my progress is going**

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