Keri's True Confessions

If you are going to be a fitness educator, you had better get used to your body and your lifestyle choices becoming public info. When I'm in the grocery store, people who know me (and a few who don't) look through and comment on what's in the cart. When I'm leading an exercise class, participants notice if I've grown another belly roll. Those of you who've been around me the last couple of months are probably not surprised to learn that when I stepped on the scale this week, I saw my highest weight since shortly after my third son's birth.

It didn't take the scale, of course, to tell me the truth--my "fat" jeans had become the only pair I wear. I've seen pictures. I've been watching the calories go down my throat. I've been watching my feet not moving and the weights not being lifted. But once I saw The Number (132.0), I finally hit my "motivational moment" and am now taking the weight off.

Here's the plan: In order to lose two pounds a week, I must create a caloric deficit of 1,000 kilocalories (or "Calories") a day. I'm following the generally recommended process of reducing my food intake by 500 kcal/day and increasing my physical activity by 500 kcal a day.

Every day I weigh myself and record the weight (in the last five days I've come down 1.4 pounds--right on target). I have mapped out my weight targets over the next 70 days and each day I compare to see if I'm on track.

Every day I record every single bite I eat and every minute of exercise in an old software program called LifeForm. You can do the same thing at www.Sparkpeople.com or www.FitDay.com or many other free sites.

I have increased my fluid intake to 2.25 or 2.5 L a day (an entire bottle of Diet Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice plus 1 C of milk plus whatever else). For Lent I'm giving up caffeine (my rapid weight gain coincided with drinking caffeinated beverages again) and alcohol (my desire for that evening glass of wine also increased at the same rate I drank caffeine and gained weight . . . kind of obvious in retrospect, isn't it?)

I am consciously focusing on eating more produce and protein and reducing "white" foods (refined flour, added sugar, added salt) from my diet. Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs with one egg, two egg substitutes, a bell pepper and 1/2 onion chopped. I chased it with a chewy fiber bar. I was stuffed at only 300 kcal.

If I hit the end of the day and I've got less than a 1,000 calorie deficit, I have to "earn" that next cheese stick or apple with ten more minutes of cardio/weight lifting. The aerobic step is in front of the TV and the aerobic slide (a trend which never took off, but which I love) is off to the side.

That's my plan. It's basic, nothing fancy or magic. Food in will equal 1K Cal/day less than food out. I'll let you know how it goes now and again--but feel free to check in and ask. My body and yours works essentially the same way (and our heads play the same mind-games), which is why community support is one of the secret weapons of weight loss.

By the way: I will get to count teaching the next series of Belly Dance classes towards my cardio every Tuesday night. Sign up now for classes starting March 10 and come sweat with me.

OH! And Tuesday night is Mardi Gras at Belly Dance Fitness, 1070 Richwood Rd, Walton. Drop in at 7p for only $5 rather than the usual $12. It's a great night to give it a try!