6.1 lbs. but who's counting?

Today starts the beginning of week 4 of my training and things are really starting to come together now on my weight loss/toning up program. So as not to become the boring weight loss guru-wannabe, I'll keep this one brief.

I signed up for the FitDay web site. I like it. I actually bought their software to download on my computer. It makes it a lot easier to get around and there are no server hangups. The down side is that if I use the calorie counts for food and exercise as gospel, I should have lost 8 lbs now instead of only 6. That's a 23.5% error rate. I knew they weren't spot on, but come on. As I don't want to adjust my caloric intake by 25% (I am not having any trouble coming in well below the calorie restriction goals as it is), I think I'm just going to have to start shaving some time or intensity off my exercise estimates. It is probably unreasonable to think that I can expend 327 calories in a half hour of biking, no matter how intense I work it.

The top two things that I think are working for me are these:

1) Maximize the eye candy. It is a whole lot easier to forget how bad my legs sting on the elliptical machine when I'm watching the diving team practice. And there are a few regulars in the free weight room that can make a girl weak in the knees (thus, incentive to work those squats even harder!).

2) Exercise, exercise, exercise. I think if I had tried a diet-only program, the focus on food would have gotten to me already. Because I've focused on working out, the emphasis on what I'm eating has sort of taken a back seat. I think this is important. For me, anyway.

As I seem to have some wiggle room in my diet (these 5 x 300 calorie meals everyday are actually quite a bit of food), I am playing around with calorie distributions. So I can allow myself a few extra carbs each day or a few extra grams of fat--but not both. Short-term results are that it doesn't really matter. So I can satisfy my need for a little this or that when I really feel the need to splurge.

So gals (and fellas!) get out there and find yourself some delicious booty to savor while you're working out. You'd be surprised what a pleasant time exercising can actually be!