August 1 Status Update

Today was my fourth official weigh-in against my monthly goals. Below is a quick status update...

• On July 1, I weighed 242.0 pounds. My August 1 goal was 232.0 pounds. This morning I weighed 231.6. I beat my August 1 goal by .4 pounds and lost 10.4 pounds in the month of July! This is the third straight month I have exceeded my goal.  It also gives me three out of four months that I have successfully attained my goal.
• My August 16 goal was 227. Although I only beat my August 1 goal by .4 pounds, I am decreasing my goals by more than that with the intent of being less than 220 by the end of the month.  I am reducing the first one by 1.2 pounds to make my new goal 225.8 by August 16. Like before, I will adjust my remaining goals accordingly. So, they now are August 16 (my birthday) - 225.8, September 1 - 219.8, October 1 - 210, November 1 - 202, December 1 - 195, New Year's Day 2011 - 190. That puts me under 200 sometime in the middle of November! 
• I have lost 81.4 pounds since the middle of January. I have lost 71.0 pounds since the start of this blog. And, I have lost 66.0 pounds since returning from Las Vegas on March 23... 66.0 pounds in 131 days... or just over four months!
• My streak on the treadmill ended in July after 116 days.  But, my streak of exercising at least 30 minutes has now reached 146 straight days!
• I lost .335 pounds per day in July. My goal weight for September 1 would require me to lose .380 pounds per day. 
• While I ended up beating my August 1 goal, July does not feel like a success.  Mostly because I started off so well and found myself down 6.0 pounds on July 4 at 236.0.  After a two week lull, I ended up finding some focus and finished the month strong... barely sneaking under my goal weight.  I once again find myself hoping for a renewed focus in August with somewhat lofty goals given how much I have already lost.

I give myself a B for July. Not because of the 10.4 pounds lost, but because of the potential that I squandered after such a great start.  I never thought I would beat one of my original goals and still only give myself a B.  I am confident that August will be better than July and I look forward to a new chance to prove myself and hopefully add, or subtract, another 10+ pounds.  I look back and can hardly believe that I am almost 82 pounds lighter than when I started this journey!  Incredible.  I feel like a new person with a whole new lease on life.

Tomorrow: The hike up Bighorn Creek Trail outside of Vail.