Excited again

Today (Wednesday) was the first day I've been to the gym since I hurt my back on Friday evening. I must say I felt guilty not going to the gym for so long. But the cool thing is that I really missed it. I was afraid to just go home after work because I knew I wouldn't be active however I was very good about my eating in those 5 gym-less days. I managed to lose 3 lbs somehow and break the plateau I've been on. I've now officially lost 52 lbs and I'm 188.

I've been reading my book The Biggest Loser: Simple Swaps as if it were literature and not technically a cookbook. It told me that to lose weight, your calorie consumption should be Your current weight times 7. Well, at 191 lbs before, I should've been eating 1334 calories. Considering you're not supposed to consume less than 1,200 calories a day that seemed awfully low to me. Previously I'd been aiming at consuming anywhere from 1,500-1,800 calories a day depending on whether I was having a very active day or a sedentary day. I readjusted my diet to intake 1,300-1,500 calories a day instead and figured it would be best to stick to this while not gymming. I guess it works! And I don't feel like I've been starving myself in the process. I'm just making myself very low-cal options.

I'm thankful to be 98% back. My back still hurts a teeny bit if I move a certain way or when I first wake up in the morning, but I'm able to work out again which I'm thankful for. And now that I have this concern off my mind, I've gotten excited about starting my martial arts. I'm looking into non-credit fitness classes through Mercer County Community College. Now the fun part will be figuring out which one I want to try first!