Ok! March is done, how did I do?
Goal: My goal was to lose 8 lbs. this month.
Result: I lost 9, so that was a success. More on how that happened in a bit.
Inches: My goal was simply "better," since losing actual inches is notoriously hard to predict*
Result: -1" from waist, just about the same on the chest.
TOTALS since starting the blog:
-17lbs. I had to check that a couple of times to make sure that was real. All of a sudden the numbers look not horrible!
-5" waist and chest. Nice. The inches are always so darned difficult to lose as opposed to weight, but it's coming along!
HOW and WHY:
So I started this month, as my previous post stated, attempting a low carb protocol. That did work for a bit as it usually does in the short term, but the same old problems of chronic hunger all the time kicked in (despite what you read, while low carb definitely helps with satiety, it isn't a cure all and you can definitely overeat this way).
As the month wound down, I began, inspired by my wife and my "nutritional advisor" to intermittently fast more. This started as a two day fast a couple of weeks ago, in which I had a big, mostly water weight based (but still exciting) weight loss. Far more important than the fickle short term loss, however, was how I felt: Once I decided I wasn't eating, I was sort of totally good with it. I find it utterly bizarre how much easier it is to eat nothing, while it is hard to just eat a little.
The next week I fasted again, Monday through Wednesday morning. This was the longest fast I've ever done (about 56 hours). I had an issue with "jitters" near the end, which I read can happen: when you enter a fasted state, your body goes through incredible hormonal shifts and you can get out of whack. My multivitamin did not have some minerals in it, plus I was probably consuming too much caffeine in this period. I went ahead and broke the fast, but again, I lose even more weight this time than the last. Nice!
However, after a weekend of pretty standard, non-pig out eating, I gained back virtually all the weight. Every last bit (this was just this past Monday!).
Additionally, I fasted Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday again, and lost... nothing.
Yep. I lost like 7 lbs the week before, gained it ALL BACK, and lost NOTHING AFTER THREE DAYS OF FASTING. WHAT. THE. HECK.
My "nutritional advisor" explained it well: basically what happens is that when you refeed after fasting a few days, you probably do not completely fill up the glycogen reserves to the point where you are going to have a huge water weight loss after week one (in my case, week two- week one for me was a very brief, 20 hour fast). Ok, that makes sense, but if you haven't even filled your glycogen reserves up (the fuel your body stores for short term energy use during a fasting period- this lasts about a day or so if you aren't eating, then you switch to fats and a little bit of internal protein**), how could I have regained so much weight, and why am I holding on to it?
Well, a little bit of it is "your body hates you," but the full answer is, look: when refeeding, did you eat carbs at all? In my case, heck yes. Carbs are water sponges, you see, and so if you refeed and even eat the slightest amount of carbs, you are going to soak up all that water you are drinking and hold it.
So, again, TRUST THE PROCESS. I was feeling a little jittery on Wednesday night so I did allow myself a moderate meal, but I was back in fast land on Thursday and Friday (so basically I fasted Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday this week), and finally, on Friday, 5lbs of water weight dropped off. And boy, I could tell: I was PISSING SO MUCH that day. It's amazing how long your body can force you to have a bad result on a scale, when you are actually burning fat internally. Then, this morning, another handful of pounds of water weight off. So now all that weight I regained is gone plus several more.
So for anyone attempting fasting I would tell them: beware these sorts of times when your body is a huge jerk and just holds on to a weight. Of course my nutritional advisor would tell me to just not use the scale at all, or at most once a month or something. I'm still checking regularly until my vacation to Japan (when all bets are off and I'm eating like a drunken pac man), but when I'm back, I may actually take this advice.
The most impressive thing to me was how relatively easy it was, most of the time, to just eat nothing. I went out with my family to a mall food court and I could just easily sit there and have an espresso and water while they ate and totally not care!
Also, while I REALLY DO NOT WANT TO BE A FASTING CULTIST (trust me, they are out there, and make silly claims on the regular), some purely anecdotal, unscientific observations from me:
1. I had a cold on Monday. It was totally and completely gone by Thursday. Shortest cold ever. Some theorize that fasting allows better immune response because your body isn't spending so much energy digesting things. That sounds like more "guys on the internet" talk, but hey, I had this result. So there is that!
2. When I was at the mall with my family, I felt unusually sharp mentally. I was able to corral my kids, quickly solve their minor issues with sharing, and in general be a much better dad, because I wasn't in this "hunger cloud" or a post big meal "food coma" state. I felt better driving: less likely to take a stupid wrong turn, more likely to actually plan ahead in terms of which lane to be, etc. Things I'm sure my wife appreciates!
April Goals:
Er, well, not regain all 17 lbs? Obviously I have a ten day vacation coming up, which in all honesty was a huge reason for this blog. I had personally hit an all time high in weight last year after traveling and didn't want to be at *another* all time high after that. Fortunately that is pretty much impossible to "achieve" now.
So I'll say my main goal is to not do what I usually do after a vacation: not take my eating seriously for weeks afterward, making a small temporary weight gain into a permanent "set point," a mistake I always make. So when that plane lands in America, and the jet lag is gone, I'll be excited to return to a fasting protocol of some sort. While some might suggest forty straight days, I think a regiment of 2 on, 1 off, 2 on, then the weekend of off, repeat, should work pretty well. We'll see. But I'm encouraged overall!
*One of the sucky things about losing weight is your body can and will be stupid about where that fat loss happens; it can be that sliver of fat on your forearm, on some bit that doesn't even seem fat, etc. Just gotta TRUST THE PROCESS as it all gets used eventually.
**Nope, I'm not terribly worried about muscle loss. In what studies exist, the proportion of fat to muscle lost is waaaaaaaay biased in favor of fat, and there is even some debate in some circles over what type of muscle you lose- some even postulate that the body prioritizes non-important "junk" protein you have sort of laying about. Even if that is just "dudes on the internet," the point is- getting the fat off is vastly more important for health, and you can build the muscle later.
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Friday, March 17, 2017
March update
So halfway through March, how are we doing?
So far I've lost -3 lbs from where I started at the beginning of the month. My goal was -8 lbs, which was aggressive but I think it is still doable.
This puts me, btw, at -12 lbs lost since August. Finally getting some respectable numbers. I'm also finally shed the weight that 2016 put on me, which, hey, it's still just March 2017 ;)
I haven't measured recently so I can't report on that.
TACTICS:
So in general I've been trying to stay at or around 1200 calories. Looking at the log I keep, my pattern is to sort of do OK during the week, and do mediocre during the weekend.
So in order to ramp things up during the week (and inspired by my wife who is also doing this), I did fast for two days this week, which definitely helped boost things. Yes yes water weight blah blah, but it isn't all water. :p
I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do going forward; but I think intermittent fasting is going to help get me to my goals faster.
So far I've lost -3 lbs from where I started at the beginning of the month. My goal was -8 lbs, which was aggressive but I think it is still doable.
This puts me, btw, at -12 lbs lost since August. Finally getting some respectable numbers. I'm also finally shed the weight that 2016 put on me, which, hey, it's still just March 2017 ;)
I haven't measured recently so I can't report on that.
TACTICS:
So in general I've been trying to stay at or around 1200 calories. Looking at the log I keep, my pattern is to sort of do OK during the week, and do mediocre during the weekend.
So in order to ramp things up during the week (and inspired by my wife who is also doing this), I did fast for two days this week, which definitely helped boost things. Yes yes water weight blah blah, but it isn't all water. :p
I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do going forward; but I think intermittent fasting is going to help get me to my goals faster.
Monday, March 6, 2017
February done, onto March with some optimism
February is in the books. So how'd I do?
Weight loss goal: -6 lbs
Actual result: -3 lbs
So I had a really strong rally at the end (more on that later) to give a respectable result. Otherwise it was a tough month- again, more thoughts later. But, I'm not unhappy with the results overall, as things are moving in the right direction albeit slowly.
Total weight loss since start of blog (back in, holy crap, August): -8 lbs (actually, it could be -10 lbs, depending on when I counted my start weight...)
Measurement goal: "better"
Actual results: -2" both waist and chest. Nice!
Despite dropping a good amount of weight in January, I didn't lose any inches (just gained a little, which was bizarre). I made up for it this month, dropping several inches across the chest and waist.
Total measurement loss since August:
Chest: -4"
Waist: -4"
Comments on the month overall:
My average calorie intake for the month was just a bit over 2000 calories. Several months ago, I would have been impressed by this.
However, both anecdotal experience and research has led me to conclude that this was silly to think 2000 calories a day was a good, weight loss inducing number.
"My" real number is less than that. Much less.
As I have discussed before on this blog, the basal metabolic rate you can calculate on the internet uses a couple of different formulas, both guesswork. One had it at a ludicrously high amount, well over about 2300 calories. The other more conservative formula put it at closer to 2000.
Only when I tried getting my calories to 1500 per day did weight really begin to move.
However, as my daily calorie intake average would suggest, I struggled some to stay at this weight. This is mainly because of CARBOHYDRATES. Yep. Carbs and sugar.
I always "forget" this because I do not want to deal with the boredom of a ketogenic diet, but going keto has benefits that have always helped me, even if it is NOT a silver bullet/magic solution (it isn't: dieting still sucks and is still very very hard).
It's main benefit is satiety. Again: not a silver bullet. I still get hungry. But even if I am slightly less hungry slightly less often, that helps me win the "war with my mind" on a daily basis. The other benefit is despite irrational fears from dumb people, I have no doubt that it is a pretty darn healthy way of eating as well.
So near the end of the month I decided to do two things:
Cut ALL carbs and SUGAR. Total zero keto diet with the only carbs coming here and there from veggies like spinach and the like (so basically no more than 25 grams per day).
Daily calorie goal: 1200 cals.
1200 cals is the lowest I have ever set a calorie goal. Even last year, I would have thought this was entirely unnecessary for a man my size. However, as I've researched this, it seems clear that the daily amount of recommended intake is just wrong: it optimistically assumes a pretty efficient metabolism (which is true: people who don't struggle with weight can probably eat a bit more, period, and not gain it; whereas people who have had a big weight loss in their life end up needing to eat less to maintain that weight versus someone naturally at the same number on the scale).
This will be my goal going forward. I managed to east 1200, 1200, then 1400 calories at the end of this week. I allowed myself a bit more calories and carbs today (about 100 carbs, still "low carb" but no longer "ketogenic"), so I won't be surprised is a have a big *WATER WEIGHT* regain tomorrow (I won't be freaked out).
MARCH GOALS:
-8lbs loss (2 lbs per week)
Inches: "better"
With going keto and going as low as 1200 cals, I think I can do this. Don't get me wrong: it won't be easy, but the effects of ketosis and eating low carb cut down the appetite juuuuuuust enough that I can battle through the super tough spots. I don't always need to eat this way for the rest of my life (keto, that is); but for now, to get things moving, I'm happy to do it.
Weight loss goal: -6 lbs
Actual result: -3 lbs
So I had a really strong rally at the end (more on that later) to give a respectable result. Otherwise it was a tough month- again, more thoughts later. But, I'm not unhappy with the results overall, as things are moving in the right direction albeit slowly.
Total weight loss since start of blog (back in, holy crap, August): -8 lbs (actually, it could be -10 lbs, depending on when I counted my start weight...)
Measurement goal: "better"
Actual results: -2" both waist and chest. Nice!
Despite dropping a good amount of weight in January, I didn't lose any inches (just gained a little, which was bizarre). I made up for it this month, dropping several inches across the chest and waist.
Total measurement loss since August:
Chest: -4"
Waist: -4"
Comments on the month overall:
My average calorie intake for the month was just a bit over 2000 calories. Several months ago, I would have been impressed by this.
However, both anecdotal experience and research has led me to conclude that this was silly to think 2000 calories a day was a good, weight loss inducing number.
"My" real number is less than that. Much less.
As I have discussed before on this blog, the basal metabolic rate you can calculate on the internet uses a couple of different formulas, both guesswork. One had it at a ludicrously high amount, well over about 2300 calories. The other more conservative formula put it at closer to 2000.
Only when I tried getting my calories to 1500 per day did weight really begin to move.
However, as my daily calorie intake average would suggest, I struggled some to stay at this weight. This is mainly because of CARBOHYDRATES. Yep. Carbs and sugar.
I always "forget" this because I do not want to deal with the boredom of a ketogenic diet, but going keto has benefits that have always helped me, even if it is NOT a silver bullet/magic solution (it isn't: dieting still sucks and is still very very hard).
It's main benefit is satiety. Again: not a silver bullet. I still get hungry. But even if I am slightly less hungry slightly less often, that helps me win the "war with my mind" on a daily basis. The other benefit is despite irrational fears from dumb people, I have no doubt that it is a pretty darn healthy way of eating as well.
So near the end of the month I decided to do two things:
Cut ALL carbs and SUGAR. Total zero keto diet with the only carbs coming here and there from veggies like spinach and the like (so basically no more than 25 grams per day).
Daily calorie goal: 1200 cals.
1200 cals is the lowest I have ever set a calorie goal. Even last year, I would have thought this was entirely unnecessary for a man my size. However, as I've researched this, it seems clear that the daily amount of recommended intake is just wrong: it optimistically assumes a pretty efficient metabolism (which is true: people who don't struggle with weight can probably eat a bit more, period, and not gain it; whereas people who have had a big weight loss in their life end up needing to eat less to maintain that weight versus someone naturally at the same number on the scale).
This will be my goal going forward. I managed to east 1200, 1200, then 1400 calories at the end of this week. I allowed myself a bit more calories and carbs today (about 100 carbs, still "low carb" but no longer "ketogenic"), so I won't be surprised is a have a big *WATER WEIGHT* regain tomorrow (I won't be freaked out).
MARCH GOALS:
-8lbs loss (2 lbs per week)
Inches: "better"
With going keto and going as low as 1200 cals, I think I can do this. Don't get me wrong: it won't be easy, but the effects of ketosis and eating low carb cut down the appetite juuuuuuust enough that I can battle through the super tough spots. I don't always need to eat this way for the rest of my life (keto, that is); but for now, to get things moving, I'm happy to do it.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Last week in Feb...
The last week in Feb is coming!
My weekend was pretty good, as was the week in general. Kept my cals low with the exception of Friday, and that wasn't bad. As a consequence, my weight is moving down, but I'm still a good ways off from my goal for the month.
However, I haven't given up hope yet, because I tend to lose weight in big chunks, and I'm going in the right direction!
My weekend was pretty good, as was the week in general. Kept my cals low with the exception of Friday, and that wasn't bad. As a consequence, my weight is moving down, but I'm still a good ways off from my goal for the month.
However, I haven't given up hope yet, because I tend to lose weight in big chunks, and I'm going in the right direction!
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Feb. 18
So far my attempt to get back on track is going well.
I ended up the day at around 1650 cals. Just a smiiiiiiiidge higher, but basically on target.
I ended up the day at around 1650 cals. Just a smiiiiiiiidge higher, but basically on target.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Crunch time again
So last week was another one were I struggled a bit. I started well but began faltering on Thursday and totally crashed yesterday, Friday. So for the month, I've lost a measly .5 lbs with 2 weeks left (I count the week that goes into March).
Fortunately, I can still meet my goals or get close if I focus. Today is going well so far. Sometimes totally crashing diet wise after doing "ok" for awhile is sort of helpful.
Fortunately, I can still meet my goals or get close if I focus. Today is going well so far. Sometimes totally crashing diet wise after doing "ok" for awhile is sort of helpful.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Feb 12
I liked yesterday's "live blog" format, so let's do it again today, though it is already almost 5pm here.
Played in a the church band, and the kiddo begged for a lunch burger. I resisted the temptation to get one myself, but then proceeded to graze through the next 4-5 hours until I hit my calorie limit for the day. But, it IS 5pm already, so I ought to be able to make it!
4:40 pm - Time to start fasting. Should be hard until, I would guess, 8pm or so.
Played in a the church band, and the kiddo begged for a lunch burger. I resisted the temptation to get one myself, but then proceeded to graze through the next 4-5 hours until I hit my calorie limit for the day. But, it IS 5pm already, so I ought to be able to make it!
4:40 pm - Time to start fasting. Should be hard until, I would guess, 8pm or so.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Live Blogging Today
As an extra measure to inspire me to get back on track (I HATE TO, or I won't hit my goals at all for February!), I'm going to check in throughout the day.
1:56pm - The only food I've had today so far is one single canned coffee from the Japanese market we go to. It had a small amount of calories but it was pretty trivial. Feeling hungry now (as I typically do this time of day), but I'm doing fine.
3:05pm - keeping busy by working through technical problems with another blog I'm helping with. Apparently in word press, schedule posts do not happen unless someone visits the site, which is weird.
9:24 pm - Dinner is over and my calories are used up!
A slice of costco pizza, a small rice bowl left over from the asian grocery store gets me to 1500 calories for the day. Now to hold on!
10:36 - I added everything up in myfitnesspal, and happily I have juuuuuust enough calories left for a canned coffee (yes, I'm a freak, I can drink that stuff at this time of day), and be at 1570 cals for the day. Feelsgoodman.
1:56pm - The only food I've had today so far is one single canned coffee from the Japanese market we go to. It had a small amount of calories but it was pretty trivial. Feeling hungry now (as I typically do this time of day), but I'm doing fine.
3:05pm - keeping busy by working through technical problems with another blog I'm helping with. Apparently in word press, schedule posts do not happen unless someone visits the site, which is weird.
9:24 pm - Dinner is over and my calories are used up!
A slice of costco pizza, a small rice bowl left over from the asian grocery store gets me to 1500 calories for the day. Now to hold on!
10:36 - I added everything up in myfitnesspal, and happily I have juuuuuust enough calories left for a canned coffee (yes, I'm a freak, I can drink that stuff at this time of day), and be at 1570 cals for the day. Feelsgoodman.
WTF IS WRONG WITH ME.
Yesterday was more of the same, sort of hanging out at that 2000 calorie mark.
WHY. CAN'T. I. GET. BACK. ON. TRACK.
My greatest worry when I was doing well was getting knocked off course because I knew it is so easy to fall into a different pattern.
Of course, I would have seen these totals as "success" before but I realize now that I can't lose weight eating 1800-2200 calories a day.
To help get back on track, I've tweaked my routine today. Instead of going "500 cals in the morning and 1000 at night," I'm just skipping breakfast altogether and going into a pure "one meal a day" routine, topping out at 1500 cals. Let's see if that works today.
I measured yesterday and I was exactly the same, as I expected, since I haven't done enough to gain or lose. :p
WHY. CAN'T. I. GET. BACK. ON. TRACK.
My greatest worry when I was doing well was getting knocked off course because I knew it is so easy to fall into a different pattern.
Of course, I would have seen these totals as "success" before but I realize now that I can't lose weight eating 1800-2200 calories a day.
To help get back on track, I've tweaked my routine today. Instead of going "500 cals in the morning and 1000 at night," I'm just skipping breakfast altogether and going into a pure "one meal a day" routine, topping out at 1500 cals. Let's see if that works today.
I measured yesterday and I was exactly the same, as I expected, since I haven't done enough to gain or lose. :p
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Getting back on the straight and narrow
Sorry for such little posting. My accountability experts called me out on this, so gotta fix!
Speaking of gotta fix, let's talk about my eating.
Now, I haven't started chowing down on everything in sight. But as I knew would eventually be the case, I got a bit off my game and it has slowed down my progress, so I need to get back in shape!
It all started with two small tacos at work, last Friday (often at work they shower us with free food).
It was near the end of the day, so I thought, "well, this is basically when I would eat anyway..."
NO. NO. NO. NO. When you have a good thing going, DON'T CHANGE EVEN THE TINIEST PART OF THE HABIT.
Sure enough, I ended up at 1700 calories or so that day. Certainly not a big deal, certainly not a bad day at all!
But it seemed to be enough to knock me off course. I haven't had a 1500 calorie day sense (now going on six days...). Now, it hasn't been BAD. The HIGHEST I have been was 2300, one day, and all the other days have been 1800, 1900, around there.
But that. Is. Not. Good. Enough.
And predictably, my weight loss has stalled totally this week.
I was hoping today would be a bounce back day, and it has, sort of. I'm at 1688 calories, obviously not quite 1500. Dangit! In this case, it was the classic "too many things to do, inhale dinner real fast without really having time to plan how much it was, count it later and realize it was too much" problem. Sad. Freakin'. Face.
So yeah, gotta do better. I really want to nail my goal this month, since it is a short one. We'll see how it goes when I weigh in officially tomorrow.
Speaking of gotta fix, let's talk about my eating.
Now, I haven't started chowing down on everything in sight. But as I knew would eventually be the case, I got a bit off my game and it has slowed down my progress, so I need to get back in shape!
It all started with two small tacos at work, last Friday (often at work they shower us with free food).
It was near the end of the day, so I thought, "well, this is basically when I would eat anyway..."
NO. NO. NO. NO. When you have a good thing going, DON'T CHANGE EVEN THE TINIEST PART OF THE HABIT.
Sure enough, I ended up at 1700 calories or so that day. Certainly not a big deal, certainly not a bad day at all!
But it seemed to be enough to knock me off course. I haven't had a 1500 calorie day sense (now going on six days...). Now, it hasn't been BAD. The HIGHEST I have been was 2300, one day, and all the other days have been 1800, 1900, around there.
But that. Is. Not. Good. Enough.
And predictably, my weight loss has stalled totally this week.
I was hoping today would be a bounce back day, and it has, sort of. I'm at 1688 calories, obviously not quite 1500. Dangit! In this case, it was the classic "too many things to do, inhale dinner real fast without really having time to plan how much it was, count it later and realize it was too much" problem. Sad. Freakin'. Face.
So yeah, gotta do better. I really want to nail my goal this month, since it is a short one. We'll see how it goes when I weigh in officially tomorrow.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
January Goals met (mostly), onward!
The weird thing with consistency when it comes to eating is it saps the will to blog each day.
Every day this week was "1500 cals." So I suppose having daily posts saying that would be... pretty boring (but I do intend to keep up with regular posts anyway, maybe not daily).
So January is over, so let's see how I did, for the month:
The goal was 4 lbs of loss. I did....
-7lbs. (This was measured on Wednesday, Feb. 1).
So yeah, smoked that one! Even with some natural regain over the next few days (despite maintaining the same calorie level), I'm still well beyond that goal.
I currently sit at -7lbs of loss "since the start of this blog," a number that I hope will finally grow to something respectable!
Measurements:
Waist: yes! -1" as I hoped. That brings my total inch loss around the waist to -4" since the start of this blog. That's great!
Chest: er, this is weird. HOW IN THE WORLD DID I GAIN AN INCH AROUND MY CHEST WHEN I LOST A HUGE ASS AMOUNT OF WEIGHT AT THE SAME TIME!?!!
My nutritional consultant tells me this is an anomaly and to expect weird stuff to happen, and to keep on trucking. So I'm not worrying about it over much.
The only real dangers going forward are, to be honest, "complacency from small success." Especially since the 1500 a day standard feels "easy" to some degree now, which paradoxically in my experience sets me up for failure ("eh, I'm doing so well, a little cheat can't be bad..." etc.).
FEBRUARY GOALS
Since I'm going on a vacation in April, it's now extremely important that I lose as much weight as possible, so I can not worry about it for the ten days I'll be traveling. It really drags a vacation down when you think you are going to come home at some horrible new high for weight. Plus you want to look good for all of those pictures!
Weight loss goal: I'd like to shoot for six lbs in four weeks (we'll count the week that ends in March as the last week).
Measurement Goal: Those stubborn inches can be super weird, so I'm going to say a half inch from the waist, and an inch from the chest (THAT shouldn't be too hard since I somehow WENT UP in the chest area).
How I'm going to do it:
Obviously the same way I did January. I think 1500, if strictly adhered to and even with minimal exercise, is probably still enough, since I maxed out at -7lbs of loss for the month. However there is no reason why I can't debit a bit more if needed. For perspective, the folks on the 600 lb life show are put on a 1200 calorie diet: and at 600 lbs, these folks have a MUCH HIGHER basal metabolic rate than me.
As you noticed I haven't really gotten back to posting regular steps yet. That is mostly because I am just now completely getting over my cold (it was a bad one). I don't really believe cardio helps weight loss that much (actually, I do worry that it would increase hunger, in fact), but the simple fact is, my vacation is going to require a lot of walking, and I know from personal experience that I have to train for these things, lest I end up like I did in Rome in 2004: much thinner than now, but utterly destroyed because I wasn't used to the daily rigors of walking EVERYWHERE.
I may begin working in resistance training, vastly superior anyway, to a shorter but still significant walking regimen on some days.
Every day this week was "1500 cals." So I suppose having daily posts saying that would be... pretty boring (but I do intend to keep up with regular posts anyway, maybe not daily).
So January is over, so let's see how I did, for the month:
The goal was 4 lbs of loss. I did....
-7lbs. (This was measured on Wednesday, Feb. 1).
So yeah, smoked that one! Even with some natural regain over the next few days (despite maintaining the same calorie level), I'm still well beyond that goal.
I currently sit at -7lbs of loss "since the start of this blog," a number that I hope will finally grow to something respectable!
Measurements:
Waist: yes! -1" as I hoped. That brings my total inch loss around the waist to -4" since the start of this blog. That's great!
Chest: er, this is weird. HOW IN THE WORLD DID I GAIN AN INCH AROUND MY CHEST WHEN I LOST A HUGE ASS AMOUNT OF WEIGHT AT THE SAME TIME!?!!
My nutritional consultant tells me this is an anomaly and to expect weird stuff to happen, and to keep on trucking. So I'm not worrying about it over much.
The only real dangers going forward are, to be honest, "complacency from small success." Especially since the 1500 a day standard feels "easy" to some degree now, which paradoxically in my experience sets me up for failure ("eh, I'm doing so well, a little cheat can't be bad..." etc.).
FEBRUARY GOALS
Since I'm going on a vacation in April, it's now extremely important that I lose as much weight as possible, so I can not worry about it for the ten days I'll be traveling. It really drags a vacation down when you think you are going to come home at some horrible new high for weight. Plus you want to look good for all of those pictures!
Weight loss goal: I'd like to shoot for six lbs in four weeks (we'll count the week that ends in March as the last week).
Measurement Goal: Those stubborn inches can be super weird, so I'm going to say a half inch from the waist, and an inch from the chest (THAT shouldn't be too hard since I somehow WENT UP in the chest area).
How I'm going to do it:
Obviously the same way I did January. I think 1500, if strictly adhered to and even with minimal exercise, is probably still enough, since I maxed out at -7lbs of loss for the month. However there is no reason why I can't debit a bit more if needed. For perspective, the folks on the 600 lb life show are put on a 1200 calorie diet: and at 600 lbs, these folks have a MUCH HIGHER basal metabolic rate than me.
As you noticed I haven't really gotten back to posting regular steps yet. That is mostly because I am just now completely getting over my cold (it was a bad one). I don't really believe cardio helps weight loss that much (actually, I do worry that it would increase hunger, in fact), but the simple fact is, my vacation is going to require a lot of walking, and I know from personal experience that I have to train for these things, lest I end up like I did in Rome in 2004: much thinner than now, but utterly destroyed because I wasn't used to the daily rigors of walking EVERYWHERE.
I may begin working in resistance training, vastly superior anyway, to a shorter but still significant walking regimen on some days.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Weekend
Friday I accidentally ate about 200 extra calories due to misreading the package on the fish stick container, so I ended up with a HUGE COLOSSAL amount of.... 1750 calories. Still far below my "normal."
I ended up losing yet another full pound the next day. So that is something like 7 lbs lost in 5 days, mostly water no doubt, but incredible none the less.
Yesterday I was back to "perfect," right at 1500 calories, but of course as I knew would happen, the insanely rapid loss stopped and I rebounded a little, +2 lbs. But of course I'm smart enough to not be bothered by that, since I'm still at a insane, breakneck pace of a lb per day (which won't last, obviously).
So far I've managed to execute this plan during the weekend which is always harder for me. So far, so good, feeling optimistic!
I ended up losing yet another full pound the next day. So that is something like 7 lbs lost in 5 days, mostly water no doubt, but incredible none the less.
Yesterday I was back to "perfect," right at 1500 calories, but of course as I knew would happen, the insanely rapid loss stopped and I rebounded a little, +2 lbs. But of course I'm smart enough to not be bothered by that, since I'm still at a insane, breakneck pace of a lb per day (which won't last, obviously).
So far I've managed to execute this plan during the weekend which is always harder for me. So far, so good, feeling optimistic!
Friday, January 27, 2017
Goal........ mostly met! (January 27th)
Calories: well, you know. 1500. Again.
Steps: still waiting until Monday to get rid of this lingering cough/cold.
Measurements:
Huge loss in weight this week. Mostly water, to be sure, but welcomed anyway! I lost almost 6 lbs this week, which puts my total loss from the start of this blog to:
-4.4 lbs
This is significant (though still a small number) because it puts me back to where I was before I moved halfway across the county in late November. Holiday malaise defeated! Now to make fresh progress.
Measurements:
Lost a half inch from the chest, and a quarter inch from the waist. So this puts me at:
Chest: -3"
Waist: -3.25"
The trick here will be to wash-rinse-repeat this new eating pattern. I'll have to consult with my nutritional advisor if or when a refeed might happen to prevent stalls. I've done that before, when doing a cyclic keto diet, but this isn't really that (though I do try to lean towards protein and fat for max satiety).
My goal in January was to lose a pound a week and an inch from the start of the month. The goal is mostly met- I've met it in terms of lbs lost (4.4 lbs lost so far) and I'm getting close to that 1" lost (need another .75 inches lost on the waist, and another .5" on the chest for that). We'll see if the measurements move a little more in the next few days left in the month.
Steps: still waiting until Monday to get rid of this lingering cough/cold.
Measurements:
Huge loss in weight this week. Mostly water, to be sure, but welcomed anyway! I lost almost 6 lbs this week, which puts my total loss from the start of this blog to:
-4.4 lbs
This is significant (though still a small number) because it puts me back to where I was before I moved halfway across the county in late November. Holiday malaise defeated! Now to make fresh progress.
Measurements:
Lost a half inch from the chest, and a quarter inch from the waist. So this puts me at:
Chest: -3"
Waist: -3.25"
The trick here will be to wash-rinse-repeat this new eating pattern. I'll have to consult with my nutritional advisor if or when a refeed might happen to prevent stalls. I've done that before, when doing a cyclic keto diet, but this isn't really that (though I do try to lean towards protein and fat for max satiety).
My goal in January was to lose a pound a week and an inch from the start of the month. The goal is mostly met- I've met it in terms of lbs lost (4.4 lbs lost so far) and I'm getting close to that 1" lost (need another .75 inches lost on the waist, and another .5" on the chest for that). We'll see if the measurements move a little more in the next few days left in the month.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
It's working
1500 cals a day achieved for the past two days.
Steps aren't relevant right now since my cold is still hanging on (getting better, though).
I'll resume my step goals on Monday.
So while my official weigh in isn't until tomorrow, I've been keeping track and the weight is pretty much flying off now that I've managed to have a couple of days at this threshold.
How is it going?
Yeah, sure, sometimes I'm hungry. Somehow, so far, I'm able to just kind of whisper to myself, "sorry, I can't eat right now. I just can't, just wait," and I make it. The worst periods of time for this are between 3-5pm and from 10pm until I wake up.
I'm splitting the cals between a light breakfast and heavier dinner.
Would like to make breakfast even lighter so save more of that 1500 for end of day, but this current split is working well (basically 500 then 1000).
Steps aren't relevant right now since my cold is still hanging on (getting better, though).
I'll resume my step goals on Monday.
So while my official weigh in isn't until tomorrow, I've been keeping track and the weight is pretty much flying off now that I've managed to have a couple of days at this threshold.
How is it going?
Yeah, sure, sometimes I'm hungry. Somehow, so far, I'm able to just kind of whisper to myself, "sorry, I can't eat right now. I just can't, just wait," and I make it. The worst periods of time for this are between 3-5pm and from 10pm until I wake up.
I'm splitting the cals between a light breakfast and heavier dinner.
Would like to make breakfast even lighter so save more of that 1500 for end of day, but this current split is working well (basically 500 then 1000).
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
crunch time
So I have basically a week left in the month and I'm just getting over this giga-cold.
So I'm going to have to have a kick ass week to meet my goals :(
Been doing some studying, and I think one problem is that there are two methods for "guesstimating" BMR (the basic caloric burn rate for the day), and all of my apps and things use a formula that makes it much higher than the "other" formula some people use.
I have no doubt, based on my (terrible) results, that on days I think I'm "breaking even" I'm probably in a surplus, and days in which I think I'm in a deficit are probably just breaking even or something like that.
So I need to cut way back. I'm now shooting for 1500 calories a day.
Certain critics might think this is a prelude to a long fast :p Sigh.
Yesterday's calories was ~1950, so not quite there yet. Let's see how we do today.
Have I mentioned the best way to lose weight is to not get fat to start with? :/
So I'm going to have to have a kick ass week to meet my goals :(
Been doing some studying, and I think one problem is that there are two methods for "guesstimating" BMR (the basic caloric burn rate for the day), and all of my apps and things use a formula that makes it much higher than the "other" formula some people use.
I have no doubt, based on my (terrible) results, that on days I think I'm "breaking even" I'm probably in a surplus, and days in which I think I'm in a deficit are probably just breaking even or something like that.
So I need to cut way back. I'm now shooting for 1500 calories a day.
Certain critics might think this is a prelude to a long fast :p Sigh.
Yesterday's calories was ~1950, so not quite there yet. Let's see how we do today.
Have I mentioned the best way to lose weight is to not get fat to start with? :/
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Sick days
I got hit with a mack truck of a sinus infection, which hopefully will be on the mend soon, especially since controlling calorie intake is really challenging when you feel like crap (and no, this is not the sort of sickness where you puke and feel crappy that way, alas!).
Calories:
18th: 1800
19th: 2300
20th: 2600
Steps: 18th was 9k, but the rest was about "bleh" due to The Sickness.
Comment:
It is crunchtime. I simply have to accomplish my goals, as the new year is rolling on, and we're planning a large trip for April, and I want to be thin enough to enjoy the trip without thinking about anything.
The 18th reflects the "war on hunger" I've been fighting, with generally effective tactics, but on Thursday I began getting a cold which hit full on Friday morning. It's super hard to be spot on, but I have to at least tread water until this cold is gone so I can hit this thing REALLY HARD.
I haven't weighed myself (all the fluids I'm taking and such are going to skew that) but I did measure myself, no changes there good or bad :(
Calories:
18th: 1800
19th: 2300
20th: 2600
Steps: 18th was 9k, but the rest was about "bleh" due to The Sickness.
Comment:
It is crunchtime. I simply have to accomplish my goals, as the new year is rolling on, and we're planning a large trip for April, and I want to be thin enough to enjoy the trip without thinking about anything.
The 18th reflects the "war on hunger" I've been fighting, with generally effective tactics, but on Thursday I began getting a cold which hit full on Friday morning. It's super hard to be spot on, but I have to at least tread water until this cold is gone so I can hit this thing REALLY HARD.
I haven't weighed myself (all the fluids I'm taking and such are going to skew that) but I did measure myself, no changes there good or bad :(
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
January 16
Calories: 2190
Steps: 3000
Comment:
Not good enough re: calories. Also need to get back in the exercise groove (long holiday weekend and all that).
I do feel like the increase in water intake, use of almonds, etc. is starting to help.
Steps: 3000
Comment:
Not good enough re: calories. Also need to get back in the exercise groove (long holiday weekend and all that).
I do feel like the increase in water intake, use of almonds, etc. is starting to help.
Monday, January 16, 2017
Weekend Jan 14 and 15
14th calories: 2300
14th steps : 3000
15th calories: 2600
15th steps: 4000
Meh. Not awesome. New week, gotta do better.
14th steps : 3000
15th calories: 2600
15th steps: 4000
Meh. Not awesome. New week, gotta do better.
Saturday, January 14, 2017
January 13: Green Tea, Almonds and Apples
Steps: 3000
Calories: 1800ish
Comment:
On the advice of my "nutritional advisor," I'm going to attempt to use green tea (first "real" green tea, then green tea extract when it arrives in the mail), raw almonds and apples (once they arrive from the department of grocery acquisitions) to curb hunger more. Hunger is the culprit here, and why it's been a struggle to maintain a calorie level that is going to bring about a reasonably steady and reliable weight loss.
I've noticed in the past that raw almonds have a "don't need to eat a lot to feel full" quality to them. I've noticed that about apples too!
Calories: 1800ish
Comment:
On the advice of my "nutritional advisor," I'm going to attempt to use green tea (first "real" green tea, then green tea extract when it arrives in the mail), raw almonds and apples (once they arrive from the department of grocery acquisitions) to curb hunger more. Hunger is the culprit here, and why it's been a struggle to maintain a calorie level that is going to bring about a reasonably steady and reliable weight loss.
I've noticed in the past that raw almonds have a "don't need to eat a lot to feel full" quality to them. I've noticed that about apples too!
Friday, January 13, 2017
January 12: DANG YOU SCALE
So my weight didn't budge at all (ok, it went down .2, not worth mentioning, barely).
SCREW YOU SCALE.
I'm not toooo worried about my January goals yet, as I know my "weight loss pattern" is "hold hold hold DUMP," but it's still freaking annoying,
Oh well.
I suppose I should make 1800 the true target, and I suppose I should do one meal a day IF again.
SCREW YOU SCALE.
I'm not toooo worried about my January goals yet, as I know my "weight loss pattern" is "hold hold hold DUMP," but it's still freaking annoying,
Oh well.
I suppose I should make 1800 the true target, and I suppose I should do one meal a day IF again.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
January 11
Calories: 1800
Steps: 9000
Comment: Overshot the mark on my goal for Wednesday and Thursday, but not by a lot.
Steps: 9000
Comment: Overshot the mark on my goal for Wednesday and Thursday, but not by a lot.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Jan 9 and 10
Cals for Jan 9: 2200
Cals for Jan 10: 2300
Steps 9k for each day.
Comments:
Good week so far, though my goal for today and tomorrow is to hit 1700 calories, to ensure I'm on target for my monthly goals, while maintaining my step goals.
Cals for Jan 10: 2300
Steps 9k for each day.
Comments:
Good week so far, though my goal for today and tomorrow is to hit 1700 calories, to ensure I'm on target for my monthly goals, while maintaining my step goals.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Sunday, January 8, 2017
January 7th
Calories: 2285
Steps: bleh
Comment: Not a lot of steps, but a decent, non-blowout Saturday, so a win.
Steps: bleh
Comment: Not a lot of steps, but a decent, non-blowout Saturday, so a win.
Friday, January 6, 2017
Jan 2-6... really!?
The funny thing about maintaining this blog is it is easy to fool yourself into thinking you are just "a day behind." All week I thought, "gotta update it, meh, it'll wait, I'm not that far back." And now here we are :p
So let's do a summary:
Steps: Monday was the only day that I did not hit my goal of 9k or more (that day was 5500 steps). The rest of the days were at least 9k, usually topping out at 9200-9300.
Calories:
My low was Monday, at 1800 calories. My high was 2200. So a pretty good week! Today will be something like 2300 also.
Measurements:
Weight: The same as last week. A little frustrating, but I had a non-scale victory, so I know that this is just the scale being a liar, as usual.
Measurements:
Was down 1" in the chest, so now I'm back to -3" since the start of this blog on chest circumference. This is great because the chest size affects my day to day life more than any other measurement (the ol' man boobs make shirts uncomfortable, more so than the gut). The waist was basically the same, I could have said I lost maybe a quarter inch, but I like to be conservative (it's easy to fool yourself via posture or whatever). I'm still at -3" overall on the waist.
So with a significant size reduction AND a good week eating and exercising, I know that the unchanged weight number is just scale BS and I'm optimistic this will show soon.
JANUARY GOALS:
New year, new goals.
My goals for weight are:
-4 lbs by Friday the 27th. Obviously this assumes a 1 lb per week loss which hopefully I can do better than, but I'll be perfectly happy with this otherwise.
Size goals:
Another inch from the chest and waist.
So let's do a summary:
Steps: Monday was the only day that I did not hit my goal of 9k or more (that day was 5500 steps). The rest of the days were at least 9k, usually topping out at 9200-9300.
Calories:
My low was Monday, at 1800 calories. My high was 2200. So a pretty good week! Today will be something like 2300 also.
Measurements:
Weight: The same as last week. A little frustrating, but I had a non-scale victory, so I know that this is just the scale being a liar, as usual.
Measurements:
Was down 1" in the chest, so now I'm back to -3" since the start of this blog on chest circumference. This is great because the chest size affects my day to day life more than any other measurement (the ol' man boobs make shirts uncomfortable, more so than the gut). The waist was basically the same, I could have said I lost maybe a quarter inch, but I like to be conservative (it's easy to fool yourself via posture or whatever). I'm still at -3" overall on the waist.
So with a significant size reduction AND a good week eating and exercising, I know that the unchanged weight number is just scale BS and I'm optimistic this will show soon.
JANUARY GOALS:
New year, new goals.
My goals for weight are:
-4 lbs by Friday the 27th. Obviously this assumes a 1 lb per week loss which hopefully I can do better than, but I'll be perfectly happy with this otherwise.
Size goals:
Another inch from the chest and waist.
Monday, January 2, 2017
January 1
Calories: 2600
Steps: 3500
Comment: Steps were bullshit; probably should have had at least 5000; the vivofit from Garmin is terrible at detecting housework type stuff.
Steps: 3500
Comment: Steps were bullshit; probably should have had at least 5000; the vivofit from Garmin is terrible at detecting housework type stuff.
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