Current weight: 288 lbs,
Total weight loss: 17.8 lbs.
I actually started this post last night – after a few days of frustration.
The beginning of the week started well and I even reached my first Meaningful Mini-Goal of 277.9 pounds on Wednesday, which was really exciting. But the end of the week didn’t go as well, and I found myself this morning at 288 pounds.
In reviewing the week, I had 91 grams of carbohydrates on Wednesday. This was more than the allotted maximum of 50 grams, but not by a huge amount. Thursday started out as a good day, but then I began to have some cravings – more for starches than sweets. That evening, I ended up having 2 small pieces of cheese pizza. Although it wasn’t a lot of extra food, the problem was that I ate them because I craved them and not because I was hungry. I mean I had already eaten dinner!
But then on Friday, I ended up going completely off program again. It started with my typical internal dialogue and ended up with me eating all sorts of junky food.
Some differences this time:
- I didn’t record my calories on Friday (or Thursday either) which is too bad – I just couldn’t convince myself to keep track or to do it.
- I stopped eating early last evening, which I think is a good thing, but also unusual for me. As I’ve mentioned before, typically on days when I overeat, I eat well into the night despite being full, even if uncomfortably full. This is especially true when I am starting (or re-starting) a new diet the next day. But yesterday, I got fed up with my eating in the early evening, and I just stopped.
It’s the dieter’s Last Meal Phenomenon: Eat whatever you want and as much as you can before tomorrow. When you will start again.
So, here I am this morning at 288. I know this is not all actual fat gain, but it still stinks to see it. My guess is that it’s a combination of real weight gain and also fluids. And the fluids are probably from the extra carbohydrates, salt and my period. The killer trifecta – ugh.
Reassess and Recommit
Last night, I was thinking of what to do and how to handle these last two days. And how to get re-energized and back on track. I decided using a two step process may be helpful: Reassess and Recommit.
1. Reassess
To start, I looked at where I am and where I was.
The last time I was this weight was about Day 39, which is 29 days ago. And even though my scale trend has been going overall down, these last couple of weeks the line seems to have been overall flatter, as seen below:
I think there were a few recent hiccups, starting from the first mini-binge all the way to this past week, which have slowed down my progress a bit. I also haven’t been sticking to the all-day fasting schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday as much as before, but I still have been doing intermittent fasting most days by skipping breakfast.
But, the overall trend of the scale is still going down. And that is a good thing – something I haven’t been able to accomplish in the last few years.
And besides the scale, there have been so many other positives these last 68 days:
- I feel better overall.
- I have been eating a broader variety of nutritious and healthy foods.
- I have lost inches, decreased clothing size, and reached my lowest weight in over 2 years.
- My blood pressure is normal. (!!)
- I am becoming fitter. (Remember, it’s all relative…)
- My blood work is normal.
Wow. When looking at these things together, I have to say that I’ve had some significant progress over the last 68 days. And overall the changes haven’t been that hard to incorporate into my life.
This week, I worried that I had started to lose focus. That I had begun the slippery slope of getting back into my old habits. And that scared me. But in reassessing, I realized how much I have accomplished which provided me encouragement.
2. Recommit
I have to say that in reassessing my current situation, my starting point and my progress, I realized that the changes I’ve made have already had quite a positive impact on my health, beyond just the numbers on the scale. This is definitely motivating and more reason to recommit to the process.
The next step was reviewing the reasons that I started this wellness endeavor. And all the feelings and frustrations that I experienced on that first day, and so many times before. And then I reviewed the plan that I had put in place and I realized that it didn’t need any changes or tweaks. I had been following it well, and it had been working. I just needed to keep going.
And finally, I recommitted. I recommitted to myself.
I recommitted to this entire process of gaining health and wellness – including whatever challenges and setbacks come with it.
I look forward to the many positive changes I will see over the next 32 days and beyond.
Day #68:
Current weight: 288 lbs
Total weight loss: 17.8 lbs
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