Osiyo. Dohiju? Hey. welcome back.
Five days ago I started my journey to lose 50 pounds. I need to lose 50 pounds for my health. My doctor is concerned that, while there isn’t much wrong with me right now, there could be complications coming up. I’ve been over 270 pounds for 10 years now – and probably more than 13 years I’ve been above 250. I was warned back in 2007 that there would be problems with metabolic syndrome, possible type 2 diabetes, and more. As of right now, I’ve managed to stave off those issues as well as many other issues. However, my cholesterol levels would be better served with a lower weight. That isn’t the only reason I need to lose weight. If it were I could just do like friends have and take a statin and not change anything else. It’s time I put in the effort to go ahead and drop the weight before my 45th birthday. A reminder that 50 is just the starting point. My goal is actually 97 pounds. I want to hit right about 200 and build up. I really don’t know how this will turn out as far as dropping then workouts or workouts while dropping. Whatever the experiment ends up being will inform others of what you can or cannot do while dropping weight.
I explained how this would all work, hypothetically, in my last post. I don’t know how this will work. I know what I can push my body to do or not do in a specified amount of time. I’ve cut my timeframe goal to July 1 to push as hard as I can and do whatever I can (without dying or getting sick). I’d like to report a 50 pound weight loss by then. That’s semi-realistic. Penn Jillette lost 105 pounds in about 90 days. I’m asking for 50 pounds in 40 days – that’s pushing it, yet I think it’s doable. Disclaimer: If you take advice from a Vegas magician or me that’s your own fault (neither of us are responsible).
With that out of the way, let’s see where the numbers put me. I created a spreadsheet to track rewards, projected weight loss numbers, actual weight loss numbers, etc. By today, I was supposed to be at 291.88 – I weighed in at 291. If I keep up my actual numbers of weight loss I’m projected to hit my goal the 22Jun which means I’m dropping too fast with a 9 day space left to drop weight I’d beat my goal of 247 by getting to 236 (hypothetically).
Now, what have I been doing to lose weight. Well, I changed a few things. Minor things. I am consistent with exercise. I workout (read: walk, dance, TRX/weights) once a day for about an hour. Now, this weekend, I didn’t walk on two of the days, but did spend more than 8 hours total walking, cleaning, picking up and moving things, and more around the house. The next change I made is that I only eat once a day. I am not really a 3-meal-a-day person. I’ve never been able to eat 6 smaller meals a day. It always seems like that advice is for people who are muscle furnaces and burning massive calories during the day. I’m not that person. I have lived off of one meal a day for about 20 years now and function well with that and maybe a light snack within a window. When I get outside that window and add Coke or something along those lines is when I see the changes escalate for the worse.
I limit my eating to one hour a day and I can eat whatever I want during that hour. If I’m hungry after that hour then I don’t starve myself I have pistachios or some veggies or even an apple. This is the way it looks for eating during my day. I wake up 6-7am. I spend some quiet time meditating and stretching – not nearly enough, but it’s a start. I weigh myself. I drink 16oz of water. I login to work and then have 2 cups of coffee – a total of 8 spoons of sugar and some creamer. If I have coffee with sugar I don’t want Coke the rest of the day. it’s about the same calories, but if I have one Coke I’ll drink them all. Then every hour I have 16 oz of water until I’m hungry enough that I decide to eat. I usually start with veggies and see what I feel like after I’m done. If I’m more hungry then I’ll make a burger or two. I sometimes make Ramen noodles then put them in a pan with sesame oil and soy sauce and cook them -tastes just like hibachi noodles. I usually add a little chicken, fish, or if I have hamburgers left over a hamburger. Again, during this hour I can eat however much I want so I track the calories and macros, but I try to start with veggies and meat first. I haven’t had anything processed (well Ramen I guess and I have had 4 cokes – but I mean like pastries, donuts, cake, beef jerky, candy bars, etc) since before Friday. I’m conscious of the Cokes I drink. I evaluate whether or not I want one. I’ve put them back and opted for 16 oz of water far more often than I would’ve thought I would do. I wanted to limit my alcohol intake. I don’t have a problem with it, it’s just that I justify having Coke with rum… I’m a Coca-holic. Again though, I don’t beat myself up that during my eating time I can eat whatever I want – and that’s part of it. So, I may question the choice and put it back, opting for more food then water later. However, I don’t limit what I can or will eat during that hour. I don’t want anything except veggies, meat, and yes Coke. Starting today, however, I’m limiting the Coke as much as possible – I’ve been eating and drinking later in the day and Coke doesn’t keep me from sleeping, just late at night it does mean I have extra energy to burn off and nowhere to burn it off. So, I either need to adjust my eating window earlier in the day or not have Coke. It is more beneficial to not have Coke than adjust my eating window – so I’ll just go that route. Then I can eat more food. It also means less sugars during the day (read: only the sugar I put in my coffee not compounded by Coke).
That’s about it for this update. I’m doing well. It’s helpful to some (not to me) to not limit what you eat or build in a “cheat day.” I figure if I eat whatever I want during my eating time and I don’t lose weight then I’ll adjust foods. When 90% of what I eat is veggies and 10% is Coke/Ramen/Meat I think I’m doing well. I also know that when it gets closer to the end I’ll restrict more and drink more water before cutting water weight. It’s “cheating” a little, but it’ll push me to the edge of my goal. Then I’ll have a base for the next phase of goals.
I’ve dropped 6.6 pounds already. I know I’ll be disappointed if I don’t hit my target of 247 by 1Jul. However, if I get within 10 pounds of my goal by then I’ll just push a little harder to get to that goal and I’ll be proud that I pushed 40 days to do something I’d only dreamed about doing Memorial Day 2018 when I weighed 331 pounds. It seems only fitting that I work this Memorial Day to 1Jul to hit another goal. It’s way past overdue. I think having this short term goal and the massive motivation behind it is what I need to get there. I would normally be down about this time in the process and pick back up in a couple days. But not stopping eating and having a goal with motivation has been, well, motivating.
Until next time. Dodadagohvi.
IN MY MIND BY WINK DOUBLEGUNS 