New start, day 4

OK, so today was a good day IF-wise. I finished eating last night at 7:30 and didn't eat until 4:15. So that's almost 21 hours. I didn't do that great of a job eating low-carb -- I shared a bag of popcorn with Oliver after dinner. But, you know, maybe Saturdays will be my one-cheat days :)

I weighed in at 166.2 before I broke my fast today, so that's down almost another two pounds from yesterday. We'll see how my weight fluctuates tomorrow since I ate popcorn tonight. But I had a pretty good long fast, and I'm planning another one tomorrow, so who knows.

Oh, and today wasn't great exercise-wise, but I did lead a horse that Oliver was riding on a 20-minute ride through the woods. So I guess that counts as a little walk. Maybe I should break out the Wii Fit or the treadmill later tonight. Probably not going to happen, since Oliver took a very late nap today (he didn't wake up until after 6) and is still going strong. But maybe :)

Until tomorrow ... !

New start, day 3

Today was another decently good day.

1. IF – I broke my fast at about 2:45 or 3 today with almonds, an apple and some cashews. Then I had taco salad for dinner and then another apple and some almonds for a snack. 
2. Exercise -- Josh and I went for a nice walk at lunch that lasted about 30 or so minutes and did about 2 miles around the lake at Bond Park.
3. Weigh-in -- I'll have to weigh in in the morning to see where I stand after today, but tonight after dinner and everything, I was 168, which is where I was yesterday morning, so hopefully I'll be down a couple more pounds tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I have to go help out at the Home and Garden Show that Triangle East is putting on. I have to get to Clayton by 8:30, so I have to leave the house around 7:45. I'll plan on skipping breakfast again and taking a snack or two in case I want to break my fast before I get back home. I'm scheduled to be there until 2 p.m., but Oliver has a birthday party, so I may be leaving early to go be with him. However, he is starting to get sick, I think, so he may not go. Either way, if I'm at the event over lunchtime, they supply lunch, but I'm guessing it'll be something like sandwiches and chips, and I don't want to eat that. So hopefully I can just eat a little bit of something and then hold out until dinner. I might do breakfast for dinner tomorrow or leftover pork shoulder. Or, if I have time, I might roast a chicken with some veggies. I guess we'll see!

New start, day 2

So, yesterday was a good day. I was hungry in the evening, but I think that was mostly just my body readjusting to a normal amount of food and not the constant influx of empty calories that I’ve been feeding it.

Progress toward goals:

1. IF – I ended up eating an apple and some almonds at about 1:30 yesterday, which meant I’d fasted for 23 hours. When I got home, I ate a salad with carrots and onions and bacon bits with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I might try to make my own ranch dressing from homemade mayonnaise to try to get something a little more substantial. I also ate some pork shoulder that Josh cooked in the slow cooker. Then I ate some almonds and cranberries before our walk and another apple when we got back. I wanted to snack all night, but I tried to keep it in check.
2. Exercise: We ended up going for a walk yesterday after dinner while Oliver rode his bike. We walked for probably 45 minutes or an hour, but it was a pretty slow amble, not a strenuous pace at all. 
3. Weigh-in: This morning, I was 168, which is down 2.2 pounds since yesterday, for a total of 6.2 pounds in two days. Most of it is water weight, both from the sunburn-related swelling in my legs and from the long weekend of overeating. But I’ll take it. Now I’m “only” four pounds away from where I was BEFORE the long weekend, and I’m “only” about 8.5 pounds from my lowest. I still have some serious work to do, since I’ve got 18 pounds to go to reach my goal by my birthday, which is only about 11 weeks away.

I don’t know that I’m subscribing to everything about the Whole 30 program. I’m probably always going to want to drink Diet Coke (and Whole 30 says no artificial sweeteners), but I’ll avoid artificial sweeteners in everything else, and I’ll try to limit my soft drink intake to just when I’m at home, not drinking it all day at work. I’m down with the no dairy, no sugar, no processed foods, no legumes stuff. I think cutting out cheese and peanut butter alone probably cuts 500 calories a day, if not more, from my diet. So that’s bound to help with my weight loss.

New start, day 1

So, yesterday was a fairly good day. I’m feeling energized about starting fresh and pushing forward toward my goal, which is always so close and yet so far away.

Progress toward goals:

1. IF – I ate lunch and a snack yesterday, and I haven’t eaten anything since then. My stomach is actually growling as I type this, but I’m not actually hungry. I find that a lot with IF’ing. My stomach will growl simply because it’s empty, but everyone assumes that means I’m hungry. My plan is to wait as long as I can to eat today. Right now – 9:30 – is 19 hours, but dinner is going to be my meal today (and going forward), so I brought an apple and some almonds in case I need to break my fast before I get home. If I make it to 2:30, that’ll be 24 hours, and if I make it until 5:30, that’ll be 27 hours.
2. Exercise: I walked for 30 minutes on the treadmill yesterday. I did the first program, which changes incline and speed, but focuses on high incline rather than on speed. I think the fastest it goes is 4 mph. Today I’m planning on doing some Wii. 
3. Weigh-ins: This morning, I was 170.2, which is down 4 pounds since yesterday.

I’ve also decided to model my meals and snacks after the Whole 30 program. Basically, it’s the same as low-carb, but no dairy, no sweeteners (including artificial ones), and no legumes (including peanuts or *gasp* peanut butter). One other thing they encourage is not to try to make healthy “versions” of food that you’re not supposed to be eating (like pizza or fudge or whatever) because the idea is to get used to eating cleanly and get rid of cravings. Satisfying cravings with a fudge-esque treat or a pizza-like dinner doesn’t get rid of those cravings.As the name suggests, you plan to do it for 30 days. So today is my Day 1 for Whole 30.

So, in addition to my apple and almonds, Josh is making a pork shoulder in the crockpot for dinner, and I’m going to eat a salad with that. Easy peasy.

The number, and the new rules

OK, so I’m going to post a number here that is fairly terrifying. I want to make excuses for it, and maybe some of them are valid. But it’s a big enough number to kick my butt back in gear and get back on track for the next 11 weeks (until my birthday).

174.2

Now for the excuses. My first, most valid, one is that I got sunburned so badly at the beach this weekend that my legs are swollen up like gross tree trunks and surely that’s adding water weight to the number on the scale. My clothes certainly aren’t 10 pounds tighter than they were before I left.

But, I did eat pretty much nonstop and without regard for carb or calorie or anything intake. I ate when I wasn’t hungry and when I was so full I wanted to burst. I ate constantly. So I do KNOW that some of that weight is real weight that I’ve gained over the past week. I’m just skeptical that, no matter how poorly I ate, I could have eaten enough to justify a 10-pound gain in a week.

Nonetheless, it’s a wake-up call for me. I haven’t seen that number on the scale since OCTOBER. And I don’t want to start the cycle of heading upwards again. I’ve just got to start making better choices.

I’m going to go back to an intermittent fasting way of eating. I really lost a lot of weight when I was following that plan properly, and I felt good about it. Plus, it took away the need to count and track and monitor. I just ate what I wanted in those five hours and lost weight. I’m going to try to restrict it to eating one meal a day, plus snacks in my five-hour window, and I’m going to keep my window much smaller when possible. I can graze a lot in five-hours.

So, today is day one of intermittent fasting. I finished dinner at about 6:30 last night and broke my fast at about 1 p.m. today. I would have waited a little bit longer (and I could have gone much, much longer), but today was a coworker’s birthday, and she picked when she wanted to go. So, we went at 12:45, and I estimate we actually started eating around 1 or 1:15, so that’s ALMOST 19 hours. I ate a burrito and chips, and I had a cookie when we got back, and I’m planning on making that it for the day. That would mean closing my window at about 2:30 p.m. It helps that we don’t really have food in the house, so I’ll make a sandwich for Oliver, and Josh can scrounge for leftovers. J

I’ll try to hold over until dinner tomorrow night. Or at least until 4 p.m. so that I can have a nice long fast (4 p.m. would be 22.5 hours) and get back in the swing of this intermittent fasting deal.

It wasn’t that long ago that the scale said 159.6 … almost 15 pounds lighter than where I was this morning. I hope some of this weight will come off as my swelling goes down, but I’m not going to count on it all going away that easily.

I’ve got to quit sabotaging myself. Any time I do well and have a successful “scale day,” I eat whatever I want, because I’m doing well. Then I just keep gaining and losing the same pound or two. Lately, my “bad days” have outnumbered my “good days” to the point that my weight has a generally upward trend. Definitely the wrong direction. I don’t want to screw this up after I’ve worked so hard for it. So, my new rules:

1. Intermittent fasting: Stick to one meal a day, up to five hours of eating, but no more than one meal in that five-hour window.
2. Exercise: At least 30 minutes of exercise, three days per week, whether it’s on the Wii or the treadmill or the bike or walking outside. Just get moving.
3. Weekly weigh-ins: I’m going to start doing weekly weigh-ins on Wednesdays. I’ll still probably weigh myself daily, but I’ll make Wednesday’s my official weigh-in. I think it’ll help keep me on track and will give me a way to see the big picture, rather than just the daily fluctuations.
4. Accountability: I’m going to post my progress on each of these goals to this blog every day.

OK, so, week one weigh-in is a shockingly high 174.2. Let’s get to it.

Up and Down

It's definitely taken me a few days to get back on track with my eating, but I think I'm there. This morning I was 165, after wavering in the 166/167 range for a few days. I've been eating better and I've also been taking a B vitamin supplement and a chromium supplement.

Info about chromium: Chromium picolinate has been used as a carbohydrate-burning supplement for some time and has proved very successful. (Chromium picolinate is chromium chelated with picolinate - a natural amino acid metabolite) It is also required in synthesis of fats, protein and carbohydrates, and may assist in preventing coronary artery disease.

Info about B vitamins: Double-blind research suggests that supplementing with vitamin B-complex multivitamin may reduce feelings of anxiety, perceived stress, and tiredness. B-complex vitamins are needed to produce energy from carbohydrates. Research has linked B vitamin deficiencies to PMS, so some women may benefit from supplementing with B-complex vitamins for symptom relief.

Anyway, I'm feeling good, but that could be just the placebo effect. We'll see if it sticks around! Hopefully I can stay on track diet-wise while we're at the beach this weekend.

Ugh ... once again

OK, so the trip was fun, and I paid very little attention to what I was eating. It's tough when I'm at a really nice restaurant with delicious food to practice restraint. At least I can say I enjoyed each and every one of the four extra pounds I brought home with me.

So Friday morning I was at 168 even. This morning, I was 166.6. Yesterday and today were "better" eating days, but not "good" eating days. This week I'm going to get back on track -- YES REALLY THIS TIME. And I'm going to track everything I eat so that I at least know what I'm eating and where all of that stands. Hopefully I'll be back closer to the 150s by the time we leave for our beach trip on Thursday or Friday.

Quick post

I just have time for a quick post here, but after a weekend of three-meals-a-day eating without regard for carbs, I  was up to 164.4 this morning. Sigh. I feel like I really need to adopt the attitude that mirrors the name of this blog and do this diet thing "for real this time." I keep messing around with these few final pounds (10? 15?) when I know the various ways that have worked for me to lose weight, and none of them include eating massive amounts of food whenever I want.

I'm seriously going to push myself this week to do at least 19-hour fasts COMBINED with low-carb eating. I'm going to be slightly flexible with the carbs, since I'm not eating anything else, but I'm kicking the sugary treats and breads.

I finished up dinner last night at about 8:30 and I've fasted since then. It'll be at least 5:30, probably 6 by the time I break my fast, so that'll be a fast of about 21 hours, give or take. I hope that when I get home and weigh myself I'll see something LESS than 164.4.

Oh, and on nice days, Josh and I have been going for a walk at lunch. I get about a 40- or 45-minute walk in, and I get out in the sunshine. It's a very nice way to get a little midday exercise! And way more invigorating than eating a heavy lunch!

OK, that's all for now. I'll write tomorrow to share the results of my fast today. I've got to start keeping myself more accountable.