WEEK 3 - The Omen

WEEK 3  |  January 24, 2017  |  Weight: 311.6 lbs  |  Loss of 4.4 lbs

I can't believe 3 weeks of no eating take out and not over eating.  I'm still eating the foods I like, just as long as they are home cooked versions in controlled quantities.  I've increased the quantity of side dishes so I can decrease the main portion.  For example, instead of 2 small steaks or 2 burgers, I eat 1 steak or 1 burger and a larger side of salad.

Another what I can only call an omen is the fact that the grocery store has started selling two salads that I haven't had since I lost weight in 2012.  One of my challenges is to find a side dish I like with my meals that isn't too terrible (compared to the pizza, or burger, or steak that I'd call my main) because I just don't like many things.  In 2012, my wife found a number of bagged salads I really liked and somewhere in 2013, all the grocery stores stopped selling them.  We've kept our eye open and just recently, we noticed the grocery store is selling them again!  This makes my meals so much easier to plan because I really like these particular salads.

Now that I'm about to start week 4, I have a new challenge ahead of me.  I have to eat a reduced diet for the next several days in preparation for a colonoscopy procedure I need to get on Monday.  My older sister was diagnosed with colon cancer so we all have to get screened.  I'm going to try and be strong for the next week and hope everything goes to plan.

WEEK 2 - Stick to the Plan

WEEK 2  |  January 17, 2017  |  Weight: 316.6 lbs  |  Loss of 3.6 lbs

Another great loss on the scale but at this point does not pose much of a challenge - it's week 2 for crying out loud.  If I can't stick to a new lifestyle for more than 2 weeks there's no hope lol.  Regardless, I've made this new lifestyle change the focus of my attention.   I learned through re-reading my blog over and over that if I never made health a top priority, I'd eventually lose sight of goals, what I was trying to do and ultimately fail.

Now, I'm keeping the lifestyle change in my sights daily.  One thing I've done is stop drinking for the short term.  We used to drink almost daily in the past (yes, bad I know).  Even during my success in 2012, we drank every weekend.  This time I've decided that I am going to have a routine that I am going to stick to for the first several weeks just to get the ball rolling - pick up some momentum if you will.  I've lost faith that I can "do this" and need to show myself that I "can" do it.  That said, I've developed a routine of repetition that I'm sticking to.  No drinking, no restaurants, and regular home cooked meals.  Nothing outrages at all.  No special diets, no drastic change in the kinds of food I like.  Just removal of the excess and take outs.

Once I get over the first 6 week hump, then I'll relax a little on routine and start changing things like adding exercise and swapping out some bad food for better choices.  For now, I just need to prove to myself I can do better than just reboot over and over.

WEEK 1 - Great Start

WEEK 1  |  January 10, 2017  |  Weight: 319.6 lbs  |  Loss of 8.0 lbs

Wow what a fantastic loss.  I got a little scared at the start of this week because the day after my weigh in I gained 3 pounds, but that quickly disappeared and I started on my track of losing it.  Like back in 2012, I am counting my calories as closely as possible.  I'm not overly concerned at this stage about what I'm actually eating as long as I'm counting calories and sticking to my daily limit.

I've always held the notion that there are two aspects to food during a lifestyle change and that is losing weight and eating healthy.  Both are great goals to have but they can be mutually exclusive.  One can eat healthy and gain weight and on the other side of the coin, one can lose weight and eat poorly.

Given I failed at both, I'm focused on fixing one right away and gradually into fixing the other.  If I try to calorie restrict and eat healthy at the same time, I am setting myself up for failure because the system shock alone will be painful.  So for now, I will restrict my calories but continue to eat the foods I love in controlled portions.

2017 Fresh Start

WEEK 0  |  January 4, 2017  |  Weight: 327.6 lbs  |  Loss of 0.0 lbs

Here we are, restarting again.  I guess it's a lot like when I quit smoking finally (It's been 6 years now) - you never quit quitting.  I feel that way about weight.  I know I want to lose it, I know I need to lose it, and I try and fail but I try try again.  Stepping on the scale now however I can see I've gained even more weight than the heaviest I have been in my life.  I feel tired, sick, worn out and my latest physical shows me with high blood pressure.  I've GOT to fix this and I've GOT to do it now.  My doctor wants me to start exercising (for 15 mins a day to start) and to try to get my weight under control so let's do this!

WEEK 4 - Still On Track

WEEK 4  |  February 1, 2016  |  Weight: 294.4 lbs  |  Loss of 3.0 lbs

So here we are on week 4.  With a little bit of a hic-up in week 3, I am happy to say that I am very pleased with this weigh in.  I've been weighing every day but only recording on Mondays so I do get to see regular fluctuations and how a day of certain foods, water intake, and activity can change what the scale shows on a daily basis.  This has helped me start to form better habits again.

I've been doing my best to follow in my footsteps from 2012 and referring back to my activities from then as well.  I was even able to pull up my meals from Loseit from 2012.  Right there that was a valuable thing.  I know exactly what I had to eat every day back then and it's amazing to compare what I was doing then with what I am doing now.

That said, it seemed to be that I was eating lower calories but the quality of the food didn't matter and I can sort of get that when I went from pure takeout and junk to losing weight.  To stay on track back then I had to ensure I was focused more on portion control vs. food quality.  Asking someone who's been eating takeout 4 days a week to start eating veg and other high quality low calorie foods is setting them up for failure.  So this time I'm really only focused on calorie and sodium intake.  As I get further along, I'll do what I did back then and start swapping out foods for better quality ones.  So far, doing this, here I am on week 4 and still dropping!

WEEK 3 - Weaknesses

WEEK 3  |  January 25, 2016  |  Weight: 297.4 lbs  |  Gain of 0.5 lbs

In looking back at my Week 3 from 2012, I saw that while I had a great loss, I also had a cheat day where I indulged in food I should not have had.  This week 3, I had a similar set of incidents.  If I had kept it to one occurrence, I think I would have been fine however it was more than one.  I am calling it a weak week.  Most of the week was actually pretty good but I had 2 events that caused this gain.

First, I agreed to go out to the pub after work with a co-worker.  My plan was to escape early and go home for a home-cooked meal or some other low calorie option.  What ended up actually happening was a giant pizza and hot wings.  Damn you pub food why do you have to taste so good!

The second event was sheer laziness.  My wife and I were going to roast a chicken on the weekend but we were both caught up in doing our own thing that we decided to go the easy route and just order food.  This was my second mistake.

Today (the day of posting, 2 days after my weigh in), I've already lost 2 pounds so I think some of this gain was sodium based water retention which is a good thing and makes me feel like I haven't fallen flat on my face all together.  Onward and Downward!

Week 2 - Movin Along

WEEK 2  |  January 18, 2016  |  Weight: 296.9 lbs  |  Loss of 2.6 lbs

Week 2 is a great success and I'm glad to see 2 solid weeks of positive weigh ins.  As I assumed, week 1 crazy weight loss was just my body's way of correcting itself and preparing for the new me.  This week's weight loss is something I expect to see regularly now.  Perhaps not 2.6 each week but an acceptable loss of 1-2 pounds a week rather than crazy high numbers like 8.

That said, I am not at all disappointed in this weeks weigh in and I am proud of myself for week 2.  I'm looking forward to the challenge of week 3.  If I can get the next few weeks under my belt, I will be confident I am no longer bouncing up and down like I have for the past 3.5 years and I'm moving along the right path.  Let's do this!