...but staying in the race

Average week 7 weight: 94.1kg/207.5lbs Average week 8 weight: 93.1kg/205.3lbs Change: -1kg/2.2lbs

Oh nooo, I only lost 1kg this week after two weeks of losing 1.5kg+ T_T So saaaaad.

Just kidding of course. I'm still progressing at a pace I am rather amazed at, continuing to do the same things as before.

-

It was my "keto" day today so I made these mascarpone-protein-powder mini-cake? thingies? And a giant omelette.

Also had a NSV - I now fit into the "next" pair of pants that were too small for me before. Another proof that I am on a good path, and my progress has been very good recently.

Average week 6 weight: 95.8kg/211.2lbs

Average week 7 weight: 94.1kg/207.5lbs

Change: -1.7kg/3.7lbs

Dude, I'm getting close to Onederland! Sure, I don't actually use pounds myself so you might think it's weird for me to care about that, but heck if I won't use any opportunity to celebrate a milestone that I can 😆

Some very cheesy and very pesto-y pasta with not-meat-balls. And tomatoes, because they always be good.

I am not doing OMAD, but most days I do have one BIG meal and the others are small. That's my explanation for the pretty huge portion size 😅

Average week 5 weight: 97.3kg/214.5lbs Average week 6 weight: 95.8kg/211.2lbs Change: -1.5kg/3.3lbs

Yep, I'm definitely back to moving in the right direction ☺️

Since I'm back to tracking food anyway I'm also trying out this thing where I randomly alternate almost keto-ish (really low-carb/high-fat) days with high-carb days and it's kinda working for me? Granted, I've only been doing this for a week+ so it's still early to say much, but I feel like it's helping with not letting my metabolism settle into a rut. Which, for me, often leads to plateaus if not worse. And it simply makes things a bit more interesting and varied 🤷‍♀️

Unlike (I feel) most people, however, I do somewhat struggle to have my carbs all that high on the relevant days 😅 I ate more pasta and potatoes over the last week+ than I did in MONTHS previously. It's not that I avoid those things generally, they just didn't fit into my daily intake often since I favored other stuff. But I've been rediscovering them.

I also still do at least one fast-day a week, and I try to play around with lower and higher caloric daily intakes in general (within a reasonable range) to further keep my metabolism on its toes.

I was already happy this morning when I weighed in at a new LW, but somehow it took actual hours for me to realize that this also means I have reached 20kg (44lbs) lost! That's a cool milestone reached.

Average week 4 weight: 96.4kg/212.5lbs (not that it matters to anyone but me, but I actually messed up and looked at the wrong number when making the post last week, which I corrected now) Average week 5 weight: 97.3kg/214.5lbs Change: +0.9kg/2lbs

Knowing that the week included two complete rest days, some migraine-y days, bad sleep, stress and general blah, I am not surprised by anything whatsoever.

Obviously, January was not a progress month and not the greatest in general, but it is what it is. If we compare 31st of December to 31st of January, I lost 1.7kg (3.7lbs). But more realistically:

Average December weight: 97.2kg/214.3lbs Average January weight: 97.3kg/214.5lbs Change: -0.1kg/0.2lbs

So I technically am up with my weight, but, like, the smallest amount I would even acknowledge so hardly a tragedy 😂 I do intend to go back to VERY tangible progress in February though.

As for the goals I had:

Restart my 100k steps/week streak. ✅ (even if I broke it again immediately)

10k steps every day (starting the 6th, since 5th was a rest day for sure) ❌I didn't do it on the last couple of days, obviously

Fix my sleep routine that once again got messed up through vacation/holidays (this is honestly the most sisyphian effort for me, I keep having to redo it) ❌ Ah well. Try again next month 🙄

Fast one day a week. ✅

Read every day.✅

Do something creative every day. ❌

Spend some time learning every day. ✅

Properly track my habits/progress every day.❌

Do my stretches in the morning and evening of every day❌

Body weight exercises 4 times a week.❌

Start looking for a new job✅

Enjoy visiting my friend in Germany at the end of the month 💛💛💛✅✅✅✅✅ So again, not the best. I'll just say it was my warm-up month. And now goals for February:

Restart my 100k steps/week streak.

10k steps every day.

Fix my sleep routine.

Fast one day a week.

Read every day.

Do something creative every day.

Spend some time learning every day

Properly track my habits/progress every day.

Do my stretches in the morning and evening of every day

Which isn't a big deal, or it shouldn't be. I didn't feel like doing it and decided that I shouldn't push to extend my step goal streak if it made me feel resentful that I "had" to. I shouldn't start hating it, that is just extremely counterproductive in the long run.

And, again, it's not really a big deal. But I also drank alcohol yesterday, and I've allowed myself quite a few indulgences food-wise this week and I feel like I do have to stop, look back, and admit I'm slipping a bit. And I have to do that now, before it truly gets out of hand.

So, for accountability's sake, here's the plan:

I won't get to my step goal today either. I'll have a COMPLETE rest day, just to fully give myself a break that I seem to still crave for and do a bit of a "reboot".

That said, I will definitely go back to getting my movement in from tomorrow onward, and that's a promise.

Overly indulgent eating stops TODAY though. I won't do a fast, because I already have breakfast waiting for me, but I will plan one for Sunday and figure out how to spread out the "not so great" food I have purchased recently to not throw it out, but also keep it limited and return to indulging "in moderation" instead of "as a habit".

I missed a few weigh-ins recently too, and that is an especially slippery slope for me, so I am committing to no longer doing it from now on. It's not for everyone, but every day is the key for ME.

I haven't been regaining (much), but I have to look back and admit that progress has truly stopped for almost two months now. I'll set aside some time today to remember the reasons why I'm doing this and how fun it feels to make progress. February is coming up, and unlike last year, it won't be marked as "the month when I went off track" again. I will have tangible progress to show for it.

Average week 3 weight: 96.5kg/212.7lbs Average week 4 weight: 96.4kg/212.5lbs Change: -0.1kg/0.2lbs

Nyeh. My 100+k step week streak ended at one 😂 Absolutely fine though, since I still did more than enough.

My (almost) week at my friend's went amazing. Enjoyed every day and feel like we made good use of the time we had together (which, as always, felt way too little). We didn't laze around or watch some series together (which can be fun, don't get me wrong, but would seem a waste with such limited time).

Instead we took lots of walks with her doggo, walked around in the town, made lots of nice food together and for each other and I petted lots of cats (she has 3 and 3 more were upstairs, owned by her parents - it is a pet heaven!). I even played D&D myself for the first time in my life 😆My friend's bf is a DM and prepared a nice little campaign for us that we had a blast with.

Average week 2 weight: 98.2kg/216.5lbs Average week 3 weight: 96.5kg/212.7lbs Change: -1.7kg/3.8lbs

Told you I'm gonna get back to having 100+k steps this week!

All in all a pretty good week. This one, so far, is going well too.

I semi-planned to get back to 100k+ steps last week, but then I didn't. Sure, I considered pushing myself for an extra 10k on Sunday, and I could have... but meh.

(and yes, the week before was really low (compared to my usual) on that front, with two complete rest days and me only going for the minimum of 10k on other days, but that was planned and okay)

Also my RHR is up from where I had it down to, which is expected too - there has been a considerate amount of coke zero involved the last week+, and even just sips of it affects my heart rate noticeably. But I don't indulge often at all, and I felt like it, and I'm not in the business of denying myself anything completely.

This week is already on a very good path though, so I am hoping for improvements next week-report.

Btw, I feel silly even caring and bringing it up, but why the heck does it Fitbit take almost 48 hours to send these out after the end of the week? It systematically took longer and longer over the last few years - I used to get these by midday Monday, and now they arrive late Tuesday evenings, normally. I know I could technically quite quickly write up something to generate something like this myself, but I feel like that would be overkill and I don't care that much. Still, a slight annoyance. And yes, this is probably not even 1st world problem, more like world 0.5 problem...

It is perfectly normal to post your month goals halfway through said month, yeah? 👀

I'm not doing a December review because I don't feel it's necessary. My December goals had gone probably like half/half in achieved/flopped, but it was overall okayish, and I spoke of it in bits and pieces quite a few times already 🤷‍♀️

But I will set my January goals:

Restart my 100k steps/week streak.

10k steps every day (starting the 6th, since 5th was a rest day for sure).

Fix my sleep routine that once again got messed up through vacation/holidays (this is honestly the most sisyphian effort for me, I keep having to redo it)

Fast one day a week.

Read every day.

Do something creative every day.

Spend some time learning every day

Properly track my habits/progress every day.

Do my stretches in the morning and evening of every day

Body weight exercises 4 times a week.

Start looking for a new job