Time 4 Change

Bump up. It’s OK. Not as high as the last bump up. :)

Fast tomorrow!

It’s also my birthday tomorrow.

So wait, I’m going to fast on my birthday?? Absolutely! My birthday gift to myself.

New low!

So happy that I’m trending south. I know from experience that it takes real effort to lose weight. We’re beyond the “water weight” stage at this point.

Worked out once while in Milford, CT. Got on a treadmill for 20 minutes late Sunday night. It’s a start!

New low!

Had a fantastic day trip to Legoland yesterday - not only did I curb my diet, I also had a big fitness day (over 1000 extra calories burned, 15k steps)

Today is my cheat day, and the treat I’m looking most forward to? S’mores!

I also travel today. Going to New York. I get back Tuesday. I still plan to fast tomorrow.

Going to pack some gym clothes. Will go for a 30-minute walk on the treadmill tonight, then a 30-minute walk Tuesday morning.

Steady Eddie.

Fasting yesterday was easier than Monday! Loved that.

Today take my kids to Legoland.

Mentally prepared to have a wonderful day diet-wise in an otherwise unhealthy food environment.

Feeling great. Momentum is key.

First uptick since starting. Just as well that it is on the day I fast.

Oh yeah, I’m fasting today.

The good? I don’t have to plan what to eat! Easy.

The bad? You know, hunger and all that.

It’s 11am right now, and I have to say I’m managing well. Drinking lots of water. Made myself a cup of tea.

But as I type this, I feel the rumblings beginning.

Still no walking! What the actual f? Need to get moving.

Tomorrow I take the kids on a day trip. Up at 5am. Back in the evening. Not my cheat day, so I will have to plan extra hard. I think I can do it.

Happy I continue to trend down.

A little more than water weight, perhaps.

Tomorrow I fast again. (Yikes!)

Still didn’t close my exercise rings. What’s missing is the brisk walk. Today I resolve to change that.

Lost another pound. Water weight coming right off.

I’m intentionally not mentioning a tenth of a pound. That’s too micro for me. (Also, something different than I’ve done in the past.)

Today is Aug 1, and with it, the dawn of a new month. Going to shift my focus to completing my fitness rings on my Apple Watch, as opposed to trying to go from 0 to 30 minutes walking a day. Too much of a leap. This is a more achievable goal.

Dietwise doing good. Getting over the “sugar doldrums.”

Feeling good. Just had three boiled eggs for breakfast, and have a plan for the rest of the day.

Fasted yesterday. My head hurts a little today.

Already lost three pounds. *Happy dance*

Going to try to lose weight again. Here’s my plan:

Food:

Fast Monday and Friday

Cheat Sunday

Low-carb every other day

Fitness

Primary: 30 min. walk/day

Secondary: 10k steps/day

Measurement

Daily weigh-in after shower

Motivation

Daily blog every morning, title is my weigh-in, content is how I’m feeling

Short-term goals

Be consistent - get 21 days straight of following my plan

Long-term goals

Get under 300 by end of year

Let’s see what happens.

New current weight: 274.2

Weight lost in last week: 4.0

Weight lost since starting: 63.1

Like a snowball rolling downhill, momentum (towards health) grows. I went on that run I planned to do yesterday. I'm eating more fruits and vegetables. I'm adjusting to eating less again, not feeling so hungry all the time. And though today is a rest day from my 5k in 30m training, I plan on going for a nice long walk later. (It's a beautiful day in South Florida!)

I'm embracing this emotion, this movement, this motivation. Because it's so hard to achieve again once it's gone. Almost harder than if I never knew what it felt like in the first place. Like when you first start something. But having attained some level of successes and then failing is frustrating. Deflating.

But I can now say with some level of confidence that I'm back in. I'm working out. I'm eating well.

Still alive, doing well. Just been very busy, thus not more blogging lately.

But I've been better food choices. Improving every day. (Yesterday happened to be a ridiculously good day diet-wise, without trying very hard.)

Not coincidentally, working out again with some consistency has influenced what I eat. Not a big surprise. But I went for a run on Thursday with some co-workers. Then on Saturday and Sunday went to the gym and trained both days on a treadmill. Yesterday I walked two times in the middle of the work day. And today I plan to run again with co-workers.

Working out has led to better food choices, which has led to happiness. Joy. And Love. (For myself.)

Feelings of quitting crept up again. I gained 0.4 pounds. Gained. Is this all worth it? Intellectually, I know it is. Emotionally, I'm not always convinced.

Not coincidentally, I also had a bad day yesterday in terms of emotions. I'm a programmer by trade. I made some changes to a system that caused problems and had to be rolled back. I started a new job in January, so here is March and I'm still making silly mistakes. I was embarrassed. But my point is that feelings of quitting are usually mixed in when other parts of my life are falling apart.

All that said, I had a good day diet-wise. I was at about 2000 calories AND I ran 2.5 miles in roughly 30 minutes. So while I started the day awful, I ended the day well.

I thought I was doing OK. Eating more greens, watching my calories, tried to not go over 2000 as much as possible...

... but I'm still not working out with any consistency. I also had a pretty bad weekend in terms of sleep (woke up at 5am Saturday for a Disney day trip, went to bed at 2am the next day, woke up at 7am later that morning to be up with the kids) that I think messed with my rhythm.

The result is gaining almost half a pound, for my trouble.

The diet side I think I have more or less under control. I can certain do better, specifically at night after 9pm. I have some ideas (e.g., snack on Matza bread rather than whatever else I have at my disposal). And I'm planning on going for a run today with some co-workers. Hopefully that will spark something.