12 Week Weight Loss Plan Results
About 12 weeks ago (July 24th, to be precise) I started a 12 week plan to lose weight. The goal was simple: lose 0.5 pounds per week for a total of 6. I had a more elaborate 12 week plan for writing essays but this one was fairly simple.
I did have some specific plans along the way but for the most part that was filler - I basically "knew" what I had to do to lose weight. So...that said...how did I do?
It's probably tough to discern from that screenshot but the end result is I finished at roughly the same weight as I started.
Weight on July 24th: 240.3
Weight on October 161: 240.1
Although that represents a loss of 0.2 pounds, it's effectively a net zero change. Here are some thoughts on why I saw no real change through the process.
There were some weeks I wasn't very disciplined with my efforts. To lose weight, I am tracking my calories. I have a daily budget and as long as I stay at or under that total, I should lose weight. The problem, however, is that the margin for error is quite narrow.
As I explained to Brandon Writes in an email last week, it's quite easy for weight to drop early on in the weight loss process. I started this journey several years ago when I was closer to 300 pounds. But as you lose weight, you have less room in your calorie consumption - in other words your caloric deficit gets smaller and smaller. It's at this point where it becomes harder and harder to rely on CICO alone to lose weight; adding in exercise is a good way to help.
And that's where I had the most trouble over the 12 week span. I really want to bike to work more often but I didn't - sometimes I had legitimate excuses, like I was out of town for at least 3 of those 12 weeks. I physically could not bike to work. Sometimes it was raining. Sometimes it was dangerously hot. But for the most part I didn't have good reasons to not bike. And now we're getting to the end of outdoor biking season2, I don't have many opportunities to do it. I'm going to try, though.
As I type this, I got down to 238.1 on the scale, so it's hard to know what my "real" number is. I have an app called "Happy Scale" that registers your moving average to give you a number that eliminates some of the noise, but I haven't updated that in a while. I probably should.
Overall, I'm not entirely dissatisfied with my progress. I know it's difficult and I know what I need to do. I'm not going to make another 12-week plan, but I'm going to do my best to drop as many pounds on the scale as possible by the end of the year. Ultimately I would like to get to 200 pounds but if I can even get to 230 - that would be awesome.
One step at a time.