Starting fresh
I've neglected my calorie tracking for several weeks, and when I was counting my calories I wasn't doing so in any meaningful way. As a result, my weight stalled for months. Just now I tried to find out exactly how long via my Libra app, but data is missing since July...there must have been some change with how it or Samsung Health syncs with Health Connect. Something to figure out.
I'm sure I had excuses ready to dole out, but the reality is I did not put the time and effort into weight loss that I should have. I had a plan to fix this, starting last Monday (October 26). Months of uncertainty with where I would be at any given week were through: I knew where I would be for the foreseeable future, and made sure I had all the tools I needed to make it all happen.
It started out OK, but I didn't get past Monday. The reason was pretty simple: that week, we weren't eating properly all week (lots of takeout) and more than likely I didn't want to see the wildly out-of-proportion eating I was doing. Plus, it can be hard to estimate calories for restaurants that don't have nutrition information available.
So I started fresh again, on Monday. So far I've done OK. Monday I had 140 calories remaining in my budget (with some estimated calorie amounts for dinner, so there's wiggle room); Tuesday I was over by 125. I'm writing this on Wednesday so I can't comment, but I assume I'll end up over-budget again.
Empirically I have good, immediate results. October 29th I weighed myself at 252.6 pounds; Wednesday morning 249.8 pounds. Is that ~3 pound drop real? Probably a lot of water weight, but I do know that I avoided snacks at certain times when I might have ordinarily eaten out of boredom.
I haven't done a lot of exercising since my last personal training session almost 3 weeks ago but this week I started doing some basic movements in the evenings after work. What I'm doing is wearing "work" clothes during the day, and then changing into more comfortable, loose-fitting clothes in the evening.
That's when I try to get some movement in, even if it's just stretches. I am also trying to make sure to get in my 2 daily walks with the dog and be out there for a minimum of 10 minutes. If we had some dryer weather1 I'd take her up the quad trail and let her run around2 while I hike up the hill.
I feel good so far, and I'm trying not to think too hard about everything. I'm in phase 1 of restarting, which is being consistent with tracking; phase 2 is paying more attention to the numbers.
Now I'm off to get a snack of broccoli florets with peppercorn ranch dressing as a dip.
Reply by email Share this post Mastodon Bluesky
Mild, but also wet this week. My dog loves getting dirty so I don't want to have to give her a bath right after being outside with dirty shoes myself.↩
I'm also nervous about ticks after our experience last week, so this is admittedly holding me back a little. I need to let go, and just be diligent about checking her after we've been through the bush.↩