Week 1 in Review

Week 1, Monday, 10/5/15, Weight: 148.8 lbs.

Week 2, Monday, 10/12/15, Weight: 145.2 lbs <– current stats

So, that’s a loss of 3.6 lbs.

What?!  That’s too much weight lost (in one week).  I’ve read over the years that in order to lose a pound of fat, I need to eat 3500 fewer calories.  So, to lose one pound in a week, that’s 3500 calories / 7 days = 500 fewer calories per day.  My impossible math is: 3.6 lbs x 3500 calories per pound / 7 days = 1800 calories cut out per day, each day for the last seven days.  Even though I am not counting calories, I am positive that I’ve not cut out this number of calories to make this a fully “real” weight loss.

So, where did that weight go?  I’m pretty sure: I lost water weight.

Here’s a link to a quick description of this:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/confusing-weight-loss-concepts-cleared/story?id=20179897#1

Hopefully I lost a tiny bit of “real” weight too—and hopefully most of it fat (wishful thinking, I know).  Though this “water weight” loss points out to me that I need to ensure that I am well hydrated during this process.  I am already an avid water drinker (never bored by it, and never craving soda or juice), but perhaps I will start to tally my daily water intake now.  It can’t hurt.

Also, as I mentioned last time, bone loss can occur while cutting calories.  That’s SCARY, and I hope that’s a negligible portion of my weight loss.  In order to avoid bone loss, I have to exercise.  In reference: http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/news/20061211/bone-loss-can-be-effected-by-weight-loss

That article isn’t clear on what kind of exercise to do.  But I remember from reading Strong Women Stay Slim that weight-bearing exercises are important (jogging, lifting weights, jumping) versus non-weight-bearing (such as swimming and biking, I think).  I’m already an almost-daily walker, and currently upping my jogging, but weight training is a different story.  I am not joining a gym, and I don’t have a weight set at home.  The next best thing I’m going to try is to not shy away from (safely) lifting regular objects at home.  I can certainly incorporate daily lifting of my dog (32 lb), a 12-inch cast iron pan for dinner (heavy!), and working with tools in the garden/garage.  No more passing up carrying laundry baskets up and down the stairs, since that’s part of my new workout!

Back to how I did with my guidelines this past week:

1. Keep a food diary.

Check, yes, I did!  I’ve kept a log every day of what I’m eating and when.  The most interesting thing is how much I crave dessert and sweet carbs.  It is currently so hard not to eat dessert after every evening’s dinner.  But I am being patient, and hoping I eventually become less addicted.  In the meantime, I’m eating fresh (whole) fruit after dinner as my “dessert”.

2. Have a support group.

Check, yes, my husband and 3 friends are aware of my guidelines and goals.  My husband is here for the daily grind, and supporting me in my weakest hours of wanting to eat dessert (he says, “no, stick to your plan” and “I’m so proud of you”—very cool).

3. Official weigh-in on Monday.

Check, yes.

4. Set specific, realistic goals and rewards.

Check, yes.

5. Eat smaller portion sizes of everything.

Pretty well, yes.  I have definitely reduced the amount of food I’m eating at meals.  I actually feel hungry in the morning, and usually before each meal.  I even ate a snack before bed once because my stomach was growling (weird!).  I know that people should feel a little hungry before eating, but I’m pretty sure that I was rarely truly hungry before meals before, and I just ate because it was “time to eat”.

Of course, I still have room for improvement, because it’s easy to put my “normal” amount (aka too much) on my plate, and then (hopefully) realize I need to put some back.  Some additional challenges when I know I’ll have to be vigilant about smaller portions are when: eating out, eating with friends/family, and attending special gatherings (holidays, vacations, etc).

6. Don’t make any foods off-limit.

Check, yes, I’m doing this.

I’m baking less often.  I have stopped myself from baking at least a couple of times over this past week—I’m not giving in to every urge as I used to!  For example, yesterday, I wanted to make a cake, but I knew that I wasn’t planning to eat dessert that day, so I told myself “no” to baking.  I spent the time making a delicious roast chicken meal with baked potatoes, gravy, and green garden salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing—worth skipping the cake!  I think I’ll bake the cake today instead, because my husband and I have “date night” at home tonight (a good reason to eat delicious homemade cake!).  Then I can freeze a few pieces for later, and send the rest with him to his office tomorrow!

I ate green vegetables at 2-3 meals per day, every day this past week.  Yay!  But, I ate dessert 4 times.  Pretty good for me (before, I was eating dessert pretty much daily, if not more than once per day), but I still have room for improvement.

7. Exercise a little more.

Check, yes, I jogged 3 times this past week.  Now I need to incorporate other exercises.

8. Eat the good stuff.

Pretty well, yes.  I definitely didn’t indulge in fried foods and sugar-y carb-y foods nearly as much.  I only ate out once (on date-night): a salad, but it did have fried chicken on it, and ranch dressing (on the side!).  So, always room for improvement, but I’d say I’m doing pretty well.  I’m more cognizant of how much butter and cheese and sugar I’m putting in things, and trying to reduce that a bit. And of course, eating smaller portions overall.

I also have reduced eating some of the simple carbs that I used to eat just because they are easy and yummy.  For example, I made tuna salad with mayo and veggies, and ate it on a bed of lettuce instead of between slices of bread.  My goal isn’t to go low-carb, but I realize that the (white) bread isn’t doing me a lot of favors nutritionally and calorically (is that a word?), so I skipped it.  Yay!  On the other hand, I made homemade buttermilk cornbread (with white flour and “regular” cornmeal), and ate it with chili because it was the perfect accompaniment.  Oh, and I put butter and honey on it because it is delicious that way.  And I don’t feel guilty about doing that.

Yay, I'm eating delicious, homemade food and losing (a little) weight without feeling (too) deprived.  Success so far...

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