Daily Updates

mil383

Day One 8/29/22: I'd like to make this thread for myself to keep me accountable (so essentially, this will be my daily "accountability" diary). Feel free to join in if this seems like it'll be helpful, or help cheer me on!

I plan to do intermittent fasting along with calorie counting. I weighed myself today for the first time in a while...the last time I weighed, maybe about a month ago, I was 137 lbs (I got up to 147 during the peak of the pandemic). Today I was 144.4 pounds...and this was after a couple of relatively healthy days, which made me realize that things are getting out of hand again. So here I am...I want to take this seriously this time. My goal is to get to 130 pounds (I haven't seen that weight since probably 2011). I'm 5'4" so 130 would be an ideal weight for my height. I wouldn't keep teetering on needing to replace my wardrobe.

So today, I fasted today until 1:45 and then had a yogurt parfait, two fried eggs with peppers, and a banana. I hope to have about a 600 calorie "lunch" and then another 600 calorie "dinner" which would leave about 200-300 calories for a snack. Today, I skipped the snack, even though I was hungry enough for one at around 4:30...work just got too busy for me to grab something. For dinner, I had a grilled sausage on a roll, and about a potato worth of cut up fried potatoes.

I took a walk after lunch and another walk after dinner and this morning I did 30 minutes of Apple Fitness workouts.

I plan to weigh every other day.

Alcohol has always been a catalyst for me, so I'm hoping to abstain on a more regular basis (and I happened to listen to the Huberman Lab podcast about alcohol's affect on the body/brain and now I'm tempted to quit drinking altogether...which will likely be easier said than done...maybe one or two glasses a week?).

My updates won't always be this thorough...I just feel excited to be "on track" for once...but I'm sure I won't have the time to write such lengthy posts every day.

I'm feeling great about today...which has me feeling motivated to make tomorrow another good day.

mil383

Day Two 8/30/22: Feeling good today as well. I fasted until about noon and then had a bigger lunch today than yesterday, which included a couple of yummy apple cinnamon muffins (mini ones) and an Apple Crisp Macchiato, which I didn't know was already available at starbucks until I went to the grocery store and the little corner coffee shop had the signs up for PSLs and fall flavors. I'll get the Pumpkin Spice next time. I've been looking forward to the apple crisp coffee all year.

I didn't formerly exercise today, just a few walks with the dog. I plan to get up early tomorrow morning to workout before my daughter starts school (and she starts SO early this year). So it's time for bed.

Husband had a couple of glasses of wine tonight and I didn't...which was a major win for me. Weighing in tomorrow morning.

beccaboo1276414

Wtg!!

mil383

Day Three 8/31/22:

Got up at 5:45 AM and went out for a 3 mile run. Felt great. After morning weigh in (140.8)…I’m down over 3 lbs, which is both encouraging and deceiving, because I know I lost water weight, and I worry that in two days when I weigh again, it’ll have either stalled out, or gone back up a bit. I’m determined not to get discouraged if that’s the case. I know this lifestyle change is and will be good for me. I need to keep up the dedication, regardless of the fluctuations on the scale.

I didn’t fast today. I went to get coffee with a friend at 10 AM so I had a fancy latte and a yummy apple pastry. When I got home, I made myself a very yummy grilled cheese. Then my husband made hamburgers for dinner. When I started writing this post, I was down on myself, but now that I recall all the delicious foods I ate today and the fact that I still came in with a deficit, just not as large as I hoped, I’m really happy with my day.

Plus, my husband is having a cocktail this evening and I’m choosing not to…which is another huge win for me.

So I’m still calling Day 3 a success.

mil383

beccaboo1276414 wrote: »

Wtg!!

Thank you!!

mil383

Day Four, September 1, 2022:

I stayed up late last night watching the Penn State game with the husband (crazy game), so this is a recap, but obviously a day late. I got coffee with a friend in the morning, and because those dang fall flavors are available, I couldn’t pass up on a pumpkin spice latte. It was well worth the calories, but I hope not to make it a regular thing. I can make my own cappuccinos at home this year, so I typically don’t get them at coffee shops this often. I also got a croissant, which was a fun treat.

I didn’t fast again, and I need to get better at that again. No coffee dates this morning, so I should have a better day in that regard. Yesterday morning, I did a short 20 minute HIIT workout and made healthy food choices after the coffee trip, we even went out to eat for dinner and I got a grilled chicken club with avocado…delicious, and pretty nutritious.

I also passed on beer during the Penn State game, which I feel pretty smug about. Before this week, I was a pretty regular, every evening drinker. Earlier this week, I listened to the Huberman Lab podcast from a few weeks ago about how alcohol affects the body and brain and it made such a strong case that any alcohol, even a glass of wine a night, or a few on the weekends, is really potentially harmful. It’s hard for me to keep consuming something I know has a high risk of giving me cancer or will raise my level of anxiety. I should check if he did an episode on the harmful effects of sugar, lol.

Today, the whole family is home/off work/off school, and since I work from home (I sell jewelry on Etsy, but my shop keeps me busy…it’s a full time thing, which is great, but I tend to have to work even on holidays), I plan to make today a “light” day for work. I only have half a dozen orders that need to ship, so it shouldn’t take too long. Happy Friday!!

mil383

Day 5, Sept 2, 2022

I’m writing this while taking my dog for a walk. I stopped at a cute little pavilion that has a couple of benches underneath but for it’s delightful appearance, it’s overrun with mosquitoes so this is going to be quick.

Today was good. I was really active. Fasted until 1 PM and broke my fast with about a 600 calorie lunch, then a snack of air popped popcorn at around 3 PM…and just before this walk, I had about a 900 calorie meal of Breakfast for Dinner…which consisted of a Belgian waffle, blueberry topping (the real sugary kind) and syrup, and homemade whipped cream. My husband spoils me and my kids. It was delicious.

It was a good day.

ETA my weigh in was somewhat what I expected/feared. I essentially leveled out with what I was 2 days again (141)...It sent my mind to those mean places "this isn't working" "you're probably not counting as closely as you should be" "you might as well just give up". But then I took a few deep breaths and decided that even if the number doesn't shift, I feel really good...I'm practicing restraint, which I hadn't been doing AT ALL for the past few months...when I wanted a donut, I ate a donut...when I wanted to then have a bowl of ice cream after dinner, I had the bowl of ice cream regardless of all the other meals/snacks I had throughout the day. I really need to cut back on sugar. Hmph.

mil383

Day Seven, Sept 4, 2022

I am calling yesterday a “maintenance day”. I lost about 20 pounds back in 2008 using the CICO method and one day a week I always had a sort of “up day” where I ate around the same calories I burned.

This time around, I think I’m doing a worse job of accurately tracking everything, so we’ll see if I end up with the results I want, but even though I indulged a lot yesterday, I mostly got back on track today. Dinner could have been better (husband made big burritos that I’m guesstimating were about 700 calories).

Otherwise, today was wonderful. I rode my bike to the gym, did a good workout, did a bunch of house maintenance stuff (changing out cat litter/cleaning sheets from the kids’ beds). I also made a few new charms for my jewelry shop and photographed them. I’m in the process of editing the images to get them listed tonight.

All in all, it was a really productive day.