Weak 5th Week

TIMv4

I'm now on my 6th week. Had a bang up first 4 weeks. Started at 336, though the highest I've ever seen the scale show was 343. I might've hit 350 at some point but I didn't go anywhere near a scale at that time. For logging I used the 336.

Though I'm big, I'm no slouch and work a few active jobs which gave a fairly decent calorie pool to work with when I chose the 2 pounds a week option. My calorie budget is right under 2600. I'm usually 10-15% over the weekly goal even with some walking I've squeezed in.

I lost 15 pounds in the first 4 weeks. The 5th week I treated myself to a few of my old favorites, a slice of tuxedo truffle cake and some macaroni cheese salad (ha! They call it salad!) Even though those were calorie packed items, that week was my least over budget by 479 calories. I weighed myself a day earlier that week and came out flat and still at 321. Bummer but I looked at the other reasons that may have contributed. I had less fruits and veggies than I had been plowing through in the earlier weeks. I hadn't been as snacky on the 5th week but I hadn't stocked on some of those healthy items so I ate less overall that week. Exercise was about the same too.

So I made sure to get the stuff I had been eating back into rotation and ready at hand. When I weighed in yesterday, I was down 5 pounds! I know that'll slow down but I like the initial weight loss over these 6 weeks.

Overall, my energy is much more even than before. I don't need a nap between my one job and the other anymore. My blood pressure feels much more normal. My mind is clearer and little addictive snacks aren't on it anymore. Small sugary/corn snacks, cheese and nuts were the first to go since they really knock a punch into daily calorie budget. I had been on a chocolate peanut cluster jag right before I started. The first week I bought a small bag from Dollar Tree and that's the last time I had that little treat.

That 5th week I also took body measurements and didn't really have much to note. My neck was the main one that lost an inch. Apparently I should've started measuring my rear because even though the stock measurements didn't change much, my dang pants kept nearly falling off. And I wear a belt all the time. This week the belt notches noticeably changed to keep things up. I haven't yet done measurements this week.

I don't do meals really and just divvy the day up into 6 hour blocks for logging foods. It's kind of handy since I can eat a little more in the evening since I use end of day calories and beginning of day calories as the day changes over. I work at night and early morning so this works for me nicely. Eating before bed isn't much of a problem. Long walking periods has worked for me in the past as a calorie burner and I've worked some of that in so far. The only time I really enjoy walking is in the overnight morning hours. It's cool, it's quiet and the time flies while I listen to some Clark Howard podcasts. I usually walk for at least an hour but haven't done more than 1 a week so far. Weather has gotten in the way sometimes.

Some of my go to foods are the new chicken McWraps from McDonald's, Green Giant vegetable mixes (without the cheese) and CrunchTables, Chobani yogurts, Edy's fruit bars, flax bread turkey sandwiches, frozen fruits and no sugar added canned/jarred fruits. It's stuff I had been eating before as I've been eating healthier for some years as I'm trying to not totally poke diabetes in the eye and taunt it to come after me. But the excess calories from other grab snack items kept the weight from going down at all.

So in summary, even with a light exercise boost, being over calorie budget and not depriving myself, the weight loss is coming along nicely.

Great stories, keep those limbs a movin' !