cwilcox007's Journal, 06 December 2010

My gym closed for a week after Thanksgiving and with all of the big family meals, the leftovers, the sedentary requirements of advanced football appreciation and my Catholic upbringing I was feeling pretty guilty as I crossed the threshold of the gym today. I had hit a plateau in the months leading up to Thanksgiving. A mountain of a plateau of that makes any sense. Since August I had been losing and gaining the same 5-7 pounds over and over again. I tried changing up my workouts, recommitted to my calorie tracking and nothing seemed to work in my quest to crack the 383 pound floor that seemed to have become a permanent fact of life.
A rational person would have recognized right away that there was a problem with my plan after 15 weeks of stagnation. But when it comes to food and diet I don’t think I would have ever ended up in my situation had I been rational. I had all the confidence in the world. I was hitting my nutritional targets and I was hitting the gym a minimum of four times per week and I had the trump card of incorporating spirituality into my weight management goals. And yet I hovered between 385 and 387 with occasional spikes back above 390. I wasn’t ready to quit but I was finding all of the effort to be somewhat frustrating. Were it not for the fact that I was physically feeling better than I had in 20 years I might have thrown in the towel.
So Thanksgiving came along and I did all the right things. I made plans of how I was going to handle temptation and how I might control my portions while giving myself a little latitude to enjoy the holiday. The actual meal went pretty well. I had survived it. I passed on the mashed potatoes and had an extra large helping of salad. I resisted second helpings and took the time to feel the satisfaction of appropriate portions. This was a first in my life. And then that saboteur mindset crept its way into the back of my mind. It was just an idea at first. Somehow I figured I could eat what I wanted so long as I kept track of it and paid attention to what I was doing. Before I knew it I was back to the habit of having snacks beside me while I watched my favorite teams play on TV and I was making late night trips to the fridge for a “little something.”
When the gym reopened and I made my way in today my intention was to go nowhere near the scale. Why undermine myself with the devastating news that surely waits? My son had even advised me to stay clear of the scale. I kidded back with him with feigned offense and asked, “What are you saying?” “Nothing... er… um… well miracles can happen but you haven’t been to the gym in like 10 days. I just don’t think you should subject yourself to the frustration.” So I went about my workout with a renewed vigor knowing that I had a lot of work to do to make up for my little vacation. I pushed myself hard keeping my heart monitor reading numbers that I usually limit to short sprints. I added weight to my weight lifting and felt pretty good about the work out. After the workout I was preparing to leave and the temptation to know what I had done got the best of me. I jumped on the scale and DAMN! 381. I was at the lowest weight I have recorded since I began my weight loss efforts last March. My new total loss is sixty-nine pounds and the 370’s which had been so illusive for the last 15 weeks are within my grasp.
I was pretty much on cloud nine after seeing those results. Suddenly my steps were lighter and my mood was brighter and any fatigue from the workout I had just endured was a million miles away. Still this didn’t seem to make any sense. I told the towel attendant that they should close the club more often because I had done better without going to the gym. That couldn’t be… could it? After careful thought I realized that We had been doing a lot of walking while Christmas shopping over the last week. I had put in a pretty hard day with a volunteer job I have one day and putting up the Christmas decorations at home had created opportunities for activity that I would normally have not had. And when I thought back to that late night snacking I realized that in the past I would have been noshing on deserts or sandwiches or chips. These days I reach for celery, carrots or pickles. Sometimes I get really crazy and have a beef stick or an apple.
I guess I don’t claim to completely understand how I finally broke this plateau but I know that it feels damn good and I’m fired up and ready to see what I can accomplish this week with that monkey off my back. The monkey that continually told me I was stuck and maybe all the effort was not worth it.
381.0 lb Lost so far: 70.0 lb.    Still to go: 82.0 lb.    Diet followed reasonably well.

Diet Calendar Entry for 06 December 2010:
2539 kcal Fat: 121.21g | Prot: 127.09g | Carb: 242.07g.   Breakfast: Bananas, Louisiana Hot Sauce, 98% Fat Free Oven Roasted Turkey Breast, American Singles, Multigrain Bread, Egg. Lunch: Sliced Ham, Tortilla, American Cheese. Dinner: Cheez-It Reduced Fat Baked Snack Crackers, Almonds, Wavy Original Potato Chips, Hot Dog Bun, Fat Free Beef Franks. Snacks/Other: Tortilla, American Singles, Turkey Snack Bites, Baby Cut Carrots Mini Bags, Colby Jack Cheese Sticks, Turkey Snack Bites, Almonds. more...
losing 0.7 lb a week

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Comments 
Wow, you have a really great story. The important message I get from your entry is that you have changed. Realizing that something has changed in our mind when it comes to food is a huge step towards a healthier lifestyle. I'm really happy for you. :) 
07 Dec 10 by member: MimiMuffin

     
 

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