kingkeld's Journal, 08 January 2012

The King has ENTERED the building!

Yes, I am back! Cold is practically gone, and I am back on schedule - and I am SO happy about it. It's nice to be on track, it's nice to have things under control. I love it here so much better than where I've been for the last 4-5 days.

First of all, I apologize for not keeping up with your journals. I love reading journals, but I simply haven't had the energy. Work HAD to be done, and it just drained me. I tried, but I just couldn't find the strength.

Second, sorry for phoning in the journals. I will make them better again, I promise. Once my head is clear (and I am almost there), I will have more strength to jot down my thoughts. I have missed it. This is the best therapy one could ever get - I get so much out of writing my journals. I recommend doing this to everyone, weight loss or not, just to find inner peace. It's a great way to let off steam, share happiness, worries, success and so much more. If you're reading this, and not already doing a journal - what are you waiting for? You may think that you have nothing in particular to write about, or that it's not very interesting what you have to say, but you're wrong. Every person has a story, and we all want to hear it.

Back when I started my journey I wasn't sure what to write either, but I was determined to write every day, simply to ensure that I would be on this website every day. It worked. I stayed. That alone is reason enough to journal. Then, after a while, I discovered the comment section. Yup, it took me quite a while. I felt so bad when I realized that people had been commenting and I never realized. If any of you are still around, please once more accept my apologies for this. :)

Now, I am looking forward to my journaling, and this works even better for me weight loss wise. It makes me think throughout the day, trying to find topics to write about. Knowing that some of you guys are actually waiting up at night for me to write just blows my mind. I mean, it's still just me writing. I just write my thoughts, what goes on in my mind at this moment, and maybe something that I came to think about during the past 24 hours.

I really appreciate it, though. It's nice to know that people actually read this. It's nice to know that people care. It's also a good way for me to having to dedicate to this. I love it! Thanks, guys.

So, how have I been doing? Well, yesterday was Indulgence Day. I started with a new, lowest weigh-in of 81.3 kgs. Now as low as I would have liked to see it, but still lower than ever before. It does concern me a little. I need to do something to boost. Right now I have a deficit of 1500-2000 calories daily (when I'm not home sick and unable to do anything), and I am wondering if it's too low. I'm not sure if I need to eat MORE or LESS to boost my metabolism right now. I am tempted to go down to 1400 calories, but something tells me that this is not the solution. Maybe I should up it to 1700 or 1800 and see what happens. Get closer to the 1000 calorie deficit.

It's scary to start messing with the RDI for me. I really don't like to set it higher, as this logically indicates that I will either gain weight or not lose weight. However, I have also seen and realized that one can easily eat too little, and then not lose weight at all.

As you know, I have been a LOT more active the last few weeks, and I am really burning a lot more calories. I think it affects my body a lot, metabolism-wise, and I think I do need to re-adjust to it.

Maybe I should give it a week at 1800 and see what happens. I mean, the worst that'll happen is a week without a weight loss. It's not gonna kill me, and it's sure not gonna be difficult to do. My gut feeling tells me that this is the solution. I think I'll simply try it and see what happens.

I'll keep you posted.

So, yesterday we went to visit my brother and his family. It was an awesome day. We went for the last Christmas dinner, as we couldn't be together on actual Christmas eve.

It was a good day. I brought my bass guitar, and Brother and I jammed a little, I even learned a few new songs. I am considering suggesting a few of them for my band. Maybe they'll like 'em. :)

For dinner, we had traditional Danish pork roast with all the sides, and some really good ice cream for dessert. We had good quality beers and plenty of coffee. Boy, am I glad it was Indulgence Day! I did pretty good, I reached my limit and a little more and that is just fine.

Today's weigh-in is as expected high. It's 82.7 kgs, a 1.4 kgs gain since yesterday. Nothing unusual about it at all. It'll be gone in a few days. I've had gains MUCH bigger than this one. I'm curious to see if I will have a 2nd day gain too - this happens sometimes.

Those of you out there who do the Indulgence Day journey with me know how frustrating the fluctuations can be. It's just a matter of learning to expect them and know that they're temporary. Even when you DO know about it and even when you ARE prepared for it, it's still messing with you. At least, this is how I experience it. I brace myself for it, but when the weight doesn't come off for a day or two I start to mildly panic. And in the end, it all turns out well. Pretty much every single week I have had a new lowest weight in, so I really can't complain. I just want it to go a little bit faster. I'm getting impatient.

The scale seems to be acting better now. I'm not sure what the issue was. It was an "out of bounds" error. I wonder if me being sick changed something in the numbers that the scale could not figure out? Did it suddenly record negative fat percentage or something? I wish! :)

Today is another weight loss challenge.

Lodger, who is living with us for one more week, is having a going away party. She is moving back to Holland, from where she originates, in a week. So today she has invited some friends over, and we agreed to host. We're doing brunch. Just a small, simple one, some breads, cheese, cold cuts, eggs, cucumber, bell peppers and maybe a few more things. Trouble is gonna be the breads and the cold cuts for me. It's gonna be my lunch, and I'm gonna have to do reasonably good.

I have prepared by only having one egg (and nothing else) for breakfast, just to kick my metabolism into gear. I have also prepared by asking wife if we could please do a very low calorie dinner.

She came up with an awesome idea. She learned a new "Viking soup" recipe just earlier this week, as she was out visiting friends without me (I was home sick on Friday, had to cancel everything).

It's a chicken and vegetable soup, with the main difference that the vikings used apples instead of potatoes (as America had not been "discovered" yet, and we simply didn't know of potatoes in Europe at that time), and it's supposedly really good. I'm dying to try it. Maybe I can get the recipe to post if anyone is interested? :) I'll have to ask for permission first, though. Some things are sacred and not to be shared.

Today I did my exercise video for the first time in days. Being sick left me with absolutely no energy or strength for anything. I has to push through just to get out of bed and go to work.

So today I decided to get back into it, and did my 30 minute work out. Oh, how I missed it! It was awesome to get into it again and feel that I am doing something. It's weird, so few weeks ago I would not have cared, and now I actually realized that I missed it! I did make a few observations doing it.

First of all, I could tell that I hadn't done it for a few days. I could tell that it's clearly a good idea to do it daily.

Second, I could tell that I felt lighter! It's strange, as my weight hasn't really changed much, but I did seem lighter doing the exercises. It felt good, and I felt like I just blasted through them. What's up with that?

Third, I could tell that they made me happy. I like the feeling of doing something for my weight loss, I like the feeling of actively moving myself forward.

Fourth, after doing the exercises I feel REALLY good about myself. I feel like I have accomplished a goal for today, and that I am ready to take on whatever the rest of the day brings me. It's an amazing feeling, and I hope it's something that you guys feel sometimes too.

Today I am thankful for
- the scale working and not showing a horrible number after Indulgence Day.
- Coffee!
- Having done my morning exercises for the first time in days!
- going shopping in a few minutes.
- Hopefully a good day in friends' company.
- A new, interesting dish for dinner.

I hope your day will be as great as mine. Mine's gonna kick butt! Life is good!

182.3 lb Lost so far: 159.4 lb.    Still to go: 0 lb.    Diet followed 100%.

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2012 kcal

Fat: 71.36g | Prot: 101.93g | Carb: 235.81g.   Breakfast: Egg. Lunch: Leverpostej, Turkey Breast Meat, Frankfurter or Hot Dog, Cream Cheese, cold cuts, bell pepper, cucumber, swiss cheese, egg, french bread. Dinner: Chicken Thigh (Skin Not Eaten), Chicken Soup. Snacks/Other: salami, leverpostej, rye bread reduced calorie, Apples, kakaois. more...

3207 kcal

Activities & Exercise: Bicycling (slow) - 11/mph - 1 hour, Shopping - 10 minutes, Walking (moderate) - 3/mph - 20 minutes, Calisthenics (light, e.g. home exercise) - 30 minutes, Sleeping - 8 hours, Standing - 1 hour and 30 minutes, Sitting - 12 hours and 30 minutes. more...