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A couple of holiday weeks with an average daily caloric intake of 4500.
Not sure how I feel about this. Part of me thinks I was right to take my foot off the brake over the holiday, but another part holds that this was unbalanced and should not be repeated next year.
I'm getting back on the If It Fits Your Macro Wagon.
Previously I was using a 2200 calorie a day value and losing around 3 pounds a week. I'm going to go to a 2500 calorie a day meal plan, with 200 g of protein, follow that for a month, then see where I'm at weight-wise.
In non scale news, I walked 10.3 miles Saturday (knowing that Sunday would have some stormy weather before a precipitously cold front moved in today). That pushed me over my goal of 730 miles walked for the year (733.5, but who's counting ? :-P).
My weight-lifting regimen (following 5-3-1 by Jim Wendler is going well). I'm about to complete four 4-week cycles. I noticed results after the first four weeks (which was in early November), where my weight was unchanged over the course of a month but my physique was noticeably different. One of the benefits about being at a lower weight is that changes to musculature are more evident, and you don't have to wait as long to see results. It helps with motivation.
A couple of important moments for me:
1. someone at my new job commented, "You're not a large man." Wouldn't have happened this time last year when I was over 300 lb.
2. a relative's spouse approached me for weight loss advice. I steered him to a subreddit I follow and added a couple thoughts on the limits of willpower and the power of habit:
Willpower is a finite resource, and it will fade. You see that in the spike in gym attendance around the new year that peters out by February. Habit is like the old Spanish proverb: "Habits are first cobwebs, then cables." You can create a habit in about 50 days (for more info: google theXeffect).
That being said, for me personally, I got over the hump of getting the necessary initial willpower to start as a unintentional side effect of quitting nicotine gum. I tried Transcendental Meditation (self-taught, without any guru fees) after reading some stuff by Khe Hy (at https://radreads.co/). I successfully quit using nicotine gum in the middle of my last semester of a graduate program. It was a low-stress time in my life. I bought a GPS and started "gamify"-ing my walking programs. And I started sticking to a meal plan laid out in advance, of shortly over 2500 calories (98 g fat, 240 g carbs (including at least 45 g of fiber), and 180 g protein, to be precise).
This is all a process. One that does not end when you reach a goal. My next task is to transition into a sustainable maintenance. I fear failure at maintenance more than losing weight. I know I can lose weight. Maintenance is uncharted territory. In a way, my obsession with counting macros and reaching my goals filled a void in my life the same way overeating previously had. My challenge will be to find some new challenge, some new goal, to take the place that counting macros and losing weight held. I think of some possibilities, modeled on those of people I've seen successfully maintain weight loss, like that of getting faster, or of training for long hikes.
More than any superficial, cosmetic change to my appearance, I want to be healthy and enjoy increased functionality in my body. I want to be able to move over the earth using my feet, to lift heavy objects without injury, and to swim in the rivers and oceans near my home. And I want to be able to do these things for decades to come.
Happy New Year, community! Let's make it a good one!
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211.0 lb
Lost so far: 120.0 lb.
Still to go: 0 lb.
Diet followed N/A.
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Diet Calendar Entry for 01 January 2018:
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2445 kcal
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Fat: 164.40g | Prot: 70.23g | Carb: 187.31g.
Breakfast: Grits, Quiche with Meat, Poultry or Fish, Quiche with Meat, Poultry or Fish, Mocha Syrup, Granulated Sugar, Ranch Salad Dressing, Cabbage, Cheeseburger with Bacon and Condiments, Coca-Cola Classic (12 oz). more...
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gaining 3.3 lb a week
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