Because pictures and graphs are awesome, here is the album: Drop It Like You’re Almost 30
TLDR: Lost 8lbs more in month two, totaling a 19.1lbs loss so far. Switched to calorie cycling, exercise changed quite a bit, got a Fitbit, made more spreadsheets, and find what works for you!
As with last month’s post, I’ll be starting this off with my positive thoughts for each pound lost! (Idea courtesy of u/groundstabber) Note: I don’t write down a positive thought every time I lose weight — I usually write them in bulk at the end of the month, therefore positive thoughts are not associated with a specific weight. :)
19 pounds, 19 positive thoughts
October
- I feel like I can actually do this.
- Water is the worst but I love it!
- For whatever reason, I can now actually visualize myself thin — for the first time ever.
- Eating unprocessed foods make me feel so much better.
- My path to losing weight is clear to me.
- My dog is getting healthier and happier, too!
- I can’t see it yet, but I know it’s happening.
- I’m having fun exploring my neighborhood on walks.
- I haven’t binged once despite the growing stress at work.
- Getting on (and back on) track makes me feel really good about myself.
- When things (calories) don’t go according to plan, I’m not beating myself up about it.
November
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I deserve great nutrition.
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I’m not depriving myself of things I love.
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I don’t have to be thinner to try things I was scared of before!
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I’m starting to see the changes!
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While my work situation still sucks, I’m not allowing it to ruin my progress or distract me from my health goals.
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Whether a low calorie day or a high one, I always go to bed full and satisfied.
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I’m feeling more confident in handling unplanned for activities.
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I’m beginning to trust myself in eating.
The Numbers
Timeframe: Nov 1, 2018 - Nov 30, 2018 (final weigh in for Nov: Dec 1 @ 7:15am)
Avg daily calories in: 1151cal (a little lower than I’d like, but not too far from my 1200cal goal)
Avg daily calories net (after exercise): 1093cal
Avg daily water consumption: 98.4oz
Total weight lost: 8.0lbs
Overall Inches lost (since Nov 12, 2018): 4.25”
BF% lost (since Nov 12, 2018): 1.7%
See the Difference
This month, I started noticing my face, neck, and shoulders change (face changes). I've also noticed my daily clothes fitting looser and my workout clothes fitting better (I bought my workout pants ages ago and they were a bit tight -- still are, just less so). Oddly, I also noticed there's a new slight curve to my forearm just below the wrist which I don't think I've ever had. Weight loss is weird.
The Details
Alright, so last month I made the switch to (mostly) unprocessed foods. While I’ve stuck with this plan for most meals, I was also struggling to eat 1200cal p/day. With just my normal food, I was only eating about 840cal p/day and was full, so I made a few changes. With the cooler months arriving, I added coffee to my daily intake (150cal for two cups) occasionally. In addition to drinking coffee a few times per week, I started mindfully calorie cycling and focusing on my weekly calorie intake average.
I started calorie cycling because I was feeling guilty and bad about myself for not eating as much as I should be. I was also starting to freak out about the side effects of eating too little — for instance, I love that I have a ton of hair and great nails. I didn’t want to lose those parts of me. On the flip side, though, I also felt incredibly sick and over full when I would force myself to hit 1,200cal on a daily basis. So, instead of torturing myself, I just go and have a burger or tex-mex a couple times per week. High calories? Yes. High delicious? Most certainly!
The eating that changed:
Dinner -
- 6 oz tilapia
- 4 oz baby bella mushrooms
- 2 oz white wine (for cooking)
- 2 tablespoons light butter
- Calories p/serving: 376cal
Snacks -
- Walnuts (200cal) and bananas (105cal) were once again my go-tos for the month — no more beef jerky because a) sodium and b) for two weeks of November I had temporary crowns in on my four front teeth, i.e. no tearing food
All calories based on the nutritional label and measuring. Note: I'm not super anal about measuring... for instance, I buy the mini bottles of wine for my cooking wine and know they hold about 6 ounces per bottle, so I "measure" my usage by eye and make sure one bottle lasts me 3 dinners.
My lunches remained the same throughout November (see previous post if interested). In October, though, I ate lean red meat for dinner. After several weeks of doing this, I was feeling ill after dinner so I switched to fish to see if it helped. Eating too much red meat has made me feel ill in the past, so I thought that might be the problem. While the feeling has been less frequent when eating tilapia, I can still easily go overboard on dinner and feel full-sick. It’s just easier to not eat too much in one sitting when I’m eating fish (I love red meat).
Exercise: This is still sporadic, but I'm getting more consistent. My dog couldn’t wear a collar for a few weeks because of an infection on his neck and has had another infection on his paw so we didn't get to walk much. While I am obviously totally capable of walking without my dog, it’s more enjoyable with him at my side. :P My weight began to stall towards the end of the month though, so I’ve gotten more serious about exercise. Now that his infections have cleared, we walk nearly every day (usually 30 min during the week, but if I get home from work early we go longer — Saturdays it’s 1.5 hrs and Sunday it’s 1.75 hrs hiking) and I’ve started doing daily yoga (Yoga with Adriene 30 Day) and doing a full-body dumbbell workout (found here). I do yoga before work, dog walk as soon as I get home, and weights in the evenings. I’m planning on doing weights twice (AM/PM) on weekends -- wish me luck!
Tracking: I still use LoseIt!, Happy Scale, and my own spreadsheet. I also got a Fitbit Charge 3 during Black Friday sales, so I’ve added yet another tracking system to my regime. I do not have my Fitbit sync calories out to LoseIt!. I do keep track of what LoseIt! says I burn during X exercise vs. what Fitbit says I burn, but I do not have Fitbit's numbers adjust my net calories for the day. I'd rather underestimate than overestimate. In addition, I took my first body measurements on Nov 12 and plan to continue taking those twice per month. I also bought a full length mirror for the pics.
Regarding goal weight change: When I first struck out on this adventure, I set my goal weight to 135. I later decided to be a bit bolder and go for an 80lb loss of 125. After playing around with some calculators from this post by u/CurlyMope and figuring out my build type according to these websites, I’ve lowered it to 120. According to the build type calculator, my elbow-to-wrist measurements don’t add up so I went for a weight in between the two ranges. I don’t know where I’ll be happy with my weight, so I’m not paying so much attention on that number in particular, but it’s an end zone.
Regarding my spreadsheet: Life is not as easy as a spreadsheet, unfortunately, but it helps me stay focused. When figures go from estimates to facts, the number goes bold. Anything listed as “Projected” is based purely on calorie intake + deficit math. In addition to this main spreadsheet, there are additional sheets in the file: Overall Weight Graph, Month 1 Graph Data, Month 2 Graph Data, Month 3 Graph Data, etc. November added: Inches, 2018 workout log, and 2018 weights lifted.
Alright... I'm off to update the spreadsheet with this month's projections! I wish you all luck in your own journeys. If you have any questions about mine, please let me know! This is just what's working for me at the moment -- remember: find what works for you! See you around the sub and for my next update post in the new year!
