The biggest loser
I’ve been thinking about the weightloss thing a lot lately, I mean a lot lot. I’ve been stuck at 240 for nearly two months now. For a bit I managed to keep it southbound but slow, now I’ve stopped and probably even tacked a pound on. I’ve got 15 lbs to lose and time is a wasting. So I’m trying to think about what has changed so that I can go back to losing.
My analysis revealed a couple things that I think occurred about that time that I totally stopped losing. The two things that come to mind or changing my rowing strategy and changing my nutrition strategy. I don’t think the rowing change is to blame. I went from rowing alternating 5,000 and 10,000 meter distances to Sprints, heartrate and long rows. In the end, I’m doing at least as much if not more distance. I don’t think this is responsible. The nutrition, on the other hand, could be more at fault.
I found that I was getting hungry a lot and was starting to forage which is never good in an office full of women, cause there is always chocolate and candy around. So I thought I would start bringing some carbs for the afternoon to hold me over. I believe there are two problems with this strategy. First, I seems to eat more calories in carbs than in protein and with less satiety. Second, it seems when I eat carbs, it leads to a cycle of wanting more, which returns me to foraging, but now with an additional meal under my belt (literally).
So I’m eliminating the carb meal from my day. I’m not going no carb or anything. I still eat carbs at breakfast and supper most days. I’m just not eating them in the middle of the day because of the cascade it seems to set off. In general, I’m just going to try and be more diligent about snacking, I have let myself get away with more than I should.
I think if I implement these strategies, I’ll be back on the losing track in not time.
In good news, two nights ago, I bought my first pair of 38″ waist jeans in a very long time. We’ll see how much they shrink in the wash, then we’ll see how much I shrink before the end of the year.
Anvil or Hammer 
on September 25, 2007 on 11:01 am
You do a TON of activity, it has to be your diet letting you down.
My contingency plan if I am not tracking to hit the goal we set for Gripmas is to measure (like with food scale and measuring cups) and track everything that goes into my mouth, which really means only eating food I’ve prepared personally.
This is extreme and not long term sustainable, but if I get stuck it will work. I know I have two primary risks to address:
1. My perspective on portion sizes is skewed. I will happily eat an 1800 calorie frozen pizza in one sitting, or go out and take down a 3000 calorie meal at Olive Garden. Sometimes, I need to redefine this and get used to smaller meals again.
2. Free food. If it is free, I will eat it, then ask what it was. Not only that, I will eat as much of it as I can, as fast as I can, trying to get the biggest share possible. It’s irrational and sometimes I need a reminder to chill out. A log forces that.
Up until now, I’ve managed to balance these things enough to avoid the dreaded log book. I know they are risks, and they definitley slow my progress.
The reason I don’t just use a log now, is the real challenge for me is progressing from managing these risks with hard rules to managing them with habits. I’ve done the hard rules in the past, I can’t handle them indefinitely, but they do help to realign my perspective and yield short term progress.
Not really a solution so much as what has me tracking towards the goal, I guess.
on September 25, 2007 on 11:33 am
I agree with you,well kinda. I’m letting my diet down, not the other way around.
I don’t know that I do a ton of activity, but enough to lose. Portion distortion is a huge problem for almost all Americans, especially those of us who got fat. It’s something I battle in waves, I’ll do well for a while, then I’ll find myself reflexively order a large or grabbing a bigger tupperware when I’m making lunch. I don’t have the free food problem, I tend to shy away from free food. The problem I have is that when I like something, I will eat it well past the point of comfort. I haven’t done that in a long time, but I still tend to go back for seconds on things I like rather than just be satisfied that I got some good food. Although, if you keep me in a room long enough, with free food, I will start to pick, then it’s over. It has happened.
I don’t think I could really measure everything. At one point though, I measured most of my major glasses and cups. So I knew that when I drink coffee in the morning, it is 12 ounces, 6 milk, 6 water, 1 tsp instant coffee. I didn’t measure all my individual meals but I had a pretty good idea what the volume was going in. I never felt like I got much value from it though. I was never will to sit down at the end of the day and count the calories or macronutrients from all the coffee, milk, bread, pasta, chicken breasts, pasta and so on. If you don’t do that, it really means nothing. Still if you really are looking to eek out those last two pounds, it would get you there.
I’ll see you at the finish line 🙂