222
That's a loss of three pounds in one week. So my first thought was, well at this rate this is going to be the shortest blog in history. My second thought is I know how bad this scale is, I better double-check it. Yep, still 222.
This is the weird thing about losing weight over time - you get to understand that not only do you hit a plateau once in a while but that you can push through it in really unexpected ways. Sometimes that break-through has a reason, like say I stepped up a level in exercise or ate a bit less than I usually do, sometimes not. So in the interest of keeping everyone's expectations in check (yours and mine) let's examine why this may have happened this week.
First let's look back at all the weeks up until now for comparison :
The first thing that should jump out at you here is that it's not exactly a straight line - there's plenty of times where I gained weight or didn't lose very much, and lately several weeks in a row where I didn't lose much of anything. In fact it took me the entire month of August to lose just as much weight as I did this past week, and three pounds is the largest weekly drop I've seen since June.
So what changed...? Not that you'd be able to tell from one week of blog entries, but my diet hasn't changed much for some time, and the amount of exercise hasn't varied all that much either. I even ate lunch out this week, which is average since I usually wind up dining out 1-2 times per week (not including the times I buy lunch at work). Maybe my metabolism is just trying to impress you all :)
Actually I think that's not far off from a viable explanation - stress, or rather the lack thereof. Studies show that when you are under stress, your body releases more of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, both of which are tied to the "fight or flight response", or simply your body's innate reaction to protect itself from a perceived threat. Increased levels of cortisol in your bloodstream are known to slow your metabolism, increasing fat storage; therefore it only makes sense that if you can decrease stress, thus decreasing the amount of cortisol in your system, then your metabolism could potentially be sped up a bit.
So if I'm looking for a big change in between this week and the past couple months to explain the big drop, then the difference is...YOU. Or rather, me dumping out all the thoughts I've been holding in, and the largely positive reinforcement that I've received in return. It has brought down my stress level immensely, and for your help in this process I cannot but thank you from the bottom of my heart.
One last point, although the initial results here are good we should really be tempering expectations for the coming weeks - there will more than likely be ups and downs, perhaps even a plateau or two. In fact, two of the main stressors of any diet - special events and vacation time - are both happening this week. Today was Labor Day and was spent up with my girlfriend's family (me, her and the kids), had a great time, a couple beers, but kept myself under control. This coming weekend is our planned trip to....LAS VEGAS BABY YEAAAAH!!!! And you're all coming with me (in spirit that is)!!! In all seriousness though, I think an important lesson will be learned here on three fronts : (1) fun times can still be fun if you continue to put in the work around them, (2) I certainly wouldn't expect another 3-pound drop next week, and (3) this is a process without a time limit, so while you need to be serious and vigilant most of the time with diet and exercise, don't let it come at the expense of a good time here and there - and don't let those momentary binge times become the start of anything longer than momentary. And dammit, I just love you guys THAT much...that I'm willing to go all the way to Vegas to show you how it's done. Consider it my great sacrifice, and winna winna chicken dinna ;)
Diet for Monday 9/7/09:
Breakfast
- Fiber One Original cereal, one serving with 1/2 cup of fat-free milk
- 4 oz of orange juice with vitamins
- Big cup of coffee
- Two pieces of wheat bread with yogurt spread
Lunch (family BBQ, this was over several hours)
- one hot dog on a wheat bun with ketchup
- two kabob spits with grilled veggies, one with beef and one with shrimp
- 1/2 ear of corn on the cob with butter (no salt)
- 2-3 handfuls of tortilla chips with cheese dip, salsa and/or guacamole
- 3 light beers
- a couple Diet cokes
- one regular Pepsi (needed the caffeine/sugar rush to wake up, I was driving home)
Dinner
- one 6-inch roasted chicken breast sandwich on wheat w/cheese, mustard, lettuce, tomato, olives, cucumber, bell peppers, salt/pepper, vinegar
- one 2.5 oz bag of Baked Lay's potato chips
- 20 oz Diet coke
Dessert
- 1 cup of Safeway fat-free chocolate frozen yogurt
Exercise for Monday 9/7/09:
- Took a rest day today, will punish self tomorrow as usual
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