My weigh in was today. I'm down 2 pounds & am at an even 221. That's 2 pounds away from my preliminary goal of 219 by this week. Next week my goal was 217, so my target loss for this upcoming week will be 4 pounds. All in all, I've lost 24.4 pounds in 7 weeks. I'm averaging 3.5 pounds per week. That's pretty darned good.
A good thing though, I gained muscle and lost fat -in fact, I lost more than 2 pounds of fat this week but it's impossible to tell exactly what that breakdown is because there was an element of muscle gain as well. I lost inches and my fat to muscle ratio decreased. The slow weight loss is likely just water weight lagging from the food I've been eating that is not part of the protocol.
For example, today I had Erberts & Gerberts sandwiches for lunch - with half the bun and half the mayo. Yesterday was interesting....I was at a workshop all day and they served lasagna, corn, garlic toast, and a yummy bar for dessert. Yeah, if you were counting or just taking note there that meal had NO REAL VEGETABLES...corn was the closest and that is (next to a potato) one of the starchiest and carbiest veggies out there. Needless to say, I was in a carb coma for the afternoon and surprisingly was not hungry the rest of the evening. That probably saved my ass!
That meal shows the frustration I have about food and what we eat for food. The meal at the workshop was completely one kind of food: 90% starch/sugar with a tiny amount of meat (hamburger) and plenty of cheese and other fat and sweets. Today at my lunch meeting, I could at least KIND OF eat ok. What I didn't eat today was the chips that went along with the sandwich and a bunch of fruit that was served with the meal -and less than half the bun. It's frustrating when the meal is something like the workshop one yesterday where there was really NOTHING I could pick apart and eat that was "acceptable". Usually I can go to restaurants and even family get togethers and eat appropriately and on-protocol. But when I can't, I can't. It's just life. I used to get anxious and frustrated with this, but now I see it as a challenge...I'll eat it, but then I have to be sure to watch closely what I eat later on in the day & week. And folks...that is life.
My Ideal Protein coach and I talked about what my long range goals are. I know I want to do phase one until the end of August and I want to see a 50 pound loss total by then (it's 9 weeks until then...and if I lose 3.25 pounds a week, that's almost 30 more pounds which will put me at a 55lb loss) and then I'll re-evaluate. My end goal is between 80-90 pounds to lose, the end weight goal at 155-160, which is on the high end of "healthy weight" for my height. I might take a break in September or maybe I'll find I want to take a break in mid-august and then start up again at the end of September. However, if I'm not feeling "diet fatigue" I will keep on trucking and get the 80-90 pounds lost by the end of October. Otherwise the full amount of weight I'd like to lose will come off by Christmas.
I'm at that state where I'm in between sizes again - where I feel like 10-15 more pounds and I'm feeling as if I'm on the "better side" of weight loss. It's true - once I get to about 205-210, that's my tipping point - that's my teeter between overweight and FAT. I have to be really careful about exercise too. I really overdid it last week in San Diego...and that might have stalled me just naturally. I used a LOT of calories by walking and climbing stairs. Too much of that is not good while in ketosis. Granted, I've kicked myself out of ketosis and am working now to get back to that weight loss "zone", but physiologically, when one loses weight like this, metabolism goes into "oh my god we're gonna starve to death!" mode & your fat stores become very rigid & stubborn. So, I've done well. I know I just cannot do that much daily activity again. About 7,000 steps per day and 10 floors per day are all I can really do without needing way more calories. A calorie deficit is necessary for weight loss - but too much of a good thing is not a good thing. A calorie deficit that is rich in carbs, sugars, and processed food is counterintuitive. A calorie deficit that is low fat and low carb is very good - keeping up on "clean" and pure protein while in a calorie deficit is what will allow a person to lose weight in the "right" way - by keeping your muscle and forcing your body to burn off fat efficiently.
That's enough preaching for the night. Take care, all!
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