My Weight Loss & Fitness Journey

DIET JOURNAL: Day 6. Today went very well. I decided to indulge in a little bit extra than I've been having this week but very healthy choices. I kept it healthy. I'm definitely leaning towards the whole vegan/vegetarian/pescatarian choices.

I'm excited to weigh-in tomorrow morning to see how my first week on this diet has gone!

The results should show progress and I'm looking forward to seeing all of the various analytics and specs I'm going with.

I've found, even in my first week, that my stomach seems to be shrinking (in that I don't need as much food to be 'full') and how I'm already gaining self-control over any 'cravings' that come up, as well as treating food more as 'nutritional requirements' than something I find too much pleasure in or a 'hobby' or 'stress reliever' as I would have been guilty of in the past.

With this first week, I'm optimistic (though it is early days) that this diet will be successful. Next week I begin exercise since my body should be used to this diet by now and I will feel more secure that way.

I'm enjoying this. Self-restraint is quite fun to master. I'm seeing many improvements in other areas of my life I've also wanted to self-restrain in and I'm finding that with this weight loss journey comes many other health and life improvements in general.

To be honest, I expected this first week to be ALOT harder. Though I know I don't want to speak to soon since my weigh-in is tomorrow (and we'll really see how well I actually did regarding 'results') and I am aware that this is Week 1 of 36 weeks!

So I'm preparing for the marathon instead of the sprint.

In fact, I'm treating this stage of the journey more as a 'warm-up'. haha.

This has been a fun little journal to also document the journey. I appreciate the encouraging words from readers, and simply documenting the journey in writing helps me, as well as hopefully helping others. I would like this journey of mine to inspire others who are either wanting to start something similar or are already on their own personal journeys of transformation and health improvement.

Anyway, I'm that excited to weigh-in, I wish I could weigh in now. But I shall weight until tomorrow morning.

Oh, that's a tip to anyone too. When I've done diets in the past, I've become discouraged because I would weigh-in every single day. And that would be all over the place (due to the nature of weight-loss). So I reckon weighing in only once a week will prove much more encouraging.

Time will tell. :)

I feel like I am falling off the bandwagon, I feel like I keep going backwards and making the wrong choices and even my motivation cannot get me back on track. I care so much about my health but I struggle so much with disordered eating and can't seem to have a reliable schedule where I have a wake up time, set meal times, and plan my activities and days out. I feel like my life is so unorganized and don't know where to restart my journey

WEEK 1 RESULTS

Weight: 21 Stone 4 lbs (135kg or 298 lbs)
Body Fat: 48.3%
Body Water: 39.5%
BMI: 37
Blood Pressure: 117/82
Pulse Rate: 83

WEEK 1 PROGRESS (Compared to DAY 1)

-10lbs weight
-2.8% body fat
+2% body water
-1.2 BMI
-6/1 blood pressure
-10 pulse rate

WEEK 1 REVIEW

This first week progress is incredible. There are improvements on every single measurement.

To lose 10 lbs is inspiring, however I did expect to see a big leap at first because so many major changes have happened to my diet. Whereas before I was drinking sugary things like Starbucks coffee, or normal coffee/milk or tea/milk with sugar, I have switched to drinking only water and green tea. Whereas before I was binge eating, not counting calories, snacking on biscuits and over indulging in large meals, as well as making poor choices such as take-aways, fast food (KFC and McDonalds) and even having puddings after main meals.

I am glad to be taking the measurements I am because it shows me how the weight loss is affecting my body. So to take points off my body fat %, BMI, blood pressure and pulse rate are all great improvements, as well as to gain body water % is great.

All around, an incredible first week.

This inspires me that I am on the right track, and I'm excited to get on with this. (Remembering that I am only on Day 7 of 252 days, and Week 1 of 36 weeks). This is the first step of a long journey, but now I surely know I am headed in the right direction.

I am aware that healthy weight loss is 2lbs per week and this first week I lost 10lbs but as I said, I'm not concerned with this off the bat since I was making extremely poor and unhealthy lifestyle choices and now I'm making very healthy changes.

I will expect this weekly weight loss to taper down, so within a few weeks, I should be hitting the healthy (normal and expected) weight loss of 2lbs per week.

But we shall seen when I weigh-in this time next week.

I shall continue now to make diet journal entries as they are needed. Since the first week was imperative I stuck to it as I was breaking bad habits, I will only record entries when I feel like it. So I won't be making daily diary entries now.

But I will be taking Weekly measurements and Week Reviews like this to record progress.

All the very best to the rest of you on similar journeys!

I'm very happy with my first week!

You are doing amazing progress sweetie!

DIET JOURNAL: Day 11.

Today was tough. For the last few days, my family has been on a strange sugar rush and I have done well to avoid temptations. Whether they were having a Peanut Butter Cup Frappucino from Starbucks, or McFlurry ice creams from McDonalds, or pizza, or sugary almond croissants, or crisps (chips), I managed to stay on my own diet.

I'm looking forward to weighing in on Sunday and keen to see how much weight I lost on this week 2.

Today was tough though. Just more on the temptations/cravings side of thing.

The diet has done me good in that I am making much healthier choices (in my head). The sugary things are far less appealing and I am seeing myself drawn more to vegetables/salads/fish/fruit than processed food or junk stuff.

I'm glad to say it's going well then, despite it being tough today.

Also, I had put aside 36 weeks (8 months) to get to my goal weight but I may well reach that sooner. If the weight keeps dropping off me rather fast, it may shorten the overall duration of my diet. I have also optimistically dropped my target overall weight by 1 further stone (a further 14 lbs)...

Of course, we are still only in week 2 so I shall also humble myself to just see how I go.

DIET JOURNAL: Day 13

A bit nervous about tomorrow's weigh-in. Week 2 was tough and I wanted to give in a couple of times. As I was on the road alot this week, I had to vary my diet a bit. I stuck to my calorie count, went over on one of the day's, but I'm still hoping for positive results. This will be interesting to see how week 2 fares against week 1, since I was very rigid on the first week and I've been a bit looser on the second.

My food choices were all healthy though, when I did go outside of my diet. Most of it was fish to be honest.

So yes, week 2 was much tougher than week 1 I think. Mainly because my will power seemed stronger in week 1. I'm learning that I really do eat out of boredom and see food as more of an interest than a necessity. So I think during week 2 I'v struggled because I've wanted to have interesting options.

Nevertheless, this could all be needless anxiety since my weigh-in tomorrow may yield positive results. I sure hope so...

WEEK 2 RESULTS

Weight: 21 Stone 4 lbs (135kg or 298 lbs)
Body Fat: 48.3%
Body Water: 39.5%
BMI: 37
Blood Pressure: 101/75
Pulse Rate: 83

WEEK 2 PROGRESS (Compared to WEEK 1)

-0 lbs weight
-0% body fat
+0% body water
-0 BMI
-16/7 blood pressure
-0 pulse rate

WEEK 2 REVIEW

Wow... That sucks! To see no change whatsoever except a drop in blood pressure is quite disconcerting. I believe the culprit may have been a poor sleeping pattern. I didn't sleep well at all last week and some bad habits like going to sleep around 3am and waking late may have caused this lack of weight loss. Especially since across 6 days I ate around 2000-2200 calories and one day I ate 2400 calories when to 'maintain weight' I would need to eat up to 3000 calories...

I'm trying not to feel despondent about this. Week 2 really sucked with the diet (meaning it was hard to stick to but I did) and I was hoping to see some results and to see no change except blood pressure is extremely annoying. However, at least I didn't somehow gain weight. And at least I saw a blood pressure drop to even more healthier.

I may well have to go into Week 3 by sorting out my sleeping schedule much better. I may also have to stick to the original diet I had planned and reduce to 1800 calories...

I guess when healthy weight loss is 2 lbs per week and I'm only on week 2, I should have only lost 4 lbs total by now and I actually lost 10 lbs so far, so that is one way of looking at it. At least, I'm ahead of 'schedule'.

Nevertheless, it's put me in a bad mood.

DIET JOURNAL: Day 17

Today I had a cheat day. I had a KFC small meal and a Starbucks coffee. This week has sucked for my diet and I've come close to quitting. But I won't. I'm just going to be a bit more realistic from now on.

I have never lost weight by dieting alone before. In the past, I have been able to lose alot of weight through sport and exercise and gym (having been a semi-professional athlete in my youth, I'm glad to have been very capable in many sports)

I am finding it extremely difficult in this pandemic to lose weight just by diet.

Normally, I would be able to eat healthily and workout and lose weight that way.

So I'm keen to get back into Boxing come Autumn and through Winter and Spring to help...

I have been frustrated in Week 3. But I am treating all of this like learning curves.

I reduced my shakes from 600 calories each (where I was having 3 a day and 200 calories of fish) to 400 calories (twice a day with a main dinner meal and snacks of 1200 calories or less)

I'm hoping this will help but today I was just sick and tired and bored of the shakes so I gave myself a 'cheat day'.

Despite Week 1 losing 10 lbs and Week 2 losing 0 lbs, I may well have gained weight in Week 3. Time will tell. I won't let this hinder me though, as I'm still learning what will last for the longevity of this period.

Also, I was using daily tickboxes and writing all of this down in journals (what I was eating) but 17 days in this has already become tedious and I really can't be bothered with logging it all any more.

I may well just remember to have a breakfast shake (400 cal), lunch shake (400 cal), snack (200 cal) and dinner (1000 cal)...

And see how that goes.

I really was expecting this to be much easier than it has been.

Nevertheless, I shall regroup myself tomorrow and get on with it again.

In 17 days, today was the first 'bad food' I've had.

(Forgetting 10 biscuits I snacked on out of frustration over the last 2 days.)

All of this frustration stemmed from the fact I lost no weight in week 2. I also realize the irony that now by making poor choices, I may well have gained weight. Nevertheless, I am learning and committed to continue.

I felt disheartened by the diet, wanted to give up. But I won't give up.

I also felt disheartened by having to make this post, and almost gave up on this whole thread.

Very few seem to be reading it anyway.

@Politeocean

@magicalfriend76

Hope you both don't mind me tagging you. You are the only two who seem to have read this and offered support so I just felt like reaching out since I'm struggling now and came close to giving it all up out of frustration.

I don't want to give up. I want to stay committed. I want to hit my goals.

Someone I follow on YouTube who lost 200lbs also kept saying "Focus on non-scale victories".

I'll do that now to give myself some motivation.

-My blood pressure improved immensely last week, even though I didn't lose any weight.

-My nutrition is far better since I am choosing many vegan and vegetarian and healthier options so my body is getting the nutrition it needs, rather than 'junk food' options (except my cheat meal)

-I am much more hydrated with all of this water intake

-Trying to get better sleep patterns is great, despite struggling for life with insomnia

-18 month teetotal, clean sobriety freed me from addiction and gave me a better balance for my mental and physical health than I have ever known

-It feels great to have an ambitious goal and learn to be patient in trying to achieve it over these coming 8 months

-To want to look good again (I have formerly been an athlete and many times in my life have physically been in great shape) is brilliant

-To learn self-respect and self-restraint concerning food (I have been an over eater and a binge eater) is empowering

-To count calories will help me maintain control over this intake.

-To keep going when the going gets tough reminds me how resilient I really am.

-To never give up is always a great life lesson

These are some non-scale victories I can attribute to this journey, even on day 17...