OneEyedJack's Zero Sugar Journey

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Today marks one week since I began this quest to become healthy and fit. I started out at 221 and weighed in this morning at 208.
I'm feeling pretty groovy about that actually. I'm also feeling particularly stoked about being in control of my eating. For an entire week I have made choices. I am actually choosing...with forethought even...what goes into my body. I am planning on going to the gym tomorrow...too much to do today. Purple Martins will be here in 3 weeks! I'm super excited about that. So, I need to take down the 3 birdhouses I have and clean them out and paint them. A lot of chores to do today!
 
You should definitely be stoked! You have made some fabulous changes and progress. That being said, please don't be disappointed in your weight loss is smaller in subsequent weeks. A lot of times the first week is one of the largest losses you'll have. People often get discouraged when they don't hit that number again and quit.
 
-Cory- said:
You should definitely be stoked! You have made some fabulous changes and progress. That being said, please don't be disappointed in your weight loss is smaller in subsequent weeks. A lot of times the first week is one of the largest losses you'll have. People often get discouraged when they don't hit that number again and quit.
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I will keep that in mind Cory! I will not quit! Thank you for your encouragement and your advice on what reality is.
" I'm going the distance!" I will be disappointed if this streak diminishes...I totally will...but I will remember what you said...and I will not be discouraged! :)
LaMaria said:
Good stuff. Also what Cory said. But mainly: go you, you´re off to a great start!
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Thank you Lama...you rock!
 
Today I knew what I was going to do...but I made preparations for it. First I ate some Oat Bran and took a Vitamin B complex pill. I did smoke a cigar and consumed 200ml of Crown Royal...and I enjoyed every fucking minute of it! I sat in the woods and listened to some good Blues music for an hour or so...while the Ribs slow cooked on the grill. It was an awesome meal...and yeah...I went over what the Food Police say I should have...2128 calories instead of 1990. Actually it is the first day I've even come close to the Food Police Limit. Big whoop! I enjoyed those ribs, and the au gratin potatoes and the Rustic Italian French Bread.
And I got everything I wanted to do today done. So, it was a great day...and it was 70 degrees! (21.1C) Kind of windy but what day isn't where I live!
 
:) I´m usually the calorie police around here and I´m stopping by to say 2128 calories are still within weightloss range for the average (age, height, weight) man. 2,000 calories a day is the average maintenance rate for relatively sedentary women, men tend to get around 2,500 without gaining weight.
 
It sounds like you have had a wonderful weekend Dan. I laughed at your mention of the calorie police. In here it is usually trying to get people to eat more than they do (starving themselves) rather than less. You're doing well :)
 
Jenniquest said:
Sounds like a marvelous day - especially the weather, the woods, and the music!
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It was a great day. ...and now...back to work! Hope your week is fantastic!

-Cory- said:
You should definitely be stoked! You have made some fabulous changes and progress. That being said, please don't be disappointed in your weight loss is smaller in subsequent weeks. A lot of times the first week is one of the largest losses you'll have. People often get discouraged when they don't hit that number again and quit.
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Cory...I really appreciate your advice and support. Yeah, I woke up this morning and weighed as usual...4 lbs over the day before. But I ate a lot of food yesterday...Only took in around 1500c but I was so busy, I ate a lot of food really late in the day.
I have thought a lot about what you said...'A lot of times the first week is one of the largest losses you'll have'...It makes since because the body is adjusting to a new regime and after a week or so it adapts to that...and so...the metabolism catches up and slows down.
However it works....the end result is just what you said. I know that normal daily weight fluctuates...but it was important to me to log those fluctuations. Now it has just become an arduous task. ...and admittedly, if the numbers are not consistently going down, it is disappointing. So, in an effort to stay focused, and positive...I have decided to only log my weight once a week. I think now that is a more realistic, long term approach. Thanks for the reality you bring to this journey!
 
I get what you and Cory are saying. If you stay the course, chances are there should be a decline after a week. Weighing daily may give you an insight into what causes a bounce. If you eat food or snacks with intense amounts of salt, chances are your body will hang on to some extra water. If you eat a bunch less for a period, your digestive system may hang on to extract the last possible calorie for a bit. But what if you haven't figured out just how much you can swing from day to day. Let's say your first weigh in day virtually nearly all waste has been eliminated, it's been hot and you've sweated through the night and you are a bit dehydrated and a week later, you've had a salty soup, some fries, some jerky and some pretzels and perhaps are a bit constipated. Even if you've been losing fat every day of the week, your latter weigh in may be quite a bit higher. Now you've spent a whole week and your weight has gone up. Or the other way around. For example, you measured a loss of 13 lbs in your first week. That works out to a calorie deficit of 6500 per day. If you believe it's your massive increase in activity - well you get about 100 Kcalories/mile moved for an average person. You're heavier than average so I'll choose 120. That's 3120 if you did a marathon every day of the week. If your basal metabolic rate is in the ballpark, you'd have to be eating negative calories for seven day in a row while running a marathon each day. Probably not.

I'm certain that an increase in activity coupled with paying attention to what you're eating will result in some genuine fat loss and it is highly likely that you've made progress and you are to be congratulated for your efforts. You just need to be careful about allowing unrealistic expectations to cloud assessment of your progress. That's a buzzkill.

In order to know how much a reading may be out, I measure daily and use an Excel workbook to compute an average for every 4 consecutive days and use that to show me where I most likely am and can see how much a particular daily reading may deviate from a best fit progression line. The app on my phone also computes a weekly average which is what I'll post on this forum as the average does a pretty good job of taking into account any temporary swings related to things other than fat. Although I post my weight here each day, I'll be looking at the first 4 weeks averages to assess progress. So far I haven't said one word about how much loss or gain that might be because I don't think 3 weeks is quite enough.

Targeting an maintaining a 2 lb deficit per week is probably the most that you can do while maintaining strength and without sacrificing other health markers. That may be a bit fast and unrealistic to manage for me but it is probably something that can be achieved in either a healthy or unhealthy manner. Don't be too hard on yourself. Get some functional activity, stuff that helps you get through daily tasks and participate more in enjoyable activities. Use your knowledge of calories, macros and nutrients and pay attention to what you eat and you can't help but lose excess weight, but patiently.
 
I only weigh once a week. Depending on what I've been doing and what time of the month it is, my weight can swing as much as 7 or 8 pounds in a day. I'm actually up 3 lbs from last week, but I know it's physically impossible just based on my consumption and my calories burned to have actually gained that much fat. Most likely it is water retention from all the scotch I drank on Saturday night and the fact that I've started exercising again consistently after not doing much for a couple months. FYI, if you start exercising after having previously being sedentary, it can cause temporary water retention for a week or two. Especially weight lifting. It will normalize as your body gets used to the new routine.

Some people like to do what Hale does and weigh every day in order to follow trends and averages. I also know people who only weigh once a month to try and fight against getting stressed out about artificial gains (like how I can balloon up 7 lbs overnight). Ultimately you have to pick what you think will keep you the most sane and help you stay on track without getting discouraged.
 
I hate it when she says 'Some people'.... Especially when spoken in that condescending font. At least I'm still people...

Yup. I'm one of those weirdos. But I do believe choosing a path should involve making that an informed decision and I'm here to say conventional wisdom may not be for everyone. I'm a bit of an outlier here because, whereas I focus on numbers, I don't count calories. Mostly though, I was trying to let you know that you're on the path to success, which ever fork you put down, er, follow.
 
-Cory- said:
Ultimately you have to pick what you think will keep you the most sane and help you stay on track without getting discouraged.
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& that's what you have decided. Keep up the good work Dan. You are doing well. This is a long-term thing & we have to work things out as we go, always being able to change our minds along the way :D
 
Hale: Thank you for the time to explain all that. It makes since to me. One can only burn X amount of calories per day...regardless of what one does. I know I didn't lose 6 pounds of fat the first day. But...with my activity level...and cutting the amount of crap I am use to eating...It is a guaranteed road to success that I am currently on. I am by far the most patient person I know...so...I will be patient. Even though a part of me is saying, No...you can lose a pound every day! But I will just tell that part of me...Shut up! We are talking about losing FAT from fat cells...not water or anything else....and I will be patient.

Corey: As always thank you for your advice and support. I have to admit I started getting a little obsessive with that stupid scale. In reality, it doesn't matter one damn bit what that scale says. When I can slide into my 32s...that will be the Touch Down! I'm doing real good on my eating though. I'm starting to get cravings for all kinds of crap...but it is just habit. Before I'd just grab a bag of Fritos and when I was done I was done. I also have to keep in mind my own advice about the barns. It is so much easier for the body to store fat in fat cells that already exist. I will get a scale for weighing food tomorrow.
 
Hale: It can be hard to convey tone via text. Apologies if it seemed I was being condescending. That was not my aim at all.

OneEyedJack: That's the thing to keep in mind. The scale is a wonderful tool, as are calorie counting apps, tape measures, and any other way to quantify data about your progress. But they really are just a tool. It's generally pretty apparent to yourself when you are doing well and making the right choices.
 
You don't know how I appreciate you bringing me to the point of reality on all of this Corey! I am having a brand new epiphany!
That goes for you to Hale.

Basically if you play the 'scale' game, what you are really documenting is the literal 'ins and outs' of your eating habits. The Digestive Track is a long one...several meters if laid end to end...and can hold several pounds of 'digestible material'...i.e. Food.
So, if we suddenly go on a 'diet' of any kind....we take in a lot less food...over a few days the digestive system empties and wallah...several pounds of weight gone! But then over the next few days, our digestive system begins to fill to it's normal capacity and ...bam...several pounds of weight back!
My synopsis is: The word FAT has become for many politically incorrect. So, we all talk about WEIGHT. Gotta lose some 'weight'.
What we all need to lose is Fat! That globby stuff that our body creates to store all the energy our digestive system cannot process.
It's really a simple thing. I just fell into the 'trap' of losing 'weight'. Now I am totally about losing FAT! Thank you so much! I am FREE of that damn scale.

I also spent much more time on one word in this little diatribe than on the whole paragraph. The word 'laid'. For anyone who is interested: Lie, Lay, Laid, Lain and when to use them: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/lay-vs-lie
 
Cory: I was only jerking your chain. Font? Even had you italicized 'Some people' I would have assumed you were kidding. My skin is far thicker than that.

Jack: There is another factor that can cause pretty significant swings that can mess with daily scale numbers and that is your hydration level. Men can typically have a water content contribution to weight of somewhere in the range of 50 to 65%. Certain components of body composition have more and some less so that number can change from one person to the next and in one person as the change in level of fitness. There are daily swings that depend on whether what you ate happen to have a diuretic effect, whether you drank enough water, or whether you had a sleepless night sweating. A simple example is that I can easily lose two pounds of water just sweating in a one hour workout. Add to that the fact that some scales are incapable of displaying the same weight twice or vary readings depending on the 'legs' sitting evenly on the floor, but they're universally designed with 4 feet and 3 would guarantee more solid contact. If the scale reads differently than another, you can ignore that effect by sticking with the same device and get relative numbers, but when you add the digestive system, water level and scale consistency, the daily numbers are a crap 'chute'. But the weekly numbers have 'exactly' as much potential variation in them so they really can't tell you anything more accurate. If you weigh in the morning before eating, you've done something to tone down swings.

I'm going to try to give you one more example of how averaging works. GPS determines position with a level of accuracy based on how accurately one could measure the time light takes to travel to several satellites while accurately knowing the position of the satellites. Consumer units had an accuracy of about 30 feet. Then WAAS augmentation came along to fine tune the satellite position certainty. Then more satellites and other networks came online and under optimum conditions, the accuracy was within 5 or 10 feet. But you can get survey GPS receivers that take numerous readings and do a statistical analysis of multiple readings over time and we get down to fractions of an inch accuracy.

There are many in the weight loss gain who are into instant gratification and a lot of programs can make a lot of mileage on the early gains that you can get with the initial enthusiasm. Taking a longer view will get you closer to reality. Weekly weigh ins are more likely to show a loss because, if you've stuck with a plan, the loss will more likely outweigh the daily variation plus it takes into account weekly routines and habits. I'm not knocking them. If you are easily demoralized by one aberrant reading, taking readings weekly or at longer intervals may be the way to go. I prefer the way of the survey GPS because I can tell you with more accuracy what my mid-week weight and a particular week's gain or loss was by averaging. In the long run, taking only weekly numbers also average over the months, but I'm looking for more accurate and frequent feedback into progress so I can at least make weekly fine tuning adjustments.

Some people can't be bothered with or lack the time for the extra effort it takes doing it the way I do, and has been pointed out by others here, some people find the daily swings psychologically undermining and that is reason enough to avoid the scale.
 
Hale: Good to know. It's amazing how prone to offense folks are these days.

OneEyedJack: This is all true. A lot of things can impact your daily weight, including water and any food that might be in your digestive tract. You also need to keep in mind something called the paper towel effect. Basically, when you lose weight, the fat cells kind of.....empty of fat. In the short term, your body thinks that you might refill them soon so it uses water as a place holder. This can keep your weight stagnant a week or two, but then you all of a sudden have a woosh of several pounds. Point is, stay the course and don't get discouraged. You're doing the right things and it will show eventually.
 
Hale: I understand what you are saying. Thanks for the detailed explanation.

Corey: I will stay the course. And I won't get discouraged! Thanks for the support! Oh yeah, then my wife says...are you weighing on the carpet? You should be weighing on the tile floor...more accurate....so I did. Bam...6 pound difference...not in my favor. lol
No problem...I just adjusted my goal weight down 6 pounds to make all my numbers here reflect accurately.
This is so much like Taekwondo. It was so 'physical' it became very mental really quickly. I had to mentally grasp how incredibly physical it actually was. What a head game! All I really know is that if I comsume less calories than I take in, and exercise to keep my metabolism in check....I will lose the fat. So, it takes 15 weeks....whoop! For me time just flies by anyway....so...I'm on a patient train to my 32s!
 
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