Oomper's Diary.

O

Oomperloompa

New member
Hi all, thanks to those who've already welcomed me onto the forum. I'm starting a weekly diary here of my progress because I think it will help keep me on track.
I'm in my second week of getting fit and healthy. I'm eating really well - a 1500 to 1700 calorie per day, higher protein but balanced diet. Also doing an hour to an hour and a half moderate exercise most days.
I'm a 40 year old guy, 6 foot 2 inches tall. I weighed myself when I started a week and a half ago. I was 127.1 kilos. I had my first weigh in yesterday and was down to 123.5 kilos. So I'm off to a good start. Just have to keep it up. I'm aiming to get to a healthy 90 kilos by losing a minimum of 2 kilos per week. Will weigh in here after every weekend.
 
Off to a great start, Oomper! Welcome to the diary section from another Australian :) (I think you said somewhere that you were in Aus)
 
Congrats on the loss!, and on starting a diary! Wow, an hour or more exercise a day, too - so great!
 
Welcome Oomper & great job so far!

1500-1700 calories/day with higher protein looks like a good plan, though it is very aggressive for your height, weight, and amount of exercise. I think you'll find 2kg/week weight loss is doable at your current weight, but it will become very hard (almost impossible & borderline unhealthy) long term. This isn't meant to discourage you, just prevent you from wrecking your metabolism or becoming disappointed once the "easy" weight is gone...

For reference, contestants on the TV show The Biggest Loser lost an average of 60kg in 30 weeks, but all but one contestant had regained the weight 6 years later. This was in part because their metabolisms went from 2600 before competition to 2,000 afterward and down even further to 1,900 6 years later (despite regaining the weight). Your metabolism will slow as you lose weight no matter what, but losing weight a bit more slowly and incorporating strength training can help limit this metabolic adaptation.

Hiking with a heavy ruck is really great exercise that should help build both strength & cardio so great choice there too!
 
Thanks everyone! Good advice all round :)
Weekly weigh in from sunday just past:

121.6 = 1.6 kilos lost in the week for a total of 5.2 so far.

Seems like a much more realistic kind of weight loss. The first week I think I lost a lot of water and gluten bloat. Now I'm into the good stuff :)
I had a stressful week at work and had two blow-outs of about 500 calories each on chocolates. I ate Christmas chocolates I'd bought to send to my nephews and nieces. You've got to laugh!
For me work/stress and eating bad go hand in hand. I'm glad I was able to reign it back in on these two occasions.
Still rucking 5 days out 7. My knees are giving me trouble so it's an constant battle to balance enthusiasm vs capability. Hopefully as I get lighter my knees will improve.
Still not drinking which is really helping me avoid snacky binges. Also, I'm living in England and we're basically under lock down, so theres no going to the pub or socialising for me!
You're right though Cate, I'm an aussie. Though I'm a Tasmanian first and Australian second!! Wish I was there right now to be honest....
 
1.6 kg is a lot, congratulations! Do you have a plan in place to deal with stress without going for food? I dunno: playing loud music, calling a friend, writing in your diary, going for a walk (maybe don´t put too much weight in that bag as long as your knees are sore).
 
Congratulations on all the weight loss so far!! I agree with LaMa about coming up with a plan or two for what to do when you are stressed out instead of reaching for your go-tos. I tend to snack myself into weight gain when stressed, and I don't even notice unless I concentrate on what I'm doing and what I'm feeling. So for me what works is acknowledging what I am doing - that I feel stress, and that sitting down and feeling some of it in a relaxation mode so it can release is really going to help. For me it's still hard sometimes to go exercise or try to distract myself from stress, so instead of eating my stress foods (which are carbs for me), I am practicing falling back on nice soothing ritual things like fixing myself tea or eating small amounts of something with very few calories that I like andI have in my cupboards for emergencies. Also I try not to beat myself up if I do eat a lot of something fattening, and instead adjust calories for the next few days so it won't affect me long term.

I think you're doing great with exercise!! I wonder, would if work for you to do the weight lifting part separately while stationary so you're sure that your knees stay safe?
 
Great job so far! I'm a stress eater too and it is very common. Studies have correlated elevated levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, with increased food intake. Another study showed that obese women with binge eating disorder created more cortisol than the control group after being subjected to the same stressor (a cold water bath), so I think it is critical to develop a healthy coping mechanism if you know stress is a big overeating trigger for you.

Exercise is my main stress coping mechanism these days - especially the shorter high intensity cardio type stuff that makes me so exhausted I can't help but relax all my muscles afterward. I know the exercise got the job done if afterward I feel like I could lay over the arm of a sofa and melt my body around it like a lounging cat.

Meditation & relaxation are also proven coping mechanisms, but I've grown up with deeply ingrained gender roles and doing things like Yoga just makes me feel uncomfortable (which causes stress, defeating the purpose). But taking the time to stretch after a hard workout accomplishes the same thing while feeling a bit more "manly." I'd recommend giving it a shot...

Also beware of overuse injuries, especially if you feel discomfort in the knees. I too have the same issue so I've had to switch to every other day runs, which has greatly helped. I still can do other exercise on the "off" days, it just needs to use different muscles or use the leg muscles differently (like bicycling).
 
Err2 said:
Studies have correlated elevated levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, with increased food intake. Another study showed that obese women with binge eating disorder created more cortisol than the control group after being subjected to the same stressor
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I'm curious about this - does the study mean that overeating actually causes more stress? I ask because when I do snack more, my overall appetite actually increases and I tend to want to eat bigger meals. I think it would help a lot to understand what is happening with this stress/overeating thing, so I can combat it better.

I like the idea of physically exhausting yourself in order to relax. I bet this is one of the reasons organized sports caught throughout the centuries - a good way for a culture to de-stress together!
 
Marsia said:
I'm curious about this - does the study mean that overeating actually causes more stress? I ask because when I do snack more, my overall appetite actually increases and I tend to want to eat bigger meals. I think it would help a lot to understand what is happening with this stress/overeating thing, so I can combat it better.
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I think their goal was to show that people with BED had more difficulty coping with stress (or a more severe reaction to it).

But I've also noticed certain snack foods tend to make me want to eat more as well (especially salty or surgery snacks)
 
Oomperloompa said:
You're right though Cate, I'm an aussie. Though I'm a Tasmanian first and Australian second!! Wish I was there right now to be honest....
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I'm in Tassie & I feel for you. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, that's for sure. Are you from the North or South. Tasmanians are Tasmanian 1st & Australian 2nd that's for sure. :)
Well done on the 1.6k loss!
 
Err2 said:
Binge eating disorder
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Ok, that makes perfect sense. Thanks!
 
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