Paul's weight loss journal 2022 - want to lose 25 lbs

[Kraemder]

Somehow I lost more weight yesterday. I weighed in at 206.8 lbs this morning.

1/3 weight 210.8
1/4 weight 209.2
1/5 weight 209.8
1/6 weight 207.4
1/7 weight 206.8 lbs

I'm really happy with that of course. I know from losing weight in the past you get your beginner gains and then it plateaus for a bit. But getting those beginner gains mean I'm doing something right for sure. For breakfast I had oatmeal. The whopper with cheese worked so well yesterday I almost got another but instead went for a Chipolet Chicken sandwich at Whole Foods. I believe it has even more calories than the whopper probably due to the huge roll they use for the sandwich. It's listed at 1000 calories. That's a bit nuts. This evening I had a few nuts and dried fruit before heading over to workout. I gave myself a break tonight and skipped the weight lifting just doing 40 minutes of cardio. I told myself my muscles need rest days anyway although I'm not sure how true that is considering my weight workouts are only 35 minutes. Then for dinner I had Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup.

 

[Trusylver]

I told myself my muscles need rest days anyway although I'm not sure how true that is considering my weight workouts are only 35 minutes.

It depends on how you are structuring your training.

 

[Llama]

1000 kcal for a "sandwich" isn't inconceivable if they use a larger bun/loaf and some higher-fat toppings (sauces/meats/cheeses). My favorite half-baguette is 650 and it's a pretty lean choice. I agree it's silly to MAKE sandwiches that heavy though.

I agree with Tru about training/rest (I always do: she's a proper expert). To out it simply: if you train with an intensity high enough to be a growth stimulus for your muscles they need rest days. If you alternate your exercises so that each muscle group has rest days while you train other muscle groups that's fine, of course. If you run on top of leg training your legs probably need a bit more rest.

 

[Kraemder]

More good ne

1000 kcal for a "sandwich" isn't inconceivable if they use a larger bun/loaf and some higher-fat toppings (sauces/meats/cheeses). My favorite half-baguette is 650 and it's a pretty lean choice. I agree it's silly to MAKE sandwiches that heavy though.

I agree with Tru about training/rest (I always do: she's a proper expert). To out it simply: if you train with an intensity high enough to be a growth stimulus for your muscles they need rest days. If you alternate your exercises so that each muscle group has rest days while you train other muscle groups that's fine, of course. If you run on top of leg training your legs probably need a bit more rest.

I probably need rest days then. But maybe not lots of rest days. I have been lifting for about 6 weeks now so I think it would be worth my time to research my routine a little bit to get the most out of it.

 

[Kraemder]

Ok so more good news on the beginner gains front. I weighed 205.8 this morning

1/3 weight 210.8
1/4 weight 209.2
1/5 weight 209.8
1/6 weight 207.4
1/7 weight 206.8
1/8 weight 205.8

Well this is going really well for me so far. I wonder why I had so much trouble before? I can say that posting my results here is probably helping. I did have a few times where I had some cravings and was able to hold back because I didn't want to write about that here. But even so I'm a bit surprised because I haven't been starving myself and yesterday as I mentioned I ate a really high calorie sandwich. It has a huge bun and not one but two slices of thick cheese along with bacon. It's pretty good. I shouldn't be eating it on a diet for sure.

Today I had yogurt for breakfast with a little bit of maple syrup (unsweetened yogurt). For lunch I had a stamina-don from my local Japanese restaurant. I don't know how their portions compare to Japan but I think they're slightly bigger for Americans. But I don't think it's too terrible. It's very delicious I will say. I bought more Campbell soup and Quaker Oats cereal for this week (it was on sale and I like it.. and hey, it's been working so far). They had peanut butter Oreos. I would have bought those a couple weeks ago before starting this but resisted. I'll have to try them some other time when I'm not dieting or something. When I've earned a cheat day/week or whatever. I'm very partial to Oreos. They sell the King Size pack at Quick Trip. Or the full size packs at the grocery store. Anyway, for dinner I had a large salad.

One thing helping me is that I got back into coffee. I was a big coffee drinker since I was about 17 up until last October when I quit. If I were dieting or something and needed to control my cravings in the past a good strategy was just to get a cup of coffee (w/o sugar etc.). Recently I started drinking decaf. It still has a little caffeine but it's really reduced to where I don't think it's an issue. So I can just drink decaf coffee when I have a craving for something. Having made progress almost every day this week I'm going to be a little bummed when it goes up again but it's hard to imagine how I could lose weight again. This weight loss already is enough motivation to keep me going for a while I think.

 

[Trusylver]

I probably need rest days then. But maybe not lots of rest days. I have been lifting for about 6 weeks now so I think it would be worth my time to research my routine a little bit to get the most out of it.

If you post what you are doing then we can take a look and make suggestions. Be aware there is a lot of "Bro Science" and misinformation online when it comes to resistance training.

 

[Kraemder]

I weighted in at 208.0 yesterday. Not bad.

1/3 weight 210.8
1/4 weight 209.2
1/5 weight 209.8
1/6 weight 207.4
1/7 weight 206.8
1/8 weight 205.8
1/9 weight 208.0

It looks like I gained a lot of weight over night but I don't think so. I think I was good with my eating and exercise. BUT I screwed up today. Darn. So today started out with Quakor Oats cereal.. no problem... then a turkey sandwich for lunch.. still good. I had a late lunch and didn't eat anything before going jogging (10k). Aftewards I had a bit of yogurt with granola sprinkled on top. I know the granola has lots of calories but it wasn't too much and I was really hungry. Not too bad. I nearly bonked on the jog which has been a deal breaker for me when I tried dieting during Covid in the past. One bonk and the next thing I'm ordering Five Guys. I know I should bring some dried fruit or something when I go jogging if I'm in the midst of a diet, not really used to the lower calories, and might bonk. But it's easy to forget. After the yogurt I killed some time and then went out for Tonkatsu Ramen at a Ramen shop. I don't really know how many calories it has. Japanese people say a lot but they are anorexic by nature. So still good I think. The problem was on the way back home from getting Ramen I remembered the peanut butter Oreos at Walgreens. I got a bag of them on the way home. I think I ate nearly half the bag before realizing this was never going to work and I throwing it out in the dumpster outside. So that set me back a couple days I think.

 

[Llama]

I nearly bonked on the jog

Never heard the term: does it mean your blood sugar drops? Or you faint?

Tonkatsu Ramen at a Ramen shop. I don't really know how many calories it has.

The internet gives me values from 300 to 1000 kcal a bowl so it really depends on how it´s made (and portion size, of course).

I remembered the peanut butter Oreos at Walgreens. I got a bag of them on the way home. I think I ate nearly half the bag before realizing this was never going to work and I throwing it out in the dumpster outside. So that set me back a couple days I think.

How big was the bag? It´s quite easy to down 1000-1500 kcal of cookies or chocolate in one sitting but you seem to be in quite a large calorie deficit (hence the assumed blood sugar trouble with running and desire to eat a whole bag of cookies) so that´d only be one or two days.
Which reminds me:

It looks like I gained a lot of weight over night but I don't think so.

Of course you didn´t. You´d have to overeat by 3500 kcal to gain a pound of fat. On top of your normal calorie requirements (assuming the standard recommendation of 2500 for an average, non-overweight dude) you´d have to eat around 6000 kcal in a day to gain a pound of fat in one day. So I agree it was likely mostly water.

 

[Kraemder]

Never heard the term: does it mean your blood sugar drops? Or you faint?

The internet gives me values from 300 to 1000 kcal a bowl so it really depends on how it´s made (and portion size, of course).

How big was the bag? It´s quite easy to down 1000-1500 kcal of cookies or chocolate in one sitting but you seem to be in quite a large calorie deficit (hence the assumed blood sugar trouble with running and desire to eat a whole bag of cookies) so that´d only be one or two days.
Which reminds me:

Of course you didn´t. You´d have to overeat by 3500 kcal to gain a pound of fat. On top of your normal calorie requirements (assuming the standard recommendation of 2500 for an average, non-overweight dude) you´d have to eat around 6000 kcal in a day to gain a pound of fat in one day. So I agree it was likely mostly water.

I used to watch the Tour de France and bonking meant a rider had run out of energy. They were pretty much done. Usually they dropped out but they might crawl across the finish line so to speak at a snail's pace way behind everyone else. For me it means I had to walk home instead of jogging/running. I just didn't have it in me to do more. When that happened I would pull out my smart phone, pull up GrubHub, and have food waiting for me at the door when I finally arrived lol. So much for diet. But I don't think I ever bonked running in Japan and I am pretty sure many days I was on a calorie deficit but I think I was maybe just in better shape or used to the diet.

It was a regular sized bag of Oreos at the US supermarket grocery store. (Not Japanese sized... I don't know about other countries). Oreos are my weakness at least in the past few years I've noticed. I really can't have a big bag of Oreos in the house and not eat more than I should. I have other sweets in my cupboard like some chocolate I got for Christmas and I'm totally fine to just eat one of them and be ok but not Oreos.

 

[Kraemder]

So I weighted in at 209.6 this morning after attacking the Oreos last night. About what I expected but a little disenheartening.

1/3 weight 210.8
1/4 weight 209.2
1/5 weight 209.8
1/6 weight 207.4
1/7 weight 206.8
1/8 weight 205.8
1/9 weight 208.0
1/10 weight 209.6

I am giving myself a break from working out tonight since I was pretty drained yesterday and I often take Mondays off anyway. Of course, that isn't going to help my weight loss but that's fine I'll be back to working out tomorrow. Today's breakfast, good old Quaker Squares cereal. For lunch, work was busy and I wanted to go get a fast food Mexican California burrito to boost my energy/spirits but I resisted and made an egg salad sandwich instead. For dinner I went for a Whopper with cheese. I feel pretty satiated and not hungry etc.

 

[Llama]

I used to watch the Tour de France and bonking meant a rider had run out of energy.

Ah, so could also be starting out too quickly/not managing energy right? Pretty sure bike racers carry all the snacks so it mightn't be low blood sugar for them.

It was a regular sized bag of Oreos at the US supermarket grocery store.

Not from the US so I don't know how much that is

So I weighted in at 209.6 this morning after attacking the Oreos last night.

No surprise there: overeating generally makes for a fuller digestive tract and extra water weight. The scale doesn't know the difference between those things and fat.

I am giving myself a break from working out tonight since I was pretty drained yesterday and I often take Mondays off anyway. Of course, that isn't going to help my weight loss

Taking a break when your body is tired DOES help with weightloss. Overdoing it just makes you hungrier. Plus of course while training is what's telling your muscles to grow they can only do so while you rest. You really can't outrun a bad diet long-term.

 

[Trusylver]

Bonking happens when the body is depleted of glycogen and must swap to using fat for energy. I know a few ultra marathon runners who are ketogenic and some are carnivore for improved performance.

 

[Llama]

Tru coming through with the real information, as always. Thanks!