Weekly Weigh-In: Eat More, Lose A Pound

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weekly weigh in June 12

Yay! Down nearly a pound. And I did it by eating more meat. LCHF eating really does rock.

I’m just 2 ounces shy of losing a full pound this week. Not too shabby considering I made it a point to eat more this week. That puts my total weight loss at 141.1 pounds. The 170s are within sight!

But the real bonus this week was saying goodbye to my sweater. I no longer feel like I’m freezing all the time.

I bumped my protein back up to 6 ounces a meal (I cut it back to 4 ounces sometime last year). Not only did the cold hands and feet disappear, but I had a lot more energy and stopped snacking between meals.

If I added more protein to my diet, did I cut back on anything else? Nope. I still kept my daily net carbs under 20g. As for my fat intake, that’s still around 65-70% of all my daily calories.

I don’t count calories but of course My Fitness Pal tracks them. I’ve gone from eating 1400-1500 calories a day to eating 1600 -1800 calories a day.

So yes, I ate more calories and lost weight. Perhaps our bodies are more complex than the simple theory of eat less, move more. I’ll post more on this in my upcoming review of The Obesity Code this week.

When I decided to cut back on protein, my body essentially responded by turning down my thermostat. My resting metabolism slowed and I got cold…real cold. My energy level dropped and I had the focus of a gnat. And it is certainly one reason why I’ve stayed in the mid 180s for a year.

Yet I thought feeling cold, my brain fog and lack of energy was related to the weather — the winter blahs and all the blasted rain we had. Nope, my body wanted that protein back but I didn’t listen.

That goes to show you that no matter your success, you can still miss little (and not so little) signals from your body.

Weekly Weigh-In: Less Wine Means -1.5 Lbs!

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weekly weigh in May 28

Make smarter decisions — less wine, make my own food — and the weight loss pick back up…amazing how that works!

It really is amazing what happens when you make better food choices. I’m down 1.5 pounds this week thanks to eating out less and cutting back on wine. Funny how that works.

This was also the week where I could consistently go outside and enjoy walks. The weather finally turned the corner and we said good-bye to lots of cold, wet rain. Since I’m no longer with a gym, my primary exercise right now is walking and interval running.

My eating habits and activity level are closely linked. On days where I can do a morning walk or jog, I’m much more mindful of what I shove in my mouth. So I’m grateful for the sunshine.

Grilling Season Is Here
More sunshine is in our extended forecast. When presented with the option of going out to eat or staying home and grilling, we normally opt to grill. So I’m creating a menu for the upcoming week that focuses heavily on grilling – Shrimp and Scallop Kabobs, pork and beef ribs, burgers and dogs.

And if we’re lucky on our excursion tomorrow, fresh fish. Yep, we’re going fishing in the morning. Depending on which spot the husband picks we might land a bass, trout or catfish. Read More

Weekly Weigh-In: The IVF Side Effect

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weigh in May 14

Yes, I’m up 4 pounds. But it isn’t all food. My IVF treatments are coming with a little side effect.

I’m up about 4 pounds this week. After a slight freak out this morning, my husband reminded me of something that may have been the big contributor to those extra pounds – I’m taking estrogen injections.

I started the injections 10 days ago as part of our in vitro fertilization plan.

The estrogen is helping build up my uterine lining. Next week I go in for some blood work and a transvaginal ultrasound lining check. If my lining is thickened and my hormones are raging at the appropriate level, then I may have a new medication to take along with the estrogen before we begin our first embryo transfer.

The shots, taken every 3 days are intramuscular, and have to be given in my butt. So that’s how the hubby is participating in this…he gets to stick a very long needle in my ass. So far he’s doing a good job – not much pain and no bruising. Read More

Losing Weight In Public — Week 6

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Plateau at Golden Bay, Malta (top/middle)

Week 1 weight: 305 pounds
Last week’s weight: 292 pounds
Current weight: 293 pounds
Weight lost since last week: -1 pounds
Total weight lost: 12 pounds

*Woo hoo, my first plateau!

Funny story about a plateau. Years ago, in college, when I was studying abroad, I visited a beach in Malta. Bisecting the beach was an enormous plateau. It looks tiny in the picture, but I promise you, it was huge—and very high. Like an idiot, I chose to climb it rather than relax and enjoy the water like everyone else. I found a crack that ran all the way to the top and used that to make my ascent.

Now, understand: I had no training whatsoever. Nobody knew I was there, and if I slipped I would have died.

At one point, I reached for my next handhold—and then stopped myself. To this day, I don’t know why I stopped. I climbed an additional foot or so using a different, less convenient handhold, and then looked at what I’d almost grabbed. Nestled there like a bomb was a giant wasps nest boiling with wasps. If I’d continued blissfully climbing, I would have grabbed it, and those wasps would have stung me hundreds of times — with me, dangling precariously way up high on the side of that plateau. My guess is I wouldn’t have been able to control myself and then fallen to my death. Instead of that, my dumb ass skirted around the nest (about two feet from me at the closest) and continued the climb.

So as you can see, plateaus are VERY dangerous. (Hmm, wait, that’s not true in weight loss, but whatever, just go with it). But if you conquer them, the journey will have been worth the struggle. (Okay, not true at all as it pertains to spurious rock climbing without ropes or people who know you’re there, but shush).

Last Week’s Successes:
Didn’t eat any catering at work.

Last Week’s Failures:
Went out with my mom-in-law for her birthday and ate more cake than her. (Pie, actually, but it makes a better story if I say cake. Why do you keep interrupting my stories?!?)

See you next week.

*Ok, fine: it would have been a plateau if I’d maintained my weight, but I gained a pound.

Plateau From Hell: Battling My Body’s Set Weight Point

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weekly weigh in april 30

Not the progress I was expecting this week. I’m up a pound. Time to rethink my tactics.

Bleh! I was expecting a loss this week and instead I’m up a pound. What’s really frustrating is I’ve been bouncing between 182-185 pounds for a year. One. Freaking. Year.

Rethinking Tactics
I recently finished reading The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. Regular readers know I love Dr. Fung’s blog and his online lectures. A review of his book is coming soon (hint, you should read it!), but right now I’m looking at shaking up my intermittent fasting tactics for one simple reason — changing my body’s set weight point.

It’s believed that our bodies have a set weight point. When a healthy person’s weight goes above or below that set weight, the body compensates — slowing or raising metabolism, increasing hunger or satiety hormones — and works to get back to that person’s set weight point. Read More

Losing Weight In Public — Week 4

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Me, looking at pie.

Week 1 weight: 305 pounds
Last week’s weight: 297 pounds
Current weight: 295 pounds
Weight lost since last week: 2 pounds
Total weight lost: 10 pounds

My fourth post. I am a stranger in this land of 200s. Mysterious and frightening be their ways. They eat and then they stop! Their bathroom scales, they do not break! At first, I was but a scared traveler in their midst, scurrying from shadow to shadow, nibbling as I went, afraid at any moment they would see me and shout, “That fat guy has no clothes!” What are they doing in my bathroom at 7 a.m.? I DO NOT KNOW!

Last week’s big successes:

Ok, I’ll just say it right here: last week was mostly great. We had one round of catering at the office and I didn’t eat any of it. Also, though I went out to a few restaurants, I didn’t order any dessert. Yay for me, please pass the ketchup.

Last week’s failures:

Isn’t the world more fun when you don’t blog about your mistakes? I sure think so. Ok, so last Friday at the team potluck was a total fricking bust. I tried like 4 different desserts, and then I tried them all again. I had carbs up the wazoo. How they got up my wazoo, I have no idea, but they were there when I woke from my sugar coma. Really stupid on my part, and it’s a miracle I lost any weight at all. If anything, that shows you can screw up and still succeed, but therein lies a problem. Now I know I can screw up and succeed. Pandora has left the building, and she’s carrying an open box of Twinkies.

This week’s coming challenges:

I can’t think of anything specific, except for the possibility of a meetup group of some sort. Oh yeah, we might go to a seafood place for happy hour. I can eat seafood until my head falls off. Woot.
One challenge we should go ahead and acknowledge: desserts. Every week of this whole “Losing Weight In Public” thing has shown I can’t stay away from them. So it’s safe to say that’s my biggest challenge this week: not eating desserts.

Conclusion:

I’m really looking forward to getting my eating under better control. I need to plan better. I need to figure out why I do the things I do. Am I trying to escape? If so, from what? Am I trying to fill up a hole of some kind? Or am I just a human with millions of years of evolution weighing me down, screaming, “Eat before you starve! Eat before you starve!”

I’d like to blame it all on Darwin, but you know what happened to him?

He died.

See you next week!

Weekly Weigh-In: Down 3; Lowest Weight In 25 Years!

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weekly weight april 16

After losing 3 pounds this week I’m officially at my lowest weight in more than 25 years. Woohoo! 170s here I come!

I’m down 3.1 lbs. this week, weighing in at 181.4. That’s the lowest number I’ve seen on the scale for more than 25 years!  I finally feel back on track and have my sights set on saying hello to the 170s very soon.

So what worked this week? How about putting a stop on nibbling on cheese, seeds or nuts between meals. Anytime I walked into the kitchen I asked myself, “Am I hungry?” Presto! No more snacking. Don’t get me wrong, it took practice to get me into the habit of asking myself that question.

Instead I kept my focus on drinking water. The last couple of weeks I made a big effort in drinking my daily 90 ounces. Since I only use 24-ounce Tervis Tumblers, it’s pretty easy to track. As long as I fill those tumblers up 4 times a day I’m all set. This week I was hitting the mark.  Sweet!

Plus I’m finding I’m not that hungry. One of my consistent problems is not recognizing my hunger and satiety signals. I know that decades of bad eating really does mess with those hormones. But ghrelin (the hunger hormone) and leptin (the satiety hormone) do correct themselves over time with eating healthy, real foods. My hunger signal is working just fine. But it feels like my satiety signal is finally kicking in.

I’m noticing two things that might signal my leptin levels are normal again: Read More

Weekly Weigh-In: Self Sabotage!

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april 10 weigh in

I’m up 2 pounds from the last time I posted a weigh-in. Eating out is the culprit. But I’m back in the kitchen with abandon.

Holy crap! I haven’t posted a weigh-in since Feb. 29. Truth be told I’m working on a big project that’s consuming a lot of my time. I can’t say anything now but hopefully by this summer I’ll have good news to share.

After reading those awesome books by Steven Pressfield, I’m determined not to let my weigh-ins slide anymore. So weekly posts are back.

My Feb. 29 weigh in had me at 182.5 lbs, but by the time April 2 rolled around I was back to 187.5. With some changes this week, I dropped 3 pounds and now weigh 184.5.

So I’m trapped in a weird super moon bounce of my own making. Just bobbing up and down 5 pounds. What the heck is going on, Dot?

Self sabotage, that’s what! Grrrrrr!!!!!
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Man vs. Fat

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fork and measure

My husband has finally committed to getting healthy. So Mondays he’ll post about his weight loss escapades. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net and Mister CG.

Let’s face it, the overwhelming majority of weight loss products and information target women — 85% in fact. But what about men? It feels like with all the news about Oprah buying into Weight Watchers and the latest weight loss gimmicks (lose weight eating chocolate), it seems like men are getting left out in the cold.

Well here at dot2trot I’m an equal opportunity type of gal. I recognize that guys who want to lose weight also need some TLC and encouragement. So every Monday my hubby, author John L. Monk, will document his weight loss journey. Yep, he’s committed to openly discuss his temptations at work (all the donuts!), bad eating habits (eating off the wife’s plate!), and finding motivation to get off of his butt for evening walks.

Something tells me you’ll enjoy his trials and tribulations more than he does.

Weekly Weigh-In: Same As It Ever Was

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feb 27 weight

I ended February weighing as much as I did when the month began. Thanks to lots of eating out, I put the brakes on my weight loss, loss sleep, experienced digestive problems and had no energy.

I started February weighing 182.9 pounds. I end the month weighing 182.5 pounds. While I hoped to leave the 180s behind, I see this as a small victory. Even when I’m “bad” I can maintain or course correct pretty quickly with my eating habits.

Now when I say “bad” I’m talking about eating out and enjoying wine way too much. The middle of the month the hubby and I ate out about 10 times.  Of course, I had wine with my meals.  Ugh!!!  Thankfully the last 10 days I’ve worked diligently about cooking my own meals and forgoing the vino. And the results showed not only on the scale, but in how I physically felt.

Lack of Sleep & Feeling Crappy
What did all that eating out and wine get me? Between February 8-21, I gained 5 pounds. I know some of that was water retention, but when the pants started fitting a little tighter than normal, it was time to make a change.

Besides the pounds, I noticed a couple of things about my physical health: 1) poor sleep ensued, and 2) The morning after, my body let me know it did not approve of such behavior. Read More