Week 7 of My Weight Loss Journey

Week 7 Update: Started Blog at 205lbs - Now Down to 197.2lbs

Well, I'm seven weeks in to this plan and so far so good. This morning I weight in at 197.2lbs. I do have to say that I can't trust this number to hold as there were extenuating circumstances this week. 

Once again, I was called out of town for work. However, I did hit my 10K steps on Monday and Tuesday and even managed 9K steps on Wednesday, the day I drove home. But Thursday was a different story. The hotel didn't have a gym so I brought my resistance bands and did 3 sets of exercises in the hotel room.

Turns out that I had conveniently forgotten - or didn't want to think about - a dentist appointment. Turns out that after two failed root canals, they just ended up having to pull on of my molars. Luckily, it is way in the back by my wisdom tooth so it's not noticable. However, it did mean that from Thursday morning until Friday lunchtime, I didn't eat anything. I had ZERO appetite! In fact, I was also told not to elevate my heart rate to aid the blot clot in forming so I didn't do any walking or weights.

I actually weighed in at 195.2 Friday morning as a result of not eating. I did make myself eat on Friday and I have more of an appetitie today. I'm limited to soft foods so I've stopped trying to watch my carbs and am instead enjoying jell-o, pudding and flavored yogurts for a few days until I can eat more solid foods again. I did push the envelope today and I had a deli-meat chicken sandwich with havarti cheese. All soft foods and I took little bites on my good side to be extra safe. 

I know what you're thinking. Since you've started this blog, you've only lost 8 pounds! It's true. BUT - I can see some muscle tone I didn't have before. I feel better. My clothes fit better. I have more confidence. But most of all, I don't really feel like I'm lacking anything. Sure. I'd love to eat more sweets, but here's the thing. I have had sweets and I'm still losing a pound per week. Over a year, that's 52 pounds and again, I don't feel like I'm dieting. It feels more like being more aware. I can have ice cream. I can have cake. Would I like more. Yep. Do I need more? Definitely not. Before, I'd have given in to the moment but now I'm making smarter choices. 

Weight Loss Journey - Week 3

It's the 3rd week of documenting my weight loss journey and things are going good. I woke up and got on the scale and weighed in at an even 200! I've very happy because I'm making progess. I'm not feeling hungry. And I've lost 5 pounds since starting this blog. It is said that 1-2 pounds per week is a good range for weight loss because it typically means you're losing fat and not muscle. So, what have I been doing?

I've been doing a simple resitance training at home with my dumbells and kettlebells. It only takes me about 10 minutes so it's something that I can do even if it gets late and I just want to go upstairs to bed. With the dumbells, I do 10 x arm curls, hammer curls, tricep kickbacks, overhead press, side raises and front raises. I take no rest in between. I go from exercise to exercise. Once I'm done with those, I switch to the kettlebell and do the following. 15 x Goblet Squats, kettlebell swings, deadlift. On my last workout I did add 15 x single leg RDL (Romanian Deadlift) switching legs of course to work both sides. I really felt this one and could tell there was some weakness there. This exercise will become a regular as I know it'll help my running.

Speaking of which; I ran this morning at the track above McCormick Field. It's a really nice track and not crowded on a Saturday morning. At least not this Saturday morning. I did one of my favorite track workouts: Sprint the straightaways and jog (or in my case today, walk) the curves. It's basically a HIIT workout on the track.  

As far as eating goes. I am tracking as best I can. Some things just aren't in the database but I can add somethings if it has a nutrition label. For other things, I'll take a picture and ask AI to estimate the calories and macros and then manually add it based on those numbers. It must be fairly accurate becuase it's working for me. If I happen to have a sweet, which has happened, I will focus really hard on no or very little carbs the rest of the day. This has been working too as I haven't felt deprived of eating what I like. It just requires more planning for the rest of the day. 

In fact, just yesterday, I planned for ice cream at the end of the day. I left myself enough calories and carbs in reserve to have two scoops of ice cream (vanilla and chocolate) with chocolate chips. 

April 9th I was 213 and started losing weight just trying to move a little more but I ate pretty much the same. From April 9th until June1 I just focused on moving more and that got me to hover around 208-210 the whole time. Since I've cut back on the carbs, I've noticed that the old adage is true - Weight loss is done in the kitchen. Obviously, moving helps too, but the carbs are what as moved the needle the most for me. At least so far. 

My Workout Equipment: What I'll be Using to Lose Fat

What I'm Using to Get Back in Shape and Lose Weight

It doesn't take a lot of equipment or even a gym membership to get back in shape. Would it help? Sure! But I don't have the time to go to a gym and would rather have one less frickin' subscription/monthly withdrawel every month. So, let's get into it.

Here's the equipment I'm using in my plan to lose fat and get down to 180lbs. 

Resistance Bands

This is a flat stretchy band used in physical therapy. I'm using it to help with my ankle issues. I'lll use it to place around my foot and then flex my foot like I'm pushing the gas pedal. I'll also loop it around my foot and turn my foot inwards toward the other foot, and then outward away from my body. These give me a pretty full range of motion and I always feel better after doing them. 

Adjustable Dumbbells

I have a set of dumbbells that can go from 5lbs up to 50lbs. All I do is turn the handle and the weights go up or down. It's super easy to use and adjust. So far, just starting out, I've been doing 1 set of arm curls, hammer curls, tricep kickbacks, overhead press, front raises and side raises.

Kettlebell

I have one kettlebell that weighs 20lbs. This is good for squats or hip hinge type movements. So far, like above, I've been doing just 1 set of kettlebell swings and goblet squats. 

Resistance Tubing

Resistance tubing are round surgical tubing with handles. They are great for mimicking just about every exercise. You can stand on the tubing, hold the handles and do arm curls, overhead presses, or use a door attachment and do rows or lat pulldowns depending on how you position the door attachment. 

I've not used these yet as I've just started back, but I do plan on utilizing them for things like a standing bench press, rows, lat pulldown and things like that. I'm still working on a plan. 

Walking Pad

My son bought me a walking pad for christmas. It actually goes up to 4 mph which is a little bit more than walking speed. It's somewhere between speed walking and a slow jog at that speed. I'll tipically walk at 3 or 3.5 mph. It folds up and slides under the couch when I'm not using it which is great. I don't have the space to leave it out all the time.

I try to walk outside and get at least 10,000 steps each day. On the weekends, my wife and I go hiking so it's no problem. But during the week, it can be tough with driving or sitting at a desk all day. So whatever I'm short on steps, I will try to make up on the walking pad before going to bed. For example, tonight I'm at 8,612 steps. As soon as I post this, I'll get on the walking pad and walk at least 1,388 steps which should take about 13 minutes or less. I've found that I can walk over 100 steps per minute and therefore walk approximately 1,000 steps every 10 minutes. I usually do better than this, but on average, I'd say it's pretty close. 

Bench

I do have a bench in the basement that I can use flat or in various states of incline. It needs a really good cleaning, but it should inspire me to do some additional exercises like dumbell bench press, incline bench, etc. 

My Body

Of course, the OG tool I was born with is my own bodyweight. Push ups, Jumping Jacks, Mountain Climbers are just some of the exercises I plan on implementing along the way. 

So that's my plan and my equipment. Wish me luck.