Day 14: Being a Healthier Author
Day 14: Being a Healthier Author
It’s been two weeks now and I hope we can all say we’ve made some progress. That progress doesn’t need to be compared to anyone else’s. It doesn’t need to be weight loss related. Progress is as simple as making one health-conscious decision since we began this journey. If that is one more than you normally would have made, then you deserve a pat on the back. However, here is the trick. You can’t celebrate that one change next time we check-in. So, make another, and maintain the first. That’s the journey we’ve committed to!
Let’s start by talking about how we can have a ‘cheat meal’ but not miss our macros. If we want to have pizza, sushi, nachos, and beer it’s still possible. The struggle that exists here is planning that ‘cheat.’ Let’s say we want to have Pizza tonight for simplicity’s sake. Well, in the morning we can input that Pizza into our tracking app which will give us the information needed to plan the rest of our day around that cheat meal. If the Pizza takes up half of your daily calorie allowance, then eat differently for breakfast, and lunch so you can enjoy that Pizza and still hit your goals.
Now the next struggle ties into the first. Portion control. If we’re at all similar a large stuffed crust deep dish is a serving size.
This is probably my most difficult struggle every day. I was taught young that we don’t leave food on our plate and that food is better warm. These two things make it hard for me to not just go back for seconds or thirds. So, I have been taking a plate and packing up the rest before I sit down to eat. This way I have my meal and don’t just eat more cause it’s available. This problem was exacerbated by my beautiful girlfriend who often doesn’t finish her plate and asks if I would like it. We had to discuss my priorities and about her no longer offering. In her mind, this is a kind gesture, and I love that she wants to share it with me. Still, for my current goals, this is SABOTAGE (lol).
Another struggle that I ran into was trying to use intermittent fasting. In essence, I was constraining my eating to an 8-hour window, and if I had any plans or chores during that time, I was trying to force food into my body later. This made some of the food I consumed not part of my approved choices because I traded speed for quality. I was losing weight consistently with this method, but I worried that I was losing weight too quickly. This was an odd problem to worry about, as one of my goals is to lose weight. However, when we lose weight, we don’t want to cannibalize our muscle mass to do it.
As mentioned in an earlier blog this is how after losing all the weight, we struggled to get off, we gain it all back because our bodies can’t burn the calories we return to for our normal diet.
Another struggle that I’ve fought with is the desire to skip my activity for the day. Sometimes it’s getting late, and I don’t want to do it. I got all the other stuff done that I needed to for the day. Why can’t I take a day off from this? Luckily, I joined a group for accountability. I didn’t want to let myself or them down and so I got up off the couch and got on the bike. Remember we are trying to get to that 21-day habit, so use that and every tool you can put into your bag to get up off the couch and get in your activity.
Progress:
Average Weight for last week: 271.03 lbs / 122.93 kg / 19.36 Stones
Daily Calories: 2450 – Missed a few times
Daily Activity: Biked everyday
Mental Health: Noticeable Uptick