So, we are one week into 2018 and let’s hope this week isn’t setting the tone for the whole year or my fitness journey is in trouble. I have been sick this entire week with an annoying persistent cough that gets worse as I get active. At the same time, the weather has been in single digit temperatures in the mornings. These 2 factors have combined to make me just want to sleep in each morning and I have not been to the gym through the entire first week of 2018. This is not a trend that I can allow to continue and week 2 of the year needs to be killer!

Success Through the Setbacks

While my workouts have been very limited this week, I am still seeing a positive trend with weight loss. I crossed the 80 pounds lost mark this week. At my Saturday morning weigh-in, I was 5 pounds less than where I was at my Monday morning weigh-in. Certainly, my Monday weigh-in was artificially skewed upward due to my consumption through New Years weekend, but I am definitely at a new low weight at the 80 pound mark.

On Saturday afternoon, I went clothes shopping to find some sweaters and to start thinking about round 2 of buying smaller pants.  I ended up buying two new pairs of jeans, which in itself is not noteworthy.  However, the jeans I bought are the same size I wore in high school!  This means that I have not only lost over 80 pounds, I have also lost about 10 inches around my waist!

So far, 2018 is a definite reminder that success isn’t always a straight line!

Calories In, Calories Out

I have talked before about how my daily calorie intake adjusts down as I lose weight – it has happened again! As of Saturday morning, my daily calorie intake has decreased to 2,005 calories; I have become VERY aware of how low this is. For example, I had a very small amount of high fiber & high protein oatmeal for breakfast on Saturday morning and it represented 10% of my daily intake! And I was still hungry! This is another reason that exercise is so important because the calorie burn gives me more flexibility in calorie intake.

I spent some time this week looking at my average daily calorie burn as tracked by my fitness tracker – which I wear 24 hours per day minus when I am in the shower. Over the past few months, my average daily calorie burn has started to decrease. My body simply does not burn as many calories when at rest as it did when I was heavier. Unfortunately, this supports the decrease in my daily calorie intake target!

The data also supported something else that I kind of already knew.  The cold weather has decreased my average active/exercise calories. The decrease is  because I don’t get as much exercise outside of the gym setting as I did when it was warmer and I would go out for a random walk. I could try to go out for a random walk in the cold weather, but I am just incredibly uncomfortable in the cold now. With such a extreme about of weight loss I am so unaccustomed to feeling the cold as much as I do now that it is almost painful.

Not Getting Easier

My journey is getting more difficult but it is completely worth the effort. The results are so visible to me now that it is stunning and a little emotional.

My weight has been a negative part of my life for as long as I can remember. In just under 7 months and with just a little hard work, I lost 80 pounds, that is about 25% of my body weight. Why in the world did I wait until I was 40 to do this? Why did I let this problem persist for so long and be so embarrassing? I think I look like a different person and I am not ashamed of how I look anymore. Liz has even found some really good “before” pictures that we can completely recreate over the next few weeks to show the change.

My Changing Diet

My diet still includes many of the same things as it did before I started this journey – pizza, burgers, alcohol, cookies, etc. However, I have also added in some new things and am really starting to crave healthier options than I used to. We went grocery shopping the other day and I really loaded up on fresh fruits and vegetables. I have started regularly making overnight oats for breakfast. I made buffalo cauliflower bites as a side dish with dinner (turkey sloppy joes) one night this week. I have saved a TON of recipes that I want to try for various healthy food options and I just crave good stuff.

On the topic of intake, there is another surprise (at least to me) in my consumption. Beer has been pretty much eliminated beer from my drinking habits. I will still drink beer here and there and will likely do so more in the summer, but it just isn’t a go-to for me. Instead, when I am drinking alcohol, I will default to a bourbon that is lower in calories and takes WAY longer than a beer to consume so I drink less of it. Also, I enjoy red wine that is also a slower consumption drink and is heart healthy.

As I said, the first week of 2018 wasn’t the best for my journey though I still made progress. I just have to remember that this is a journey and I will be better next week.

Last week’s stats (12/25 – 12/31):
Distance walked/run: 23.8 miles
Total calories burnt: 25,447
Total calories consumed: 11,937
Weight change: 3.8 pounds lost