Diet Update

A lot of people have been asking me about my diet and how I’m doing so I thought I’d post an update.  I fully realize that some of you couldn’t care less so you might just want to stop reading now if that’s you.

I’ve been on my diet now for 111 days.  Last week I finally hit another personal dieting milestone.  I broke through the 30 pound mark.  I had been plateaued for almost two weeks at 29 pounds so it was really good to past through that barrier.

Overall, the diet has been very tolerable for the most part.  There are moments, particularly when I can’t see much happening, that aren’t a lot of fun but I’m committed to reaching my weight loss goals this year so I haven’t been overly tempted to quit.  Interestingly, however, I find I’m most tempted to jump off my diet right after I’ve mentioned it in one my sermons.  I think there’s something spiritual about that but I don’t quite know what it is.

My rate of loss has slowed down a bit since I first started.  Part of it is that I seem to be building some muscle weigh, I wonder, does creatine help build muscle, is that what the craze is about?.  Even with that factored in though, it’s clear that my rate of loss has slowed down.  I originally thought that I was going to be able to hit my goals by June or July but now it’s looking like it’s going to be much later in the year.  That bums me out a bit but I know that it’s only a matter of time and that I will win this battle.

People keep asking me what I’m doing.  Here’s the deal.

1. I eat about four smallish meals a day on average
2. I eat lean meats, beans and veggies.
3. I avoid carbs except for the “slow carbs” in beans.  (Insert your bean joke here.)
4. I eat a lot of protein.
5. I avoid most sugar.  There’s some sugar in some of the things I eat but it’s very minimal.
6. I drink lots of water.  This is helpful on a lot of levels.
7. I workout three times a week with a kettle bell.  I’m going to be changing this up soon.
8. I get a splurge day one day a week.  This helps me a lot with cravings and such.  (I’m typically back to my pre-splurge weight within two days.)

That’s it.

People also keep asking me if I feel like I’ve got more energy.  At first, I found that question a bit annoying because even though I was losing weight I sure didn’t feel any energy boost at all.  Honestly, I felt like I had far less energy but I soon realized that was because I had been using sugar and caffeine as stimulants before I started dieting.  It took a while for my body to adjust to not having those things.  Then about a month ago, I did in fact start to notice that I felt far more energetic.  This seems to be the norm now and I’m loving it.

One thing that I didn’t anticipate when I started my diet was how it would impact my sleep.  I’m sleeping far better than I have in twenty years.  Honestly, it’s amazing.  There are a lot of factors but the biggest are a lack of caffeine and not having much in my stomach when I go to bed.  (My portions tend to be a lot smaller and I don’t snack at all so my stomach is pretty much empty when I go to bed.  I do wake up very hungry though.)

The weirdest thing to me is that I don’t really feel like I look all that different.  The only time that it hits me that I’m really losing weight is when my old clothes start to get really baggy or when I have to go get something new to wear because nothing fits me.

I guess that’s about it.  I still have a very long way to go but I am committed.