I've lost 4.4 pounds in the last two days, which means that I've had a net deficit of about 7000 calories a day.
It's either that, or the first number, 220.6 was a little out of whack. Indeed, I went from 220.6 to 219.3 after one day and this morning, I weighed in at 216.2, an astounding 3.1 pound weight loss. Yes, I worked out and yes, I had an 1800 calorie day. But, I didn't also spend 6 hours in a sauna. Chalk it up to a little fluctuation, but also, I was pretty happy that I was able to get back on the diet and away from some bad habits again. I hear that Gleeman is admitting to some weight gain and that he's back on his diet, but I suspect that he's not really thinking about maintenance too carefully, says the guy who gained at least 10 pounds in a little over a month.
I discussed this with my wife last night and she's like, you must have some sort of psychological problem related to eating. I love you too, honey, and Happy Anniversary! No, that's not it. What it is, though, is that I can be undisciplined and if there's a bag of chips, I treat that like single serving size. My plan when I get to the target weight is to add in 200 calories right away (at breakfast) and slowly add in calories until I get to the right caloric amount. I want those calories added primarily in the early eating times. Dinner should be light.
It's part of my personality, though, to thrive in regimented programs. If I know what I'm going to eat, well I will do that and that's good for me because then I don't have to worry about it. I'm going to eat X and that's it. If my eating is not disciplined, that's when I have trouble. So, maybe there's something to my wife's thesis, except I'm pretty sure that this problem is not limited to eating.
I'm up in ND after a terrible night of sleep and long drive. Have a good day.
I hear that Gleeman is admitting to some weight gain and that he’s back on his diet
I was going to leave a comment on his site to visit for the fitness posts, but it required registering so I didn't do it.
I think an invitation via email would be better. He has a gmail account: AaronG... etc.
He has been invited.
It really pained me to see all the tweets about how much Chinese food he was eating. He was part of my inspiration to get healthier. You would think that he would be a little more aware of putting the weight back on since this last weight loss effort wasn't his first.
Right. I can empathize some because I fell back, sort of, into some bad habits. But, I have at least had it in my mind how I would maintain. I'm freely admitting that I haven't quite figured it out and it may be part of my body saying that my set point is at 260 or something, but I'm not giving up.
Also, no nuts. They are the devil.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h-w2aXN-Zc
Whether nuts are bad depends on the diet you're going with. I did Atkins and ate lots of peanuts while I was losing 25 pounds.
Right. Good protein, good fats. Like most foods, consumed in moderation, they are good for you.
Moderation is the problem. I can't resist.
I think just about everybody has some sort of psychological problem with eating. I certainly do. If that wasn't built into us there would be no overweight people.
Found out from the wife, who has to deal with way more pain issues than I likely ever will, that eating not only makes the pain go away, but makes her feel good. I'm nearly the opposite in that I can (and have) forgotten to eat.
For me, overeating is about stasis. It's about not taking care of business. I'll start taking care of it tomorrow. I got back on the regimen on Monday and yesterday I felt terrific... the diet was easy. I ate dinner last night late because I wasn't hungry. For me, overeating makes me feel bad about myself, which may make me spiral down. Conversely, controlling the eating makes me feel real good.
My psychological problem with eating is that I really like to eat things that taste good but are not good for me. My other problem is that, as a pastor, almost every time I go to visit someone or go to some sort of church event, there are lots of those things around. I have to be very careful about that stuff. I eat some of it, probably still more than I should, but not nearly as much as I'd like to.
For me it's the "really liking to eat things that taste good" problem. I like it. A lot. My sweet tooth is extreme. Resistance is tough, all the time. I do pretty good sometimes, and then other times... not so much. But I always have to work on resisting.
I don't think it is so much a psychological problem as it is a physiological problem. We are evolved to deal with scarcity by binging when calories are available. This is perhaps more noticeably true of our brothers and sisters from certain Pacific island areas and from certain Native American tribal bands who long hailed from inhospitable areas (but also more widely true for lower SES groups in America).
So, while willpower and a plan are of obvious importance to weight control, I think we should not over-emphasize lacks of the same as the root causes of obesity. There's some pretty powerful biology at play.
"When viewing high-calorie food images, participants reported the subsequent taste to be more pleasant than when low-calorie food images preceded the identical taste."
And what I was originally looking for:
Your brain makes you unconsciously like caloric foods even if they're not delicious, study finds.
I don't think there's really some widespread psychological problem that people in certain parts of the world have suddenly caught like a virus. I think we live in strange times.
Look at Aaron's job--he works from home and everything about his job revolves around sitting down and typing into a computer or looking at a screen (either a computer monitor or a television screen.) He could literally move less than 500 feet a day--carrying no load--and do his job. Even 50 years ago, if he was a sports reporter, he'd have to go to the ballpark to watch games, carry around a relatively heavy typewriter (certainly heavier than anything he carries now), and even just traveling more would be more work than it is now. And 50 years ago, you'd probably have to work hard to eat as much processed food as most Americans eat today as a matter of convenience. Go back 200 years, and if you did that little physical work, you'd probably be dead, because it'd take more physical work just to procure food and shelter.
No, not like a virus. I'm not saying it's a disease that you can catch. I'm saying like BrianS said, we've evolved to consume more calories than we need for the times of scarcity. There's just no such thing as times of scarcity for us anymore. There's a disconnect in our brains, at least in my brain, between how many calories I need and how many I want.
Last year I read a really interesting book called The Power of Habit. It's about far more than diet/health habits and I wouldn't call it at all a self-help book (the author is a business reporter), but it talks a lot about how much our daily decisions are governed by habit and what it takes to changed ingrained habits. There's a bit where the author talks about how he changed his own afternoon cookie habit and lost something like 15 pounds. It's a good read.
I'm going to try to find that book. I haven't posted here, because I'm not really interested in losing weight or gaining muscle. I've always been tall and skinny, FWIW. But I am getting older and incorporating some form of exercise has been an interest for a while.
I started doing yoga in the morning a few weeks back, focusing less on the exercise and more on the creation of a new habit. I started at just five minutes a day, basically a sun salutation at 30 seconds per stretch. The goal is to do it every day. If I miss a day, that's okay and I just pick up the next day. If I miss two days, it's really important that I don't miss a third.
At this point, I feel strange if I don't stretch in the morning during the weekdays. Weekends are another kettle of fish. But it's a lot better than nothing, which is what I was doing before.
yea, these comments about habit are really important. I suspect we all have certain daily habits that, when missed, lead us to feeling a bit "off". With weight control, I suspect that there is some mapping back to "set points" and all.
Ugh, I had planned to work out this morning, but I'm having a lot of motivation problems right now because of being tired from not sleeping well. Jet lag is a bitch. I got a decent night's sleep last night, though, so I think I can get back on the horse tomorrow morning.
I managed to convince myself to go for a jog tonight. This kind of feels like a big deal for me because 1) I haven't been for a week (or two?), and 2) This is the first at-home, in-the-evening, giving up the comfort of sitting on the couch, jog I've had this year. Working out at work is easier, since I'm giving up time at my desk. So this felt good.
Somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles, probably closer to 1.5. Slow pace. But still!