Week Thirty: Pace the Race

For the record, I don't run. The pace I'm setting is a dietary one. 

Image by metaliza01 from Pixabay 

I haven't lost weight in two months. I know I'm burning more than I'm consuming. Inches have been lost, but my weight remains the same or even went up by just a couple of pounds.

However, I lost more than a few inches. Oddly enough, I'm thinner at three hundred and thirty-two pounds than I was when I weighed three hundred! How crazy is that?

I know the weight will come down. I've hit a plateau, and I just need to be patient. My biggest problem is trying to fix things too soon before allowing the previous changes to take effect. I did this initially after my first twenty-eight-day clean fast, and I think I threw my metabolism into a tailspin.

The first month was a seventeen-pound loss. The second month was a four-pound loss. Had I not tried to go to an OMAD (One Meal A Day) format, maybe the weight loss wouldn't have tanked that second month. Who knows? 

I was eating five to six meals a day before I started. Within six weeks, I was eating half that. That's a big shock to the body!

I started this dietary race running full tilt. I realize now that I have to pace myself; otherwise, I'll crash and burn...out. I need to remind myself this isn't a fad diet; this is a lifestyle change that I'll be doing the rest of my life. 

Weight loss is a side effect. Yes, it's the main reason I started doing Intermittent Fasting, but not the only reason. I wanted that extra energy. I wanted my body to slim down without needing plastic surgery. The organic envelope that is my skin will slim down as I do. There will be sagging and extra stuff as I lose, but not nearly as much as there would be if I dropped weight like a contestant on The Biggest Loser.

I'm not lecturing you. I'm lecturing me.

I won't lie. I'd almost given up after month two of no weight loss. The only things that kept me going were the inches lost and the energy and vitality I feel when I fast. 

Then I had to go to my husbands' workplace last week. You know, the place that has the freight scale where I weigh myself. I honestly felt that I was cheating to step on the scale this early in the month, so I almost didn't do it. But my inner self said to get on, so I did.

No, I won't tell you the numbers, but there was a loss. A good loss. Just one and a half weeks after my last weigh-in. I'm so glad I did it because it refreshed my hope.

The rest of the week was somewhat counterproductive. I was hungry a lot, and I ate more than I usually allow. Maybe it was relief eating (instead of stress eating), and maybe I was subconsciously sabotaging myself- I really have no idea. But I was exceptionally hungry for protein, and I ate a lot of it this weekend.

I also found out at a friends' cookout that chicken marinated in Italian dressing overnight and grilled until just tender tastes fantastic- and I can't eat enough of it. Politeness was the only reason I didn't eat all that was left. I don't know what it is about cooking outdoors on a grill, but the burgers and chicken were awesome. 

Maybe it's just us being outdoors for the first time in forever; I know I eat a lot more when we go camping too, so maybe there's something in the fresh air that makes people hungrier. All I know is that it tasted great, and I ate a lot of it.

Today is my down day. I'm not sure if I'll continue doing them as drastically as I was a month ago. It seems I lose faster when I eat more, especially lean proteins, so no more days of just salads. I still like having a brothy soup, though, but having it with some extra protein or a side salad instead is much more satisfying for me. 

Making this slight adjustment has also increased my energy. 

This week I plan to stick with a little higher intake on my down days (not the 500 calorie drastic drop), parking even further back in the parking lots for work, and keeping off the couch by doing extra chores in the house. 

Lucky for me, we're getting a new-to-us refrigerator in tomorrow, so I'll be moving a lot of furniture and doing a lot of bending as we clear out the old fridge and restock the new one. Leftovers have already been sorted into 'grab and go' one serving meals to be frozen, and we're still making homemade bread and pasta.

Now all I need to do is find the charcoal and see how much chicken and Italian dressing we have. This is going to be a delicious week!