It has been an eventful 2 weeks since I posted last. I went on vacation for a week including a cross country drive and lots of eating out. Needless to say I didn't do as well as I hoped. I got through the first day all right but a trip to Five Guys burgers did me in. Then it was easier to cheat as the week wore on. I didn't go hog wild the whole week but by the time I got home on Monday I was in bad shape. I could feel the difference in how lethargic I was the whole time. The only thing I can equate it to is being on a depressant. I never have been but I felt like it the whole vacation. A good lesson for the future, don't do that again. the "fun" of eating whatever simply isn't isn't worth the cost. And I'm not talking pounds either, it wasn't worth dropping out of ketosis and losing the energy of low carbing. Carbs are the worst drugs you can take. I am convinced of it.
So I have been watching Extreme Loser a bit lately to help me get motivated and if anything I feel the opposite. I watch these poor people go to extremes literally to take these vast amounts of weight off in a year and it just can't be healthy. Losing 90 pounds in 90 days in the first phase has got to be such a shock to your system and your organs. I have read behind the scenes rumblings that the producers encourage the contestants to do bad things to make weight including forced dehydration, diet pills and extreme workouts even pulling them into a ranch in Arizona to monitor their every move so the show can look like a success. To believe that one can simply lose 150 lbs in a year or less by eating 1,500 calories a day and working out a few hours a day is just fiction. I am taking the Atkins approach because it isn't a diet, it isn't extreme, there isn't any weigh in I have to starve myself for, I can just lose what my body is willing to lose until I am healthy and then can add in carbs until I hit my maintenance amount. Another benefit of slower weight loss is it gives your skin time to shrink. I will perhaps have some loose skin when I am done but not near as much as these people who lose so much so quick. So with my weigh in last Monday at 350 lbs after my vacation I was up 7 pounds in only 6 days from eating off plan. I immediately jumped back on plan when I got home and was in ketosis after my first day back. This morning I weighed in and am down a pound net and for the week lost all my vacation pounds as well as an extra. That pound I lost puts me at the magical 25 pound mark. I have been at this for just under 2 1/2 months and have lost 25 pounds which puts me at 25% of my year long goal. I am really excited about my progress and know that I am healthier for it. I have decided once I lose 75 pounds to go public with this blog and hopefully have enough here to help people. Even if nobody sees this it has been good for me.
Weight - 342 lbs, started 367lbs
Chest - 54 Inches, started 60 inches
Stomach - 56 inches, started 64 inches
Waist - 49.75 inches, started 54 inches
Mid Thigh - 24 inches, started 25 inches
Total pounds lost - 25 lbs, Total inches lost - 19.75 inches
Slow progress but progress all the same. I am pleased to see any pounds come off after my excursion across the country. Back at it this week with a vengeance. For those that are visiting I would love to hear from you in the comments. Check in and tell me who you are.
