Beau Jackson

So if you scroll back through the last few posts, you’ll see I started my weight loss plan at 269.5 pounds.  I made it to goal one (265) and almost to goal two (260).  I’ve weighed in at 260.5 two days in a row now.  I’ve been that low a couple of other times and “bounced” back up a few pounds.

This is what I call the “plateau”.  It means there’s a weight mark that I just can’t seem to break past.  Theoretically, what this means is that my metabolism has now adjusted to the reduction in calories.  The only way to get past the plateau is to a) eat even less (which would be unhealthy and non-sustainable) or b) EXERCISE!

Today I officially began my exercise regime to go along with my reduced calorie intake.  For me, exercise = walking.  I took a 15 minute walk during lunch today - only 76 degrees out, which is fantastic for August in Missouri.  I will take another 10 to 15 minute walk this evening.

I have read that walking at a reasonable pace (3 mph or so) can burn 5 to 10 calories per minute.  At my weight, it’s near the 10 calorie mark, so 15 minutes of walking burns 150 calories.  The way I see this is that I just walked off all the calories I consumed in my morning snack.

Eventually (2 to 4 weeks from now) I’ll plateau again - and it means the same thing.  My metabolism will have adjusted to the new amount of activity and calories.  At that point, I’ll have to bump my exercise up a little - another 10 minutes of walking per day.

It all seems to work pretty well.  I’m never really starving myself - I’m eating about 1500-1700 calories per day.  Eating at regular intervals, which means breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner helps keep me from getting the munchies.  It also helps keep your metabolism stable.  Exercising daily - even just walking - also helps boost the metabolism and makes me feel better about myself too.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring me under 260 - through the plateau and on to my next five pound goal!

At the risk of turning this into a “diet blog”, I thought I’d mention a phenomenon of weight loss that I call “bouncing”.

I’ve read quite a bit about losing weight, and one of the things I see a lot is this advice:  Do NOT check your weight every day.  Well, nuts to that!  I’m obsesive in a lot of ways, and I want immediate gratification.  I don’t want to wait a week to check my weight.  I want to check it every day.

So here are my tips on checking your weight every day:

1. Try to weigh at around the same time every day, and under the same conditions.  Example - I wake up every morning, use the bathroom, then get on the scale.  Why do this?  Consistency mostly.  If you weigh before breakfast one day, and after breakfast the next, then you have to try and figure out how much your breakfast weighs.  Pick a time, and a set of conditions and keep to it.
2. Weigh in the buff.  (Please, for your sanity, do NOT try to visualize me doing this - it’s not pretty!).  Why weigh in the buff?  It’s about being honest with yourself.  You might be tempted to say “oh, these pants weigh at least two pounds” or “I’ve got heavy shoes on”.  If you’re not wearing any clothes, then you KNOW that the only thing being weighed is YOU.
3. Get a digital scale.  Mine measures in half-pound increments (see earlier post, “269.5″).  Why digital?  Honesty again.  If it’s got a dial with little tics on it, you might be tempted to round up or down.  With digital, there is no ambiguity.

So, why all of that when the subject is “bouncing”.  Well, when I weigh every day, I notice that my weight bounces up and down.  Today I weighed 260.5 (approaching goal #2, yay me!).  Tomorrow, I may weigh less, or my weight may “bounce” back up.  I’ve noticed that I tend to follow a bit of a bouncing pattern.  Day one, I’ll be down one and a half or two pounds.  Day two, I’ll be down another pound.  Day three I’ll be down another half pound.  Day four I’ll bounce and be up a pound.  Then the cycle starts over.  If you do the math, it works out to losing two to two and a half pounds every four days.  Which, is GREAT!

The key is to not get freaked out by the “bounce”.  Sometimes it’s a one pound bounce, but I’ve bounced as much as three pounds in a day.  Sometimes I’ll bounce up a couple of days in a row, but then I’ll have a day where I lose four pounds.  I don’t have any idea why this is.  Maybe I ate something that’s taking longer to digest?  Maybe retaining a little more or a little less water?  Who knows?

Anyhow - I’ll probably continue posting about the weight loss.  Maybe it’s not so exciting for the general population to read, but hey - it’s exciting to me to be losing weight again!  And sharing my methods is as good a subject to post on as any.  :)

So it’s been a week and I’m approaching my weight loss goal.  Fast eh?

It sounds a little silly, but when it comes to losing weight I feel it’s best to lower your standards.  I know that in the back of my mind my ultimate goal is around 220 pounds, but from day to day I set my sights on five pound increments.  Last Monday, I weighed 269.5.  This morning I weighed 265.5.  As this is my first goal, I’ve lowered my expectations even more and I’m shooting for an “even” 265.  I’m hopeful that tomorrow will see the attainment of that goal, and then I will have a new goal of 260 and so on.  I guess to me, five pounds seems possible where 50 pounds does not.  So I’m always aiming at the next five pounds.

Here’s a free weight loss tip from me:  Water.  Drink it.  Lots of it.  Lots and lots and lots of it.  I got one of those “mega mugs” from the local convenience store - it’s 64oz.  I fill it with water at work after I’m done drinking coffee in the morning, and then I just sip on it all day.  By quiting time, I’ve drained it.  When I get home, I drink another glass of water before dinner, and another glass of water with dinner.  The whole point is that water does not contain any calories, and your body will actually burn (a very few) calories just warming the water up to 98.6 degrees.  And if you’re stomach is full of water, then you don’t feel so hungry, and you’re not as likely to want to snack on things.  I could go on with the health benefits, but hey - I’m just trying to lose weight here, so the fact that water helps with that is key.  Everything else is just a bonus.

That’s two-hundred-sixty-nine and one half pounds.  Pounds of what you ask?  Pounds of me, says I.  That’s what I weighed this morning, and that my friends is as high as I am willing to let that number get.

Four years ago or so I weight right around 270, and I decided that enough was enough.  I changed my eating habits - I didn’t go on a diet per-se, I just stopped stuffing myself.  I started exercising, and by that I mean I started walking.  Just 10 minutes a day at first.  Then after a few weeks 20 minutes.  Then 30 minutes a few weeks later.  Eventually I was walking about 50 minutes a day.  That’s all the exercise I did, but that’s all it takes.  After about five months, I was down to 215 pounds.

People noticed my progress, and I’d get asked what kind of diet was I on?  South Beach?  Atkins?  Nope…I was on the good old fashioned “Eat Less, Exercise More” diet, and I can state from personal experience that it works fabulously.

So what happened?  Well, about three years ago or so, my Dad died.  I lost all enthusiasm for exercise so that stopped.  Gradually I began to eat more.  Gradually I began to gain weight again.  And here I am looking at 269.5 again.

They say time heals all wounds, and I’ve healed.  And I’m tired of being fat again.  So, starting today I have changed my lifestyle back to the healthy one I gave up on.  The one where I eat less and exercise more.  We’ll have to see what November (5 months from now) brings.