Week 4

238.4/242.7

"The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Perfectionism is inefficient." - Uncle Bill

Managing Calories has been the most useful tool in my quest for stork-dom. I got caught up early on in micromanaging them, which turned out to not be necessary. I settled on 2000 Calories per day as my goal, and tried to get as close as possible to that as I could. This included things such as pouring a half glass of apple juice with dinner instead of water, eating 5 Thin Mints instead of 4 when that made the numbers look better, and a lengthy quest to figure out exactly how many Calories are in each ingredient added to a Chipotles Burrito Bol. And if you're curious...

13" Tortilla shell    330 
1 cup rice            240 
1/2 cup Black beans   130 
2 oz Cheese           200 
1/4 cup Sour cream    120 
1/2 cup Lettuce         5
4oz Chicken           219 
4oz Carnitas          227

The tortilla shell was a little surprising, but my standard chicken bol (no tortilla) with rice, beans, cheese and lettuce is sizeable, yet not prohibitive, 794 Calories. I can do that for lunch if I have a light breakfast and forgo my mid-morning granola bar. Anyway, after micromanaging for a couple weeks, I got a better feel for the Calorie content of different foods, and started to adopt a sort of Deal A Meal strategy for the day's food... yeah much protein and fat for breakfast, a small lunch, and a TV dinner for dinner. At the end of the day my hunger level stays about the same, and weight seems to be coming off at the same rate. And If I have any cravings, I can always pull up the spreadsheet and calculate exactly what my caloric intake for the day has been, and see if I can afford a snack.

I hit a plateau at the beginning of April when I fell below 245 pounds. My weight stayed in a .2 pound range for 5 days. I decided to drop to 1800 Calories a day instead of 2000, and then I started losing again. Coincidentally, I found a Calorie chart on a website that indicates Calorie intake for men at different weights that will trigger weight loss. It goes roughly like this:

  < 150 pounds  -  1400
150-199 pounds  -  1600
200-249 pounds  -  1800
250-299 pounds  -  2000

I don't know how scientifically those numbers were determined, but they seem sensible, and I concur with the findings at the 250 pound crossover point.

My ankle healed, and my knee stopped bothering me when the weather started getting warm and dry (arthritis? at 35?), so I started doing ankle strengthening exercises at the end of my workout, using a plan from Bodybuilding.com. I'm not so sure about the claim that this will let me twist my ankle bone to the ground and not strain it, but the exercises seem appropriate and scaled, like the Hacker's Diet exercise plan. The basic idea is standing on one foot, and over time adding weight and motion.

My left elbow, though, still a problem. If I put more weight on my right arm during pushups, the popping stops, but obviously this isn't optimal for strength building. I need more research on this, and maybe a consultation with a doctor of sports medicine.

Other than the elbow, things are overall looking up. I've lost over 1 stone since I started, my endurance is up, I'm doing something active every day, and saving a nice chunk of cash that I used to spend on candy bars and pastries. If I lose a little bit more, I'm going to need to get a new belt, since I'm on the last loop. I already need new jeans, and the last work pants I bought, which were snug when I bought them, are now on the roomy side, but should last me another 10-15 pounds before they start to look funny on me.

Lastly, my confidence level is going up. I was afraid to bring up the idea of my dieting to anyone for a few weeks, but since I've lost consistently, and I still have a noticeable stomach, I've found it a nice conversation piece with some of the women I know. The men I know seem less interested, for whatever reason.