Day 8: 9 Pounds

Day 8:  03-09-2013  237.2

My first day into my second week and I start off with a great weigh-in.  My pre-breakfast weight was 237.2 this morning.  Down from 246.3 just eight days ago.  That puts me down 9.1 pounds this week.  I weigh pre-breakfast because I want to know how much I weigh, not my food.  Or my clothing for that matter. I know that 9 pounds sounds like a dramatic number for a 7 day period.  It is.  Sort of.  Bigger people lose bigger chunks of excess body fat early on.  That's just how it is.  I know it won't be this way every week, but for now it's good.  Real good.

It's all in the math.  My daily intake the last year averages around 3500 calories.   A lot of that has been coming from sweets and excess amounts of cheese and breads usually between 8-11 pm.  Now reduce that to around 2000 calories which just so happens to be a much more ideal calorie consumption for my ideal weight.  Now add to that the fact that most almost all of those calories have been coming from whole, plant based, nutrient rich foods which tend to boost the metabolism.  Then add to that the workouts I've gotten in 7 of the last 8 days.  The math is totally in my favor.  A daily deficit of  1500 calories totals 10500.  A pound of fat takes 3500 calories to burn off.  Just changing the way I eat garnered a 3 pound loss.  Then you factor in the workouts.  Each of them easily burning 500-700 calories over a week.  there goes another 2 pounds.  Then there is the probability that I've been retaining water as a result of poor food and movement rituals.  Consider metabolic changes and food burning efficiency and there goes the last 4 pounds.  All in all, the math is in my favor for now.  Eventually I will hit place where I can legitimately only loose a pound or two a week.  By then, I will be in such high spirits it won't even matter anymore.   

Ginormous Salad

Speaking of food, do you know how hard it is to get 2000 calories from largely plant based foods?  Very.  Usually I end up grazing like a mad cow all day or I end up eating a ginormous salad and feeling stuffed for 2 hours before getting hungry again.  Let's face it, your body can cook up and eat lettuce a lot more effectively than a twinkie. All foods were not created equal.  A 100 calorie banana does not have the same effect as a 100 calories of cookies.  I can tell you from experience that the banana fills you up better and longer than that cookie.  And let's face it, 100 calories only gets one cookie.

Ok, back to the topic of my day.  I had another obstacle today.  My Lego Robotics team was competing today in a location where food and drink were not allowed.  That meant I could not pack a lunch so easily.  Especially not the salads I have been enjoying so much.  Ice chest or no, romaine and spinach wilt if you look at them crosseyed.  I knew right away that food would be an issue.  My fellow coaches decided to order pizza (which sounded delicious and didn't get any argument from me).  It also made most sense since we may have had students to feed.  That said, our amazing head coach ordered a vegetable only pizza because of me.  I know it's pizza.  I know it's not the best thing in the world.  But sometimes you've got to be flexible.  And besides, the pizza was good.  Damn good.  Thanks to a little perspective from another assistant coach, I deserved a little treat after working so hard this week.  Maybe I overdid it a bit eating 4 slices.  My stomach certainly thought so.  I even felt guilt for a minute.  Then I remembered that it was just one meal under extenuating circumstances.  Circumstances that won't come again for some time.  And I still had my workout for the day to do and ingredients for another bad ass salad.  That is what I did, too.

But the events of the day are kind of why I am pretty sure I will never be a pure vegetarian or vegan, though sometimes those thoughts cross my mind.  I think I am living more of a flexitarian lifestyle.  Maybe I will post on that topic another time.

Day 8 in a nutshell:  I awoke, I laughed, I stressed, I overate, I shopped, I worked out, and now I chill.