Thank you so much for reading about my weight loss journey. I call it extreme because I do a lot of things differently than others would and I think it's a shock to a lot of people on how I am doing well without going into a fad diet, starving myself or even hours of cardio a week.
If you haven't read my 2 previous posts, please do so here:
Disclaimer: I am speaking about my own experiences in all my fitness weight loss journey posts. Please be aware that some of these topics can be triggering. I am not a medical professional and I am not giving medical advice. I do not know if the results of this journey will be success.
In my last blog post I mentioned that I was feeling sluggish and wasn't sleeping well. I have found the reason why. The Hormone supplements I started taking: Micronized DHEA & Pregnenolone are for consumption during the day and not right before bed. These help with energy levels and I have failed to read the packaging completely. So I switched to taking this in the morning, it has regulated my hormones and reduced the length and volume of my period.
LOGGING
I continue to actively log my food during the week, however I am less stringent on it during the weekend. As previously stated Monday-Friday, I consume 1000 calories per day, while during the weekend, I do not have a limit to how many calories I consume. This helps me avoid crazy cravings and feeling like I am truly on a "diet." I try to log my meals on the weekend but often forget and I am perfectly fine.
CALORIES
I am used to eating when I am hungry. The problem is that I do not often get hungry, so I eat one meal for dinner and then slight snacks. Due to my lack of hunger, eating the 1000 calories during the week is easy. Often Tony is away at work and I am not surrounded by the smells, the sight, the temptation of food. However, previously, this gave me self justification to eat terrible when I finally did have a meal. Now I try to remember to eat more than once, of course I often don't succeed. When I do eat more than one meal, I opt for more healthy options than I would before. I do not restrict what types of foods I eat. I still have ice cream, candy, bread. I am just tracking and trying to stick within the 1000 calorie limit I have set for myself. I found it was a little too easy to eat 16 pieces of candy and not notice, which means I wasn't receiving pleasure from most of those pieces. Now I may eat 3 or 4 and am more than satisfied with those pieces. I stopped mindlessly eating certain foods.
What do I do if I get hungry but have already or will exceed my caloric limit with more food? Simple, I eat.
If my body is telling me it's hungry, I eat.
It's so unusual that my body tells me I am hungry, I listen to the signals. If I don't eat, I cannot concentrate, I cannot sleep. I end up spending a lot of time thinking about food that I could have just eaten and then would have moved on. It saves me time just to eat.
Balance. It's what is most important to me. I still eat out, I still have fast food. But I have better balance with my foods. I have stuck to my reduction in alcohol consumption, averaging one night where I have a drink. I also have reduced my soda intake by a lot as well. I must admit that I still don't seem to drink enough water but I am drinking more water than I did before I started this diet because I'm not drinking other things (said alcohol and soda). It's also a lot cheaper to eat out when you don't get a drink or 2 different drinks.
PROTEIN
I still am intaking protein, not daily but 2-3 times a week. I discovered what protein I like and didn't like. With this journey in the middle of the most food filled holiday season and changing my caloric intake a couple weeks in, I do not have the same sugar cravings I did before. I used to use the delicious flavored proteins to help with the sugar cravings. However, when I am craving soda, I have my IdealLean Clear Whey protein which tastes a lot like a water enhancer drink but is obviously much healthier. I am not sponsored by IdealLean but it is delicious and if you like more of a fruity watery drink rather than a thicker savory drink, I suggest it and they have sample packets.
EXCERCISE
I added a barbell set to my weights and started lifting in week 4. This Runwe set was very reasonably priced with dumbell and barbell option.
Due to a shoulder injury, I am taking it easy with upper body lifting and focusing on things that don't aggravate my shoulder, like squats, deadlifts, standing barbell Russian twists and bent over row. I also do crunches and various similar ab workouts that don't put pressure or weight directly on my shoulder.
When I workout I do at least 2 sets of 10 of each workout with hitting muscle failure at about rep 10 of each set. This helps me get the most time efficient workout. I am working out 4 times a week at least. This takes me about 10-15 minutes and sometimes I do it multiples times a day since my gym is in my home/office. I started to notice at the end of week 4, yes just a few days, an increase in muscle mass and a tightness. I started to feel good, to feel strong. I try not to work out so much that I am sore for several days. Remember my goal is to reduce body fat and I know this may take a while. I want to build good habits and that won't be done in a month.
I am still not doing cardio, I may go for a walk here or there but overall, Cardio is not on my
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I do not workout on the weekend when I am eating whatever I want. I discovered a new found love for the Dairy Queen Blizzard and concentrate more on things that need to be done around the house. I let my body rest, replenish, and heal.
SLEEP
I wish I still slept as good as I did when I first started. I have had a lot of sleepless nights. I have gotten out of bed a few times just to make another meal. Has this significantly changed since I started my journey? No, my body and sleep haven't been the best of friends.
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES
I have noticed my biceps are larger, the fat around my arms when resting is smaller as well as my legs. My curves are getting more defined. One big thing I noticed is the days leading up to my period my abdominal area bloating was significantly reduced and less uncomfortable.
Since I am getting up more and doing a bit of working out, I have less pain in my legs from sitting for too long.
WEIGHING
I know that weighing yourself everyday can be bad, but I use it as a gauge of how the things I did on the previous day is affecting my body. Obviously on Monday, after I have had a large Dairy Queen Blizzard over the weekend, along with a lot of other bad choices my weight is higher than it was on Friday, however as the weeks have gone along, the Monday weight is less and less than the Monday before. However, I am not tracking the daily weighs anywhere, not on my phone, not on this blog. I do not have expectations for those weigh ins and since I am not focused on weight loss as much as fat reduction, I do not punish myself for what I am seeing on the scale. It is also the reason why I will only publish new measurements every 8 weeks. This gives me time to see my progress, see whether or not the changes I make are effective. I don't expect to see a large reduction in a small amount of time. I also don't do the measurements myself. Tony has to do a lot of them for me because measuring my limbs myself is not easy and when I do it myself, the margin of error increases.
ADDITIONS
I didn't know where to add this mention and will write a whole other blog post about it. For many years I have been a huge fan of infrared saunas. With the pandemic, it has been very hard on me to get to the spa to do a treatment. I had a favorite place in Utah that I used to go to, I would buy a package which would result in a treatment being $40 each, I've looked in Houston and couldn't find any place near me that was less than $80 per session. I decided to buy one of my own. Which would save me money and give me the convenience of doing this in my own home. These come in many different types, I've seen wraps, sit down tents and blankets. I decided to buy an infrared sauna blanket.
I love how relaxing the treatment is, I get an amazing sweat on (I'm literally soaked by the time I'm done), my skin feels smoother, I feel energized and replenished afterward and overall I am in a much better mood. When I was starting out on Keto, a session in the infrared sauna helped me get into Keto faster. There is so much information on infrared saunas. Here is a Healthline article about the benefits, which can include weight loss and relief for sore muscles.
This is the unit I purchased from ebay. I have seen so many models, so if it's sold out, you can purchase a similar one or another type on Amazon for a similar price.
MEASUREMENTS
11/18/2021 Starting Measurements
Weight is according to my body composition scale (obviously not 100% accurate but it's what I have consistent access to that I will be using to measure).
I am super happy with my 2 inch loss on my waist. I also am happy with the reduction in my thighs, which has bothered me for a while. The increase in my hips is great because I am doing some focusing on my glutes, so those measurable gains are great.
Final thoughts: I will continue to blog however I just want everyone who reads this to know this is only my beginning. I am ok with a slow journey. I am ok with slow results. I am doing what's best for me and on this journey while satisfying my cravings, wants and desires. I refuse to be angry with myself because I am not progressing as well as someone else. I refuse to live my life hating myself for the things I did and didn't do. Subtle changes can make a huge difference if you are consistent and the things you do on rare occasion, though may not be part of your goals, are overall, ok. I believe a healthy lifestyle is not just about what you eat but how you feel and what you think of yourself. I give myself permission to eat the whole sleeve of chips if that is what I am craving, since it's such a rare thing.
-V
Disclosure: I purchased some of these items with my own money and the company had no prior knowledge to this promotion.
I received some items by some above referenced company to promote on social media.
All opinions are my own.
*I make a commission on any purchase you make through my Amazon. Motiv8 & Goli link.