Week 7 - Lots of progress. Only 8 pounds to go!

It's Monday morning and I was under 197 pounds this morning. Only 8 pounds to my goal of 189 pounds.

Week 6 - Starting Weekly Updates

It's been a few days since my last update. I'm going to start doing weekly updates every Friday (instead of daily updates). Friday morning is usually when I weigh the least for the entire week since I usually have sushi on Friday night.

Day 42 - Phase 2 Diet and Stuck Above 200 pounds

The weight loss definitely isn't coming easy anymore. The diet is easier to maintain now but the exercise is still painful. 11 x 30 minutes of cardio per week is having a toll on my legs. They always feel tired when I start, probably also a result of the low carbs. It doesn't matter. I'm going to keep at it until I break 190 lbs.

For the maintenance phase I'm going to set a hard upper limit on my weight (probably somewhere between 195 - 200 pounds). If I cross this level then I'll go back onto the weight loss program again until I'm below 190 pounds. I think that I need to be really strict about staying at this weight level for about 6 months so my body can completely adjust to it.

Day 41 - Phase 1 Diet

I stopped taking RIPPED supplements yesterday. I had done two 3 week cycles in a row so it's time for a break, and I think I can lost the rest of the weight without it. We'll see. If I start having trouble I'll go back on it. I'm still maintaining the diet and the exercise, just not the supplements.

Day 40 - Phase 1 Diet and Near 200 lbs.!

I was 200.8 lbs. this morning. I haven't been under 200 lbs. in about 5 years and I haven't been under 190 lbs. since the early 90s (when I was a teenager). I feel great. It's amazing how you can forget how great it feels to be in better shape.

Day 39 - Phase 1 Diet

I had sushi again last night (with minimal soy sauce / salt) and I still lost a little weight overnight. This is great. If you've been following my blog you'll know that the first time I had sushi I gained 5 lbs. the next day. This was obviously just water retention but it was still pretty deflating. When I have sushi now I have exactly 8 pieces of nigiri tuna, a bit of soy sauce and a lot of wasabi. I usually have some sort of salad with it too (no dressing). I used to have a *lot* more soy sauce with my sushi and soy sauce is very high in sodium.

Day 38 - Phase 2 Diet

Nothing much to report today. I'm at a new low in my weight. Even though the scale doesn't show too much progress in the last week I really "feel" like I've made progress. I feel like my fat has really gone down in the last week or so.

Day 37 - Phase 1 Diet and No Sushi Side Effects

I had sushi last night (Friday) with a bit of soy sauce and had no weight gain today. I also skipped my cardio workout yesterday (since it was a Phase 2 day that means I didn't do any exercise yesterday, the first time since I started the program).

I accidentally uploaded these pics without blacking out the face. Maybe I'll just keep doing it this way. I had originally blacked out the face because I just felt like such a lard-a**. I didn't want public evidence of my lardassedness on the internet. :)

Since I don't feel that way anymore why black out the face right?

Day 36 - Phase 2 Diet

I've started added Splenda to my oatmeal in the morning on Phase 2 days. I'm also replacing the blueberries with banana since it's really tough to get blueberries here at this time of year.

I lost 0.4 lbs. yesterday. It's obvious that the weight loss is really slowing down so I have to adjust my projections. The new graphs you see at the top of the blog have my new projections. You can see the adjustments best by looking at the "Weekly" charts. You'll see that the weekly weight loss and fat loss projections are now about 2.5 lbs. (before they were closer to 5 lbs.)

The slowing weight loss is a bit discouraging but nothing can get me down during breakfast on a Phase 2 day. The carbs feel great!

Day 35 - Phase 1 Diet and Weight Loss Slowing

I'm really having trouble getting past the "20 lbs. lost" plateau. I've been stuck here for a few days although my scale's telling me that my body fat's been dropping during this time. I guess that's really the most important thing. I tend to focus on "weight lost" since it's guaranteed to be accurate. The "fat lost" measurement really depends on the accuracy of the scale which depends on my hydration levels (and who knows what else).

Day 34 - Phase 2 Diet and Overall Weight Flatlining

A few days in a row of no overall weight loss but it looks like I'm still losing fat. It's probably just a water retention thing, we'll see.

Day 33 - Phase 1 Diet and Body Fat Tumbles

Wow, my body fat measurement really tumbled yesterday. I'm almost completely back on plan for total weight, total fat and total muscle.

Day 32 - Phase 2 Diet and 20 lbs. Lost!

As of today I've lost 20 lbs.! I'm a little frustrated with the body fat measurements on my scale. I really don't think I'm still 27.6% body fat. Today's Superbowl Sunday, the greatest junk food day of the year and I can't have any beer or chips or anything. Oh well I'll just eat walnuts I guess.

Day 31 - Phase 1 Diet and Sushi

I had sushi last night but I took it easy on the soy sauce and I didn't show any weight gain today. Great! I have sushi every Friday but the last two times I gained about 5 lbs. the next day. This time I only had straight tuna sushi. I think the soy sauce was causing me to retain water.

Day 30 - Phase 2 Diet

Not much new to report. I'm sticking to the diet, exercise and supplements and I'm making steady progress.

Day 29 - Phase 1 Diet and February Begins

This is the first day of the second half of my program.