Current weight: 359.8
Previous weight: Not applicable, since this is my first regular update.
Delta: Again, not applicable, but I was topped out at 375 when I got laid off from Stardock (I probably gained about 40 pounds of crunch weight while I was there).
My personal assessment of the past week: Pretty good. I’ve been following my diet pretty well and getting some exercise here and there. My incredibly long commute is now made even longer by slippery roads (we got snowhammered over the weekend) so finding time to actually exercise can be hard. But the weight is coming down, and I intend for it to continue to come down.
Sell your car and exercise to work! Or perhaps that would be too tough.
One thing about Michigan (of many), snow comes in and really wrecks our crap at least once a year. That said, Monday was worse than usual. It takes a lot for Michiganians to even notice that the roads are bad and to not drive 20 over.
Very obvious weight loss advice. Anyone trying to lose weight who won’t do this isn’t really trying: Cut out soda, pastries, candy, and processed foods from your diet (maybe it isn’t realistic to avoid processed foods entirely, but at least try to limit them). Avoid anything that contains added sugar or high fructose corn syrup. If you aren’t used to reading labels, you’ll be surprised how prominent HFCS is on ingredient lists. If you want something sweet, have some fruit (no fair adding sugar on top, fruit has plenty of sugar on its own). Avoid processed foods, prefer natural foods – the closer our diets are to what our ancestors would have eaten thousands of years ago, the more likely our bodies have evolved to metabolize those foods properly. You don’t have to take this to a ridiculous extreme, just try to reach a balance and avoid processed foods where possible/practical.
Psychologically it may actually be easier to cut certain foods out of your diet entirely, than it is to eat them in moderation. That way, the rules are very clear and you can’t bend them (I’ll just have one cookie, ok two or three wouldn’t be that bad…). But if your rule is that you’re cutting out cookies, cake, ice cream, soda, Doritos, etc then you’ll know when you’re in the grocery store that there’s no legitimate reason for buying any of that stuff, and you won’t have it around the house. Except you’re married, I suppose that last bit about grocery shopping would apply more for a single person. So anyway I would advocate a full-out, no compromise, food Nazi assault on sugary snack foods, instead of an attempt at moderation. You know none of that stuff is taking you in the right direction as far as your health is concerned and these aren’t things that would be dangerous to cut from your diet 100%, you won’t be missing any essential nutrients. And as you get used to not having sugary snacks, you’ll stop craving them too.
Further steps like going on a low carb diet (avoid bread as much as possible when you’re trying to lose weight) are worth considering but I’d start by focusing on eliminating soda and sugary snacks, which have essentially no nutritional value and just make you fat. Recommended reading: Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson.