Cowboy's Diary 2.0

[cowboy48]

We don't expect you to keep up It's always great to hear from you. I always sing "I was a highwayman, down the road I did ride" when I see you have posted!
Losing 2.4 lbs is good. This plan is really working for you.

Thanks Cate. I do like that song-haha. So far so good.

 

[cowboy48]

Well it has been a while once again. Time seems to fly faster as I get older.

Well the challenge I was on is finished. From June of this year until this past Monday, I lost a total of 54.2 pounds. If I look at just this 3 month challenge I have been on I lost 34.2 pounds which puts me at 205.8. I am quite happy with the results. There is a new 3 month challenge starting in middle part of January after Christmas so I will be signing up for that one as well. I still have about 25 to 30 pounds I would like to lose so hopefully that happens.

I am going to try my hardest to stay where I am over Christmas but I will probably put a little back on. I just have to limit my sweet treats to just day or so- easier said than done at this time of year. We will see what happens. I am going to repeat a some of the weeks that I have already gone through for menus and come Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I am not going to worry about it. I need to reset my body anyway as I have been losing weight and following a reduced diet for 6 months now. I don't think a couple of days is going to hurt me any.

That is it for this time around. For those who celebrate it--- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Keep Fighting the Fight!!

 

[Cate]

You sound like you have this totally under control. By Christmas Day I will have only been back on track for one month so won’t stray much at all. A couple of days won’t derail you I’m sure.
Merry everything to you too, Cowboy!

 

[Llama]

Happy holidays, Cowboy!

If I look at just this 3 month challenge I have been on I lost 34.2 pounds which puts me at 205.8. I am quite happy with the results.

Rightfully so, that's over ten pounds a month!

 

[Cate]

Hope your Christmas was fun, Cowboy & that you have enjoyed the break from being so strict. Here's to getting to our goal in 2022

 

[cowboy48]

Thanks Cate. I hope you had a good Christmas as well. We both got this for this year!!

Thanks LaMa. I hope your holidays were good.

 

[cowboy48]

It has been a while since I posted again. Now that Christmas and New Year's is done it is time to get down to business-lol. I did fairly well over the holidays. I still indulged but kept things to a minimum I am now 2 pounds heavier than I was. A win as far as I am concerned considering how much food and goodies were sulking around.

I signed up for another challenge and that starts on Jan. 17. I would like to lose those 2 pounds I gained over the last 3 weeks or so and go back into the challenge close to where I left the last one. We will see. I figured for almost a month now I have been eating fairly well and 2 pounds is not much to lose over 10 days.

My goals are changing for this upcoming challenge. As we get into the warmer weather- oh man I can't wait for that. We have been hovering around the -30 to -40C for the last month or so. Plus we seem to be getting more than our fair share of snow. In fact we seem to be getting dumped on 15-20 cm each time for the last 3 snowfalls. Weather has been horrible. Anyway I digress. So once it gets a little warmer I would like to start running. To be honest that is what this whole weight loss journey started as- a way for me to get running again. I used to run in -35 or -40C all the time and if you dress correctly it isn't too bad- I know I know-lol. As I have gotten older I want it a little warmer.

The goal for my weight in this next 3 months is to get down to 180 pounds again. That is about 25 pounds and over 3 months I think that is doable. I know the lighter you get the harder it is to lose but with the changes in macros each week I hope to not hit too much of a plateau and if I do it is short lived.

That is it for this week.

Keep fighting the fight!!

 

[Cate]

I can't even imagine it getting that cold! I'm well into the swing of things now too Cowboy & gained & lost .5 kg at Christmas(down 5.5 kg since Nov 23rd). I didn't over-indulge either & that felt really good. It feels so good to be going in the right direction. As your weather warms ours will cool of course. I'm enjoying our mild so far Summer & very grateful that we don't get the extremes.

 

[cowboy48]

I can't even imagine it getting that cold! I'm well into the swing of things now too Cowboy & gained & lost .5 kg at Christmas(down 5.5 kg since Nov 23rd). I didn't over-indulge either & that felt really good. It feels so good to be going in the right direction. As your weather warms ours will cool of course. I'm enjoying our mild so far Summer & very grateful that we don't get the extremes.

That is awesome Cate. Good for you!! Funny how not stuffing ourselves makes us feel better-lol. This is such a weird place for weather- we can get to +35C in the Summer and with the windchill it was -45C last week. It would be nice to live in a more temperate climate but I have been here my whole life and my kids and grandkids are here so I don't think moving is in my future.

 

[Llama]

I felt better for not binging over the holidays as well! I did (over?)indulge but kept the weight at bay with exercise. Thankfully we had nicer temperatures than you

I used to run in -35 or -40C all the time and if you dress correctly it isn't too bad- I know I know-lol.

Isn't that solidly in "running is now bad for your lungs" territory?
8 pounds a month if you're getting close to goal is tough but if you're active it could still be doable. I'm currently on another "I should really run more" attempt and after two (three?)months or so it's starting to feel less challenging. I was never a runner though so you'll probably be able to build up more easily.

 

[cowboy48]

I felt better for not binging over the holidays as well! I did (over?)indulge but kept the weight at bay with exercise. Thankfully we had nicer temperatures than you

Isn't that solidly in "running is now bad for your lungs" territory?
8 pounds a month if you're getting close to goal is tough but if you're active it could still be doable. I'm currently on another "I should really run more" attempt and after two (three?)months or so it's starting to feel less challenging. I was never a runner though so you'll probably be able to build up more easily.

Hi LaMa,

Our Winter here are so long you could only train for maybe 7 months of the year if you didn't learn to run in the cold. I actually prefer to run in the cold actually. As long as you layer up running is doable even in -40C. Just have to watch for frostbite and stuff like that-lol

I was never a runner. I was too fat and out of shape from the time I was 6 years old. Wasn't until I turned 49 that I turned into a runner. Funny now that I haven't run for a few years I realize how much I miss it. It will be good to get back into it again.

 

[cowboy48]

Once again it has been a while but I am here again.

Started my new challenge last week. Went in at .2 of a pound lighter than I was at the end of the last challenge. I didn't want to lose more than that as I knew the next 3 months in this challenge that I would be in a deficit calorie state and I want to get back into my running. It was a long 6 months of dieting so gave my body a break and ate to maintenance to give it a rest otherwise I might be plateauing in this next challenge.

This week in the challenge was a cleanse week. So higher carbs ( which my body doesn't seem to like very much-lol) and an optional rapid cleanse using one of those kits you can buy. I knew there wasn't much to clean out -lol as I have been eating pretty clean for the last 6 months so I did do the rapid cleanse anyway. I only lost 1.4 pounds which I was expecting considering the clean eating and higher carbs. This week it is higher protein and lower carbs which my body seems to prefer so I am looking for a good loss this week. I am only 4.2 pounds from Onederland-lol. It will be nice starting to say I weigh 1 something or other again. So looking forward to that.

That is it for now.

Keep fighting the fight!!

 

[cowboy48]

Well I am not sure where those 3 months have gone but thought I would post a bit of an update. I just finished the 12 week challenge. I lost just over 13 pounds which doesn't seem like a lot considering I lost that the first week of the challenge before-lol but I have to remember that I am much lighter now and the lighter you are the harder it is to lose weight. So I am down to 192 pounds from my high in June of 260. Not too bad so far. I would like to get down to 175-180 as I think I feel best at that weight. I will continue with these challenges until I hit maintenance and then I will use previous menus to help keep me in check.

The last time I lost a bunch of weight I went from 320 pounds to 175 and I remember that the last ten pounds took me almost longer to lose than the previous 135 pounds-lol. So I am learning that this time around it will come off but slower than the previous 60 pounds. It would be so much easier if it would come off at the same rate but that is the way it is unfortunately.

I had a physical a couple of weeks ago and the doctor said all my numbers were low where they are supposed to be and high where they are supposed to be which is good. With Covid I hadn't had a physical for a couple of years. He said I was good for another 100,000 miles-lol.

This next challenge is only 4 weeks long and she calls it her shred challenge. 2 weeks of low carbs and 2 balanced weeks. One thing I did find on this last challenge is carb cycling worked really well for me so hopefully this new challenge will put me at my goal or at least close.

That is it for now.

Keep fighting the fight!!

 

[Cate]

The programme seems to be working really well for you, Cowboy. It's great that your checkup was so positive. I would be feeling confident that you will be much closer to your GW by the end of the next 12 weeks. I will try to hang onto some of your positivity & extract a digit & actually get back to losing some weight again. I seem to be in limbo again