Diary of a Cheeseball

Day 5!

Breakfast: half a cinnamon raisin bagel, banana, protein shake
Lunch: slice of pepperoni pizza
Dinner: white rice w/ sausage, cabbage & onion
Snacks: Greek yogurt w/ cereal, cantaloupe, protein shake

Drinks: water, coffee

Calories: 1553 (117g protein) - estimated

So, weekends are a little less structured/strict with my eating. During the week, I prepare and eat all my own food (thus controlling serving size and being able to weigh out my food for accurate tracking) and it's easy to set meal times b/c it's all based around my working hours. On the weekend, I'm a bit more "free" with my diet b/c I'm at home and I'm sharing meals with my family. And while I track everything I can, some things I just have to eyeball and estimate. So my calories might not be 100% accurate, but as long as I eat with moderation and am able to keep what I'm able to track within ballpark range of my calorie goal, I'm okay with it. Also, I think it's good practice for me with eating a little more intuitively, cuz I don't want to be tracking calories for the rest of my life. But overall, I think I did pretty well today. The only thing I couldn't track precisely was the sausage, cabbage and onions b/c my mom cooked it and I don't think there was any way for me to measure how much of each ingredient was used, let alone how much I'd gotten in my bowl. So I just ended up eyeing the portions and plugging it into MyFitnessPal, and got a rough estimate.

I didn't get in as much protein as I wanted (usually aiming for 130-140g) but I wasn't too far off so I'm not that disappointed. Although I don't want to get ALL my protein from supplements, I'm grateful that I can afford to buy shakes and bars, and other protein enhanced foods that make hitting my goal a lot easier. I started the day with a shake, and ended it with one too, so that combined with everything in between made it a very decent effort on my part.

No gym today, but my dog and I went on an hour and a half walk that ended up being 3.1 miles according to my Fitbit. On flat terrain, I don't think it would have affected me as badly, but I live in a very hilly neighborhood with a lot of inclines and declines. That, combined with the warm weather, definitely left me feeling physically drained (but in a good way) and I took a nice nap after we got back home. Had some more playtime with the pup in the afternoon in the backyard, which was a lot of running back and forth across the backyard as she chased me. A nice, active day, but with weekend relaxation sprinkled in. Perfect in my book!

That's it for today. Thanks for following along, and hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
 
I think you have a good attitude to it all, cheesy. It’s good to be flexible but also mindful & that will hold you in good stead long term.
 
:iagree: Being able to enjoy responsibly is what makes a plan feasible for the long run. Everyone can starve themselves but eating delicious non-diet food without falling face-first into a binge is a skill.
 
Hi @Cheeseball86 Just wanted to say hi and a belated welcome to the forum...Been reading through your diary and I really like your goals and approach. Love that you are looking to be healthy and strong, and you seem to be taking a great well-balanced approach to it all. Looking forward to reading along as you move towards your goals!
 
Cate said:
I think you have a good attitude to it all, cheesy. It’s good to be flexible but also mindful & that will hold you in good stead long term.
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Thank you, I'm trying my best. I've had previous successes and failures, so I'm trying to take my best lessons from those and carry it on into this journey. I have lost a decent amount in the past, but as soon as the diet period was over, I bounced right back to old habits. So I'm taking the slow road, so it feels a more natural progression and not just a "one and done" kinda thing.
Llama said:
:iagree: Being able to enjoy responsibly is what makes a plan feasible for the long run. Everyone can starve themselves but eating delicious non-diet food without falling face-first into a binge is a skill.
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It's definitely hard not to just eat everything and anything that I want, but if I allow myself some give, then it doesn't feel quite so much like an "all or nothing" approach. Doesn't mean it's easy, but even just a little easier helps.
liza3 said:
Hi @Cheeseball86 Just wanted to say hi and a belated welcome to the forum...Been reading through your diary and I really like your goals and approach. Love that you are looking to be healthy and strong, and you seem to be taking a great well-balanced approach to it all. Looking forward to reading along as you move towards your goals!
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Hello! Thank you for following along. It's only just the beginning, and I have a long road ahead, but I'm grateful for all the support I've received here and look forward to sharing the rest of my journey with you all!
 
Day 6 checking in!

Breakfast: eggs w/ Canadian bacon & whole wheat toast, protein shake
Lunch: fish sticks
Dinner: pasta w/ meat sauce & spinach
Snacks: Greek yogurt w/ cereal, banana

Drinks: water, coffee, herbal tea

Calories: 1608 (152g protein)

Today I decided to start my day with more protein in hopes of setting myself up to be more successful in hitting my goal. Between the eggs, bacon and shake, I got a good 51g to start my morning. Not too bad if I say so myself. I'll be honest and say Canadian bacon is not my favorite when it comes to breakfast meats, but the macros on it are pretty golden. According to the package on the one I buy, it's 4 slices a serving, and only 60 cal with 10g of protein. It's also low fat compared to sausage and regular bacon, so I can't really make any arguments against it. It's not the worst thing to substitute, and sometimes you gotta eat for results instead of taste. Again, not terrible to eat, just not my favorite lol.

Dinner was good, and I remembered that I had pasta made from red lentil, so it was an easy way to sneak in some extra protein with my meal. I threw in a handful of spinach with the meat sauce too, just b/c I feel like I need to increase my veggies. I went just over my calorie goal today, but I'm not gonna stress over 8 measly calories, and I went above and beyond my protein goal. So overall, another win in my book.

No long walk for the dog today. I feel like we may have over done it yesterday, as that was definitely the longest walk we'd been on together. She didn't want to eat this morning, only wanted to lay down and stay in her crate.. and even though she eventually recovered her appetite, and went on to run around the backyard with her toys like usual, I didn't want to push it. Sometimes I forget that even though she seems like an endless ball of energy, she's still a puppy, and she needs to build up endurance the same way I do. Our two previous dogs were almost strictly indoor dogs and hated going anywhere, so it's a bit of a learning curve with me on how much she can handle.

Actually, she's one of the main reasons I wanted to get serious about losing weight and getting in shape. I've always wanted a dog that I could take on adventures, to take to the beach and check out parks and hiking trails (hence the "looking like I fight bears in the woods" cuz you never know - one day I might have to!) She's also brought a ton of joy back into my life after an exceptionally hard year last year, and I would like to give her the best, most exciting life I can. Cuz I may have multiple dogs throughout my life, but she'll only have me during hers.

Anyway, as I said, no big walk for her, and my own legs were still a bit sore from all the ups and downs with the hills. Instead, I went and walked around our mall for about 45 min this morning before the stores opened. A lot of people seemed to have the same idea; I passed multiple families with kids, and more elderly people slowly doing laps around the main center. I even passed a group of people training guide dogs for the blind, which I thought was super cool. It was nice to get out of the house too, and be in public without feeling like I was in "public public" (aka crowds). That was my main activity of the day, but I'm also about to jump on the stationary bike at home while I watch some YouTube vids. Nothing too strenuous, but my legs do feel a bit tight and I just want to get them moving and the blood flowing. I'll also do a little bit of stretching, and then go over them with my massage gun before bed.

Well, that's about all I've got to share for today. Thanks to everyone following along, and I hope you're all having a wonderful day!

*EDIT: Ended up doing 45min of leisurely riding on the stationary bike. Legs feel good now!
 
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Day 7! Look at that, we made it a week! And a great week it's been. Tomorrow I'll post a weigh-in, so we'll see how that goes. For now, here's today.

Breakfast: eggs w/ Canadian bacon & spinach, tortilla
Lunch: turkey sandwich, honeydew
Pre workout: instant ramen
Post workout: protein shake
Dinner: smoked ribs & salad
Snacks: snap peas, protein bar, half a cinnamon raisin bagel

Drinks: water, coffee, herbal tea, sparkling water

Calories: 1565 (127g protein)

Y'know, the one thing I've noticed is that I feel like I'm always eating, but I'm still managing to stay in a deficit. Like, breakfast I have around 8:30 after I settle in at my desk and get my initial tasks taken care of. I have some sort of snack maybe an hour later, and then I sip my water and herbal tea, and have my lunch at my desk around 12 (before my actual lunch period, cuz I usually use it to run quick errands), then come back and have another snack around 2. Then I have my pre-work out snack around 3:30-4, hit the gym at 5 and finish up around 6:30, when I then have my post workout protein shake. After that, I have dinner at around 7:30, and if I have any spare calories, maybe one more snack around 8:30. I'm always eating, but b/c I've been able to find lower calorie versions of things (take the tortilla and sandwich bread for example), and also choose higher volume foods with lower calories (the melon, berries, snap peas etc) I get to eat MORE while still eating LESS. It's pretty wild when I think about it, and it's actually really encouraging to realize that I can find ways to enjoy foods I like by switching out an ingredient here or there with something a little more calorie and macro friendly. It makes me feel like I might be able to actually do it this time!

Today was my favorite gym day, upper body. I feel like I'm getting stronger already, but that's probably b/c a few weeks ago I switched it up from doing higher reps with lower weight to lower reps with heavier weight, and I'm starting to see the progression with that. I used to do things in 3-4 sets/12-15 reps. But now, I'm doing 2-3 sets/6-8 range for my compound exercises, and then I'll do more moderate sets/reps for the accessory exercises, such as my bicep curls, or lateral raises and so on. It's a nice change of pace, and I'm enjoying how my workouts have been going this way. Anyway, I hit the weights, and then I followed it up with 25min of inclined walking on the treadmill.

And that's all for today! Tomorrow is weigh-in, so here's hoping to see some results! I know it's just the first week, so I'm not expecting much, but any progress is good progress and I'll take whatever I can get. As always, thanks for following along, and have a good day/night!
 
Cheeseball86 said:
I'm always eating, but b/c I've been able to find lower calorie versions of things (take the tortilla and sandwich bread for example), and also choose higher volume foods with lower calories (the melon, berries, snap peas etc) I get to eat MORE while still eating LESS. It's pretty wild when I think about it, and it's actually really encouraging to realize that I can find ways to enjoy foods I like by switching out an ingredient here or there with something a little more calorie and macro friendly. It makes me feel
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That really is the key: in order to keep the weight off long-term you have to change things long-term, and for that to work life still has to be fun.
 
Day 8! Time for my first (official) weigh-in. I'll admit, I've been tracking my weight daily. Not necessarily b/c I'm obsessed with checking, but as a way to gather more data and track any trends that might occur, so I can make adjustments when needed. But overall, the only number that really matters is the one at the end of the "week". For now, my updated stats:

Starting weight: 176 lbs
Current weight: 170.4 lbs
Total weight loss: 5.6 lbs

Although I've been tracking daily, I'm still surprised that I managed to lose 5 lbs in a week. I know the first week or two, you can see larger losses before they start to taper down to 1-2 lbs a week, even half a pound. So although I'm really excited to see a nice drop on the scale (I'm so close to being in the 160's!) I also know to take it with a grain of salt, and know that not every week is going to look like this. But like I said, any progress is good progress, and as long the scale trends more down than it does up, I'll consider it a win!

Now that the weigh-in is all taken care of, into the daily diary.

Breakfast: protein oatmeal w/ blueberries
Lunch: turkey sandwich, honeydew
Pre workout: banana w/ peanut butter
Post workout: protein shake
Dinner: chicken nuggets, cauliflower rice w/ mixed veggies
Snacks: snap peas, half cinnamon raisin bagel

Drinks: water, coffee, herbal tea, sparkling water

Calories: 1574 (145g protein)

Decided to take a break from eggs for breakfast and went with the protein oatmeal. It's just really nice and warm and hearty, and a good change of pace. Lunch, I've been really enjoying the turkey sandwiches. I use a low carb bread that's only 50cal a slice, which is nice, considering usual bread is 100cal+ a slice. And then I bought these "air fried chicken nuggets" from the frozen section at the grocery store my friend recommended - only 160cal & 15g protein for 5 nuggets. So I doubled that and had 10 nuggets for dinner, with my cauliflower rice and mixed veggies (also from the frozen section, it usually consists of: corn, green peas, carrots, string beans). I like the convenience of frozen veggies, and they're easier to keep longer. I tend to forget my fresh veggies in the fridge, and then by the time I remember them, they've already spoiled. So it's also been saving me some money in the long run!

Lower body day at the gym today, followed up by 20min of inclined walking on the treadmill. I always try to do at least 20min of cardio after each weight session at the gym, so that, plus the long cardio day on Wednesdays, and the walking I do on the weekend means I'm getting a decent amount of cardio throughout the week. And I always do low/moderate intensity cardio. No HIIT for me - mainly b/c I hate it, and b/c I've learnt along the way that no matter how much one form of exercise might be hailed as "the best way to lose fat fast", it doesn't mean squat if you don't do it. Truly, the best exercise is the one you WILL do, and the one you'll do consistently.. which for me is walking, the elliptical, and the bike. It might be slower, and it might take more time, but I actually enjoy doing it. Which in turn means I'll continue doing it, and then it builds up over time, and eventually I will see results.

That's all for today. It was really encouraging to see the scale go down, and I'm looking forward to another week of this journey. Thanks to everyone for the support!
 
Congratulations on the drop! Even if 4 of those pounds were water I bet you could still feel the difference because water weight is at least as annoying as fat.
Cheeseball86 said:
Truly, the best exercise is the one you WILL do, and the one you'll do consistently..
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The physical therapist could not agree more. Go you!
 
Nice drop for that first week! Congrats!
Yes so important to find the right diet and exercise combo we can keep going for the long term. Keep up the good work.
 
Day 9!

Breakfast: protein oatmeal, blueberries
Lunch: chicken and brown rice
Dinner: ground beef and eggs, protein shake
Snack: snack box (chicken, cheese, strawberries), cookies, fruit gummies

Drinks: water, coffee, sparkling water

Calories: 1882 (138g protein)

So, definitely went over calories today. If anyone works at a doctor's office or medical facility, then you probably know reps from other specialist or pharmaceutical or equipment offices are always popping in to drop off snacks and flyers, and try to get in a quick sales pitch or build a relationship. And today just so happened to be one of those days that someone came in with a box of baked goods, and the cookies were cute and Valentine's day themed. So the allure was strong, and I was weak, and temptation won today. I tried to rectify a little at dinner by cutting out (most) carbs and just focusing on protein. It wasn't the worst thing that I could have done. I could have - as I've done in the past - told myself that my diet was now ruined, and just eat whatever I want b/c it doesn't matter anymore. But no, I managed to cut myself off at "one" cookie (they were large, and I split halves with a friend so we got to try two flavors) and kept myself away from them for the rest of the day. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Today was my cardio day, and I ended up doing 70min on the elliptical. Part of it was b/c I was trying to make up for the cookies, and the other part was that I just got caught up in a good playlist and didn't really notice I'd gone over my usual 60min. All in all, it was a good session. My favorite gym day is coming up again tomorrow, so definitely looking forward to it!

That's it for now. I've already prepared all my food for the day tomorrow (minus dinner) and plugged it into MyFitnessPal, so all I have to do is make sure I stick with the plan. Today wasn't my best day, but tomorrow will be better!
 
Good job not letting those cookies ruin your day! Looks like you were still in a deficit, just not quite as big of one as you'd planned. Being able to recover from distractions like that is huge
 
Llama said:
Good job not letting those cookies ruin your day! Looks like you were still in a deficit, just not quite as big of one as you'd planned. Being able to recover from distractions like that is huge
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It wasn't easy stopping at the one, and there were leftovers still in the break room today. But thankfully, day old cookies aren't quite as appealing, so it wasn't as hard to ignore this time around.
Cate said:
I don't know any perfect people. Kudos to you for not abandoning the day :)
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Thanks! It was good, being able to reinforce to myself that one mistake doesn't spell automatic ruin. I just have to put it behind me, get back on the wagon, and carry on.
 
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