Paul's weight loss journal 2022 - want to lose 25 lbs

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Kraemder

New member
Well I hope to post here regularly. I enjoy language learning and keeping a journal helps me stay focused and keep going so I think a weight loss journal should help too. The last time I was happy with my weight was when I was in Japan. I'm 6 feet one inch. I currently weigh about 210 lbs. The most I ever weighed I think was 215 lbs when I was living next to Hungry Howies (a very tasty takeout pizza place). The 210 lbs I guess is my covid weight. When I was in Japan I weighed roughly 185 lbs it varied some. I didn't have to try too hard to maintain that weight. I was just used to eating less there because everyone else did. I actually ate more than they did but I am bigger and I exercised almost every day so that it balanced out. American eating culture is way different and I do a lot of takeout here. It's going to be tough since I've been wanting to lose weight ever since I hit 200 lbs shortly after Covid started but well I'm at 210 now. I'm currently doing pretty good with regard to exercise. I've been decent at cardio for most of my life - running, cycling, or elliptical at the gym. Weight lifting I've done regularly a few times but not so much. If you want to improve your appearance I think weight lifting is so much more effective than running or any cardio but cardio is just more fun for me. And I really need the outside time for my eyes and my mentality. Anyway, I'm currently doing about a half hour of weight lifting and 40 minutes of cardio about 4 times a week. Weight lifting, even just a month of it, seems to be helping my appearance a lot but no weight loss. NONE. hahah.

So for the New Year my goal is to lose at least 1 lbs per week until I get back to 185 lbs. Since I like takeout, one thing I was trying was still eating Whoppers at burger king but just no fries or soda/lemonade etc. This kind of helps. I think it has about 650 calories. It feels like it should have about 950 calories though. Yeah. Well, anyway, so cut out the sides for the fast food. And probably cut back on the fast food too. If I can make my own food (I'm a bad cook) then I think I should automatically eat fewer calories right there. Also, I get tired of it, but Campbells (and other brand) soups and chili are easy to make and also a pretty low calorie meal. The trick is not to eat snacks or a fourth meal. I know from experience when I was maintaining my weight better that you can totally ignore the hunger and it just passes after a bit but you need to do it. And not decide, by God, just one package of cookies to keep you sane for the rest of the day. Forget sanity. You'll get used to it after a bit. They say it takes two weeks to start a new habit so if I can do this for two weeks I'm off to a very good start. It would be a bit spammy but I think I might record my weight here every day for two weeks. After two weeks I'd probably just record my weight on a paper and then post an update weekly.
 
Hi, Paul & welcome to the forum. Cutting out soda & fries should make a big difference. Recording your weight every day won't be seen as spammy here. Some do, some don't, but no one is going to mind if you do. Our diaries are a good thing to look back on, especially when we are hard on ourselves. I'm currently back on track & find avoiding refined sugar, alcohol & bread are the things I need to avoid. Making sure you eat protein at each meal really helps with hunger, but also if you do combine it with some strength training it is a good idea to ensure that what you lose is mostly fat, not muscle. Others here are much better qualified than me to give you sound advice there.
I find that I really do have to avoid snacking. Just one sweet biscuit can make me want more. I have broken my habit of having a wine at the end of every day. It took a few goes, but I feel like I have done it. Alcohol gets in the way of weight loss in so many ways.
A pound a week should be so doable!
 
Hi Paul, and welcome to the forum! Your goal weight sounds reasonable to me and you seem to know your main weakness (fastfood, no homecooked meals) so I think your chances are pretty good. Two points stood out to me though:
Kraemder said:
Anyway, I'm currently doing about a half hour of weight lifting and 40 minutes of cardio about 4 times a week. Weight lifting, even just a month of it, seems to be helping my appearance a lot but no weight loss.
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I'm not too surprised by that: weightlifting is a good long-term strategy for weight control because more muscle mass burns more calories at rest but it takes a good while to build that extra muscle mass and weightlifting itself uses about as much energy as a stroll in the park. And if your muscles aren't used to the strain they retain water until they do get used to it so people often see the scale go UP a couple of pounds when they start a new exercise regime, which can be frustrating but isn't fat. Unless you give in to the increased hunger that also often comes with increased exercise. Because while 160 minutes of cardio a week is excellent for lots of things it only burns extra 1600 kcal (if you're keeping a pretty good pace). Less than three whoppers! That's why people say you can't out-exercise a bad diet. Which brings me to:
Kraemder said:
I know from experience when I was maintaining my weight better that you can totally ignore the hunger and it just passes after a bit but you need to do it. And not decide, by God, just one package of cookies to keep you sane
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You can, of course, but can you do it for a lifetime? Because that's what you'd need to do if you want to not only lose the weight but keep it off long-term. I'd strongly recommend working on the food you eat to make it more palatable and more filling without adding too many calories. Easiest way to do that (to my mind) is adding veggies and fruit. Not in creamy sauces or with a load of sugar added, of course. Low-cal sauces and such can also help if you like them but always pay attention to the portion size mentioned for the calories they claim is in something. Just because something is labeled light, healthy, or skinny doesn't mean it's actually lower in calories.
Well, that's about it for now. Sorry for the novel. All the best on your journey!
 
The others above have covered most things, so all that is left is to say welcome to the forum :)
 
I'm really surprised to have gotten some great responses here. It seems like there's a good community. I'll have to return the favor and encourage some others too. I guess it would be nice not to be hungry in the first place rather than having to draw upon will power to push through it. I think you can get used to it but tricks like eating healthy foods of course are good too. I was in Japan for 2 years and the eating culture is just different there. Everyone eats smaller portions. Even McDonalds has smaller portions (I ate there almost every day for one meal). I did get hungry between meals but I figured it was in my head because I had eaten a regular meal earlier. So I ignored it and waited until it was time to eat again. I can say that American culture is completely forgiving about eating food in between meals. We encourage it even. When I go to work everyone brings food and shares it with each other.

So this morning I weighted in at 210.8 lbs.

It would be nice to get a few lbs off early on to give me some motivation. Motivation can go a long way. Really, I think 1 lbs per week is probably best but if I could get 4-5 lbs in these first 2 weeks it would be super motivating. Not going to complain if I get 1 lbs per week though. As long as I am making progress that's good.

So for breakfast I had Quaker Oats Life cereal. It's basically oatmeal with sugar. The sugar is so delicious of course. It's a small step up from say cocoa puffs or captain crunch but not much. I'd have done better to eat eggs probably but not terrible I don't think. For lunch I didn't have much in the fridge so I went to Whole Foods (it's walking distance) to get lunch. The sandwich line was surprisingly long so I opted for pizza. Yep. Pizza. Probably the #1 reason Americans are so big. I typically get 2 pieces (they're pretty big) and tell myself I'll work it off at the gym or something but I just got one piece. It was a chicken something or other slice and very delicious. I absolutely wanted a 2nd slice after I finished the first one but it was plenty big enough if you look at it logically and not with your stomach. And just the fact that I was eating pizza for my first diet day doesn't bode so well. Mid afternoon I did get some hunger and had to win a small mental battle to not get a snack or maybe 2nd lunch. I don't know if the hunger were in my head or what. I had some Chicory Herbal 'Coffee" instead and that somehow was good enough. It has 25 calories per serving (plus the milk or whatever else you put in it. I generally just put milk, no sugar. I suppose I had 3 servings though as I had 1 and a half 16 ounce cups. Maybe. No wonder it's filling.

Then for dinner I had a turkey sandwich. It had lettuce, tomato, onions, and cheese (no mayo). Pretty filling but didn't seem too bad. I then did my 40 minute cardio on the elliptical machine and my 30-35 minute weight lifting workout. I'm debating if I deserve a small snack to tide me over until tomorrow. I didn't exactly count calories so I don't really know how well I did but I think with the exercise it was pretty good.
 
The exercise sounds great, well done. Seems good planning will be your friend as if you'd had stuff to make at home you could have avoided the pizza.. Do you meal plan at all?

My buddy moved to Japan a few years ago and loves it.. He lost weight there too initially as the culture around food is so different. He says the same about the fast food portions, too!
 
Yay for exercise!
Depending on the size of your portions I'd say you could have had between 1500 and 2000 kcal. Counting calories for a couple of days might be helpful, and if you generally eat convenience food anyway it's super simple.
I 100% agree that portion sizes are a large part of our obesity problem and snacking between meals is another but I wouldn't call adding veggies a trick given that our bodies need the fiber, minerals, and vitamins anyway. Traditional Japanese cuisine uses a lot more veg and less fat than modern US food.
 
Portion sizes in the US are huge compared to anywhere else I have been. I got a shock on my visits there. (My sister lived in Baltimore for a long time). I think it would be of benefit to you to count calories for a week or so just to see where you could improve your "diet". I use My Fitness Pal (free version only- easy to use & can save meals easily), some here use Chronometer (much more detailed for macros). The more you use it the easier it gets. It helps me to plan ahead & to see what I am lacking, eg need more protein. Hard-boiled eggs are a great snack & simple. I always have snow peas, celery, cherry tomatoes, avocado & carrots in the fridge that I can either make a meal out of or snack on. I don't usually snack though. In between meals if I feel like something sweet I have a piece of fruit.
Do you drink much water, Paul? I find when I think I am hungry, I am often just thirsty, so this week I decided to have a glass of water every hour, on the hour, from 9-4. Most of us don't drink enough water.
 
I drink a lot of water. I like adding a tiny bit of juice to water to give it a little flavor.

1/3 weight 210.8
1/4 weight 209.2

Apparently I lost a pound and a half in one day lol. Not quite I know. My weight varies and I weighed 209.2 a few days ago I think also. But still the right direction to be going. This morning I ate Quaker Squares (brown sugar) for breakfast. I had the larger size bowl of the bowls I own. I felt a bit hungrier than usual - a good sign from yesterday I think. No snacks in the morning before lunch. For lunch I had a Japanese bento with a California roll and teriyaki chicken. It was delicious and I don't know how many calories it had. After lunch I was good again until dinner when I had Campbell's soup. Chicken dumplings or something. It's on the higher end calorie-wise of the Cambell soups but still, just a can, really not too many calories. A few saltines. After that ate some dried fruit and nuts I had bought at the drug store. Aftwards I checked the labels and sure enough half of them had added sugar. Oops. I hope I didn't eat many of them.

I didn't do a workout per se but I did a lot of walking. More than two hours worth of walking throughout the entire day.
 
Kraemder said:
I drink a lot of water. I like adding a tiny bit of juice to water to give it a little flavor.
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Nothinh wrong with a bit of juice as long it's not too much (for both the acidity on your teeth and calories)
Kraemder said:
My weight varies and I weighed 209.2 a few days ago I think also. But still the right direction to be going.
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Yay! Fluctuations are normal but it looks like a start.
Kraemder said:
For lunch I had a Japanese bento with a California roll and teriyaki chicken. It was delicious and I don't know how many calories it had.
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That's the sneaky part about americanized foreign food: they add all the extra calories and adjust the portion sizes!
Kraemder said:
It's on the higher end calorie-wise of the Cambell soups but still, just a can, really not too many calories.
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Are the calories given per portion or per can? Often one tiny can of soup claims to be two portions and it can be super misleading when you're just starting out.
Kraemder said:
After that ate some dried fruit and nuts I had bought at the drug store. Aftwards I checked the labels and sure enough half of them had added sugar. Oops.
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Dried fruit and nuts, even without added sugar, are extremely calorie dense. Healthy, but if you want to lose weight it's helpful to weigh out your portions.
 
Cate said:
Portion sizes in the US are huge compared to anywhere else I have been. I got a shock on my visits there.
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No kidding! Twice while I was there last month I ordered a starter in place of a main meal and still couldn't finish it. I lived there for 14 years and I think I pretty much only ate on weekends to remain thin.
 
Today I weighed in at 209.8.

1/3 weight 210.8
1/4 weight 209.2
1/5 weight 209.8

Food today... Quaker Oats with a little maple syrup for breakfast. Turkey sandwich with lettuce, extra tomatoes and onion for lunch.. Here's where I broke down a bit. After work and before working out I had a bowl of Quaker Oat Squares. I then did my workout. 40 min of light cardio and 30 min of light weight lifting (I'm not hardcore or anything). And afterwards, I had scrambled eggs for dinner with some cheese on the top. The cereal I think put me over any chance to lose weight today. I'll have to just eat dinner before exercising in the future I think if I'm hungry.
 
You haven't really mentioned if you have a calorie goal (or maybe I missed it) but sometimes when I'm hungry or cravy it helps me to check my calories to see if I actuallt ate less than my body needs. Even when the answer is "no, you ate enough" it takes away some of the agitation.
 
You're right about that. If I logically go over what I ate and it seems like that's enough then it helps me too. I don't count calories but of course I need a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. I'm not too mad about the cereal (a smaller snack would have been better) but fighting the desire to raid the cupboard. I didn't realize my eating habits had slipped so much.
 
I don't think counting calories for the rest of your life would be a healthy goal but logging them religiously for a week or two to get a feel for what you're doing and what you need (not only for energy but also protein and micronutrients) can be very helpful. Every time I do there's something surprising in the logs, even though nowadays the surprises are usually small.
 
LaMaria said:
I don't think counting calories for the rest of your life would be a healthy goal but logging them religiously for a week or two to get a feel for what you're doing and what you need (not only for energy but also protein and micronutrients) can be very helpful. Every time I do there's something surprising in the logs, even though nowadays the surprises are usually small.
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You're probably right. I might try it on the weekend.
 
Well today I weighed in at 207.4! I don't know how that happened. Maybe I forgot to drink liquids or something. To celebrate I had a whopper with cheese for lunch.

1/3 weight 210.8
1/4 weight 209.2
1/5 weight 209.8
1/6 weight 207.4

So today I had Quaker Oats Squares for breakfast (finished off the box). The Whopper with cheese for lunch. After work I had a few dried fruit and nuts (not a lot) and then went jogging. I did a 10K jog which is my favorite distance to do. I don't do intervals or anything although I'm considering it. I just jog at a regular pace. It generally takes about an hour and ten to fifteen minutes. I had a medium tossed salad for dinner (lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and some turkey). And for desert I'm having some pretzel nuggets with peanut butter inside.
 
LaMaria said:
Fluctuations happen all the time but a new low is a new low. Congratulations!
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Right. And while I have restrained myself some the past few days but I haven't starved myself either. But I haven't weighed less than 209 in a while. If it's just a normal fluctuation it came at a good time I needed the motivation :).
 
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