Progress Check, January 2023

This is the 12th week since I've been tracking my progress. I'm averaging a weight loss of 2.4 lbs a week, vs. my previous two dramatic weight loss sessions where I considered anything less than 5-10 lbs a week to be an abject failure.

I'd been making lifestyle changes for a bit prior to my 'official' start, and I'm pretty confident that I'd dropped a considerable amount. I just wanted to make sure that I was truly back in a groove before sharing anything with even the wife and kids, as I've had more than a few false starts over the past couple of years.

My original goal when I set my mind to start on this current journey was 1-2 lbs per week. I'm very happy that I've managed to be consistent enough to exceed that a bit, in spite of the holidays, birthdays, and the other dietary landmines I've had to navigate these past 3 months. It sets me up nicely to look back a year from my start date and see how far I'll have come.

Until then, though, it's one meal, one workout, one healthy decision at a time.

Mind Games

I've had great anxiety about this week's weigh-in, and it was all for nothing.

I should know better.

In Short: I was convinced all week that I could see and feel a weight gain. Instead, I lost weight - more than my weekly weight loss target, in fact.

Deeper dive: Even though my workouts and nutrition were on point, I got in my own head, for reasons that I'm still trying to process fully. I was sure that I'd done something to 'mess up'.

See, my 'diet' isn't nearly as restrictive as it was during my previous two periods of significant (and obviously temporary) weight loss, and there was another celebratory event (January birthday party #1) that I partook of (bacon cheese burgers!). I didn't pig out by any means - I was fairly disciplined, while still allowing myself to enjoy foods that I don't typically eat a lot of.

At some point between those relaxed meals and this morning, doubts about my calorie intake and macros began to bubble up. And, as I'm intuitively tracking by design (no food scales, no spreadsheets - just going by my existing knowledge and instincts), there are undoubtedly times where the justification for second-guessing is greatly heightened.

In hindsight, I did good... REALLY good! All that negativity was just me allowing myself to fall back into an old, unhealthy, destructive pattern of thought that leads nowhere but down as it relates to my demeanor. The self-defeating, overly negative mindset that plagues so many, and has haunted me throughout periods of my life.

I thought I'd gotten well past this type of stuff. Turns out, I'm still not immune, and I have to remain diligent.

Onward.

'What If's' and the End of the World As You Know It

The human mind is truly a wonder beyond wonders.

Its ability to stimulate us with happy and/or comforting thoughts and emotions is limitless; its ability to simulate reality and fiction is without capacity; its ability to sabotage our lives is absolutely unfathomable.

Which power we utilize is an absolute decision. Be aware, be wary...  But don't be worried?

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I'm still tracking well. Net of 0 weight change over the various Christmas/New Years feasts, which I'm super ok with. I expect to make up the difference this week with a few subtle tweaks, but as I'm still well ahead of schedule (roughly 2 lbs per week until some undetermined 'goal' to reassess things, which will occur more or less a year after I started this latest effort) my focus remains on consistency. Slow and steady. Enjoying the journey instead of being all-consumed by the destination.

Avoiding certain online influencers really seems to help. Many so-called influencers can be absolutely toxic to the more precariously balanced of those of us who are just trying to find their way through the proverbial sea of storms. Sometimes I'm strong enough to rise above the waves, but other times I'm more susceptible to capsizing and being dragged into the depths, where even a subtle suggestion worms its way in and - before you know it - the poison has taken hold.

People and things in your real life can do that too.

Building up a resistance to negative influence is a basic skillset that we must all exercise - just like its wise to exercise one's body, one's mind, one's immune system, etc.

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Mobility training.

It's as big a deal as any actual meal plan/diet, cardio, calisthenics, or weight training routine. I've had stretches where I try to do it every day without fully committing, and other times where I just try to do it here and there. I've been on a kick where I'm trying to do it literally every day...  I am now beginning to remember those stretches where I am more frequent with this discipline, and lamenting the fact that I ever stopped being consistent with it.

The devil really is in the details, my loves.