Saturday, June 4, 2011

Day 34: I did it!


Body Fat: 17%
Total Inches: 134.0
Weight: 144.6 lbs



I did it! My goal was to get down to 145 pounds and although it took me an extra 4 days, I've done it! It feels good - I'm down to my lowest weight in over 14 years. Previous to this 4 hour body challenge I was at my highest at about 165 - 20 pounds higher then when I got married. I suppose that's not really that bad, but it was definitely noticeable. Then Jobina went on her so called "death diet" and I lost about 1o pounds. Fast forward to May where I went on the 4 Hour Body's slow carb diet and now I've lost another 10 pounds for a total of 20 total. Before these two diets I'd never really gone on a diet before so it was quite the new experience for me. Perhaps that's why it worked fairly quickly for me?

Breakfast: 2 eggs, iced water

Lunch: Taco salad

Supper: Pork tenderloin, sauteed veggies, salad

4 Hour Body Weight Loss Eating Plan: Random Impressions

-First of all, this diet isn't the "super diet" that works for everyone. Jobina did it with me and found it wasn't as effective as other eating plans she's tried.
-If you like me are coming from a high carb lifestyle it can be pretty painful (withdrawal) to go off off pasta and cheese.
-Having a cheat day to look forward where you are encouraged to eat anything you wish is a very nice way to handle the temptations. By having a cheat day I was able to stop myself from cheating the other 6 days of the week.
-Psychological effects: Definitely my choice to track my progress was probably the biggest factor in keeping it up, followed by the public nature of this blog. Also, having Jobina do it with me meant I had at home accountability. "Misery loves company" is very true! We both felt that if we cheated we were not only letting ourselves down but the other person as well. This was powerful motivation when one of us was tempted or "whiny."
-Cheating: If you look at the chart at the top, you can see that my weight jump up after a cheat day. Perhaps if I didn't cheat, I wouldn't have experienced these jumps, but I found that the mental pressure release from the cheat day helped me to stick to the diet in the long wrong.
-Scale: Our scale kind of sucked. The body fat analyzer didn't work for me a lot of the time and so tracking this became useless. It was nice to see some total inches lost, but it wasn't as effective a motivator as I thought it would be. I think that for other people this might be different though. As long as you are seeing progress of some time (weight, total inches, body fat) it will help you to keep going.
-Feel: I don't feel much more healthy, even though I dropped the pounds. Part of it is that I have back problems right now, but a lot of is that you don't feel that great after eating lots of meat.
-Cost: This diet ended up costing us a little more then usual due to eating out on cheat days and purchasing extra meat.
-Miscellaneous: I didn't realize how often I reward myself with food (usually bad food). Several times on Friday nights I would feel lost not knowing how to celebrate the end of a week. I'd say it took me 4 full weeks before I weaned myself off this kind of thinking and substituted other things.
-Future: I can see myself going on this diet every now and then (Ferris says to embrace cycling and stop worrying about keeping your body at a constant weight) when needed. I'd like to try experimenting with other parts of the book (building muscle, building strength, etc) but my back situation might stop me. As soon as I do, I'll start posting. In the meantime, I'll slowly add some carbs to my diet but keep tracking my weight to see what happens. I would like to maintain this weight for awhile.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Day 33: Getting There

Body Fat: 17.8%
Total Inches: 134.0
Weight: 145.5 lbs

Good day today with a decent weigh in. Starting to get my weekly carb cravings. Yesterday there was a power outage and we couldn't really prepare food so we went to the nearest restaurant for lunch - which happened to be McDonalds. Don't worry, we ate healthy (salads) but it was hard smelling all the other "bad food" on a non-cheat day. Aside from that not a bad day. My goal is in sight. Will I reach it by Saturday (my next cheat day), that is the question.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, Iced water

Lunch: McDonald's salad, no dressing, no croutons

Supper: Sauteed italian veggies, garlic shrimp (yum), and salad

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Day 32: Getting Closer

Body Fat: 17.8%
Total Inches: 134.0
Weight: 145.8 lbs

Cracked 146 so that's good. I feel strangely at peace with eating plan, now that my goal is in sight. I'm not even craving carbs (like I usually am this time of week). Still not sure if I can see myself doing this long term although I know that a very similar diet is used when building muscle or strength so it might be continuing into the next experiment.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, iced water, seasoned ground beef, salso

Lunch: 3 pieces of roast beef, roasted carrots

Supper: Pea soup (2 bowls)

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Day 31: The End?

Body Fat: 17.8%
Total Inches: 134.0
Weight: 146.4 lbs

Well today marked the official end of my 4 Hour Body weight reducing diet plan experiment. My goal was to lose 1o pounds but as of my weigh in this morning I was down 7.8 - close but no cigar. Although I'm happy with the results (I'm only 1.4 pounds heavier then I was when I got married), I'd still like to see if I could break 145. Thus, I've decided to keep going with the eating plan until at least Saturday (and possibly as long as two weeks). Jobina has told me she is not continuing with the plan so I'll be on my own - we'll see how this affects my self discipline.

Breakfast: Iced water, 2 eggs (ran out of spinach sadly)

Lunch: Chicpea curry with veggies

Supper: Roast beef, gravy, salad

Monday, May 30, 2011

Day 30: Slight Reductions

Body Fat: 17.8%
Total Inches: 134.0
Weight: 147.8 lbs

Today was a super busy day so I didn't have time for a decent breakfast, but Jobina was kind enough to drop off a taco meat salad for me at work (thanks honey!) which kind of saved me. I sense a sickness coming on so I'll have to see how that affects me tomorrow - I hope it holds off til Thursday morning!

Starting to think about what happens after tomorrow. Do I end the experiment or extend it? Or do I transition to one of the other 4 Hour Body bodyhacks; strength or muscle building. Not sure right now.

Breakfast: spoonful of peanut butter (yah, pretty sad I know)

Lunch: Massive taco salad

Supper:

Day 29: Post Cheat Gaining

Body Fat: 17.8%
Total Inches: 134.0
Weight: 148.5 lbs

2.5 pound increase after cheat day! Oh well, it shocks me less then it used to. This 30 day experiment has been interesting and today I had a new challenge. Jobina made homemade chocolate chip cookies (one of my favorite things) but we couldn't eat them. Then we had some old friends over with their kids so they all ate cookies. But I still stayed strong. Then (horror of horrors!), Jobina decided that eating a cookie (or two) would be OK for her so I was the only one left standing. Huge temptation! But somehow I sipped my tasteless tea and got through it. Social events of any kind seem to be huge when it comes to staying strong.

Breakfast: spoonful of peanut butter (we were late for church), iced water

Lunch: 3 eggs, spinach

Supper: chicken, veggies, water

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Day 28: My Cheating Heart

Body Fat: 18.7%
Total Inches: 134.0
Weight: 146 lbs

Today, after much discussion (and pressure from Jobina) we decided to make today our cheat day. I was tentative at first but then I remembered my discipline and proceeded to eat 6 pieces of French toast. Mmmm . . . French toast. From there it all got easier. Down almost a pound this morning it is a bit troubling to realize that it will all come back (with friends) tomorrow. Ah well, today was wonderful!

Breakfast: 6 pieces of French toast, apple juice

Lunch: Chicken noodle soup with lots of crackers

Supper: Tuna fish casserole, OJ

Misc: Frapuccino, many reese's peanut butter cups, chips and salsa,

P.S. Tried to do some air squats (as prescribed by Tim Ferris for binging) after one meal

Friday, May 27, 2011

Day 27: So Close!

Body Fat: 18.7%
Total Inches: 136.50
Weight: 146.9 lbs

1.9 pounds to go! Not sure I can drop that much in 4 days (to reach my second goal) but I will try. Note: By try I mean "stick to the eating plan and hope for the best!" The problem is I have a cheat day either today or tomorrow (still haven't decided which one) which will temporarily make my weight go up again. Yet if I skip the cheat day (and honestly, I don't think I have enough willpower to) then I'm breaking the rules of the eating plan. Probably when I weigh myself tomorrow morning then I'll make my decision . . .

Breakfast: Iced water, 2 eggs, spinach

Lunch: Nothing (work interfered with this and I planned poorly)

Supper: 2 steaks, cooked spinach, stir fried veggies (including mmmmmushrooms), cottage cheese, a little ham

Snack: Tablespoon of natural peanut butter