Week 1 of 12: Lost 4.2 Pounds and Hurt My Back

Last Updated on October 8, 2023 by Michael Brockbank

It seems like every time I start a new fitness challenge, I hurt myself in some way. About halfway through Saturday, I did something to my back to the point of being barely able to move around. Still, I lost 4.2 pounds, so that’s a bonus.

The silly thing is that I really didn’t do anything to throw my back out once again. What I think happened is that I sat in my chair all day working on my new book cover and watching Hulu. I am almost positive it was from the way I was sitting.

Whatever the case, it’s been ultra difficult to get in any kind of steps or physical activity. I even tried playing the Oculus last night and was only able to go for about 13 minutes before I had to stop. I just couldn’t stand and play due to the pain.

Maybe some of it has to do with stress. I know I’ve been dialed to 20 for the past week trying to publish my next book.

Regardless, it was a pretty crappy end to what was turning out to be a pretty good week.

How I Lost 4.2 Pounds in Week One

I lost the vast majority of the 4.2 pounds during the first few days. Of course, this is a common occurrence for anyone starting a weight loss journey. Essentially, this is the time it takes to digest all of the junk you ate before while maintaining your new diet plan.

A lot of people tend to go for one last “hurrah” before starting a diet. And because it can take up to 72 hours to digest certain foods, all of that stuff from before will eventually leave the body in one form or another during the first few days.

However, that massive weight loss is not sustainable. For one thing, you won’t have nearly as much to digest. So, when you see the numbers drop immensely for the first few days, remember that it will balance out after day two or three.

The Exercises

Although I did get nearly 203 minutes all week on the Oculus, I still think I could have been more active. This is aside from maintaining my gym routine of going three times.

I really wanted to jump in front of the Xbox and play some tennis this week, but my living room is a disaster area. Ah, the joys of having kids. Nonetheless, I have enough room in my bedroom to play the Oculus now, so at least I have that.

On Wednesday, we went up to Lookout Mountain to take pictures for the book cover and a few more professional headshots for myself, which came out amazing, I think. That was the day I racked up more than 14,000 steps and burned more than 4000 calories.

The Diet

For the most part, I kept the calories in the green in MyFitnessPal for my Net 600 Calorie Diet throughout the entire week until Saturday. It was supposed to be a Christmas present to myself to maintain all of the days in the green until December 24th, when this particular challenge ends. I wanted to prove to myself that I could stick with it for three months.

I’m still going to try, despite Saturday going kaput.

I have no doubt that if I hadn’t hurt myself last night, I would be in the 220s this morning. I gambled and lost about my snacks for the day.

I was a bit more than 600 calories behind in my goal and figured I would play at least two more rounds of the Oculus before going to bed. That way, I could burn enough to get me back in the green for my calorie goal. Unfortunately, at around 4:00 pm, I hurt my back.

In fact, I was so far behind in calories that I didn’t have dinner. Then again, I wasn’t really hungry last night due to the snacking and lack of movement. Not to mention, standing in the kitchen to cook something didn’t sound all that appealing. It feels like I’m being hung on a slaughterhouse hook by my tailbone.

It’s a very old injury that rears its head once in a while. When I was 12, I literally spun myself in half while playing. And it’s been a major pain ever since (no pun intended).

What’s the Plan for Week Two?

Despite hurting myself, I still think week one was quite successful. It was the first time I maintained my diet for longer than three days since 2018. Better yet, I didn’t block any red days on the weight loss spreadsheet.

I think I could do better though. Well, aside from being in a stupid amount of pain.

Keeping Up the Diet Plan

Until my back heals, I’m going to focus mostly on maintaining my diet plan. I just don’t know how much movement I’ll get for the next few days to burn the excess calories and carbs.

The Net 600 Calorie Diet relies heavily on physical movement. With my back giving me issues to start this week, I’m not sure how much of that I’m going to get. Still, I didn’t have a problem sticking to my diet overall.

I’m not going to let Saturday dissuade me from giving it my all this time around. Sure, I’m a hurtin’ unit right now, but that doesn’t mean I can just dive into a bag of Halloween candy and say “fuck it.” I can still maintain my intake to stick with my calorie goals. It just means I’m going to have to walk around a bit to at least burn enough to have dinner.

Besides, walking around seems to alleviate some of the pain in my back.

I’m also going to aim for a lower carb count until I am able to get active again. Without being able to move much, I simply won’t burn the carbs off like I was during week one.

Getting to the Gym?

So, I’m not entirely sure how week two is going to unfold. If I’m lucky, I might be able to walk to the gym tomorrow (Monday) and at least work on my upper body.

I doubt I’ll be able to use the back extension machine in my current condition. But I should still be able to do other exercises, such as the chest press or maybe even bicep curls. I suppose it really depends on how badly I’m broken by the time I get to the gym.

I seem to be in far less pain if I keep moving about, so perhaps I can just get on the treadmill a bit and start slowly.

More Active Minutes?

This is another element that will greatly depend on when my back decides to stop hurting. My goal for each week is to hit 300 minutes of various activities, such as playing the Xbox Kinect or using the Oculus. After last night, though, I just don’t know how much I’m going to be able to rack up this week.

I mean, I don’t want to push too hard and hurt myself even further.

I might need to reel things back a bit until I am at least able to stand without grunting and wincing. It’s kind of disappointing, though. I was on track to weigh close to what I did when I bought this house by Halloween.

It’s better to heal than to push myself and make things worse.

Adaptation is Key

So, I hurt. Does that give me an excuse to crack open a new Costco-sized jar of peanut butter? Absolutely not. This time, I am in it to win it. And I would love to look back on Christmas Eve and see all of those awesome green days of maintaining my diet.

Instead, I need to adjust my efforts to compensate for the lack of movement to start week two. That means fewer carbs and calories since I won’t be able to burn them as I would otherwise.

Let’s just focus on healing and eating less. Sure, losing 30 pounds in the next couple of months would be nice. But being able to move without crying would be even better.

About Author

Michael Brockbank

Since 2015, Michael has put in the effort to lose more than 80 pounds by gamifying fitness and eating proper portion sizes. He conducts extensive research into various health and fitness products to provide the best answers possible according to his own experience and knowledge.

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