Last Updated on October 29, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
Although I was managing myself quite well at the beginning of week four, I lost forward momentum yet again. However, I have a feeling why I weighed 232 this morning is because I was a bit gluttonous last night.
Taco Bell and cereal really didn’t combine well at 11:00 pm.
Yeah, none of that bodes well for ending the year being looked at like a piece of meat. All kidding aside, I really need to get on the ball if I want 2023 to be my lightest year yet.
How I Gained 0.8 Pounds This Week
As I said a moment ago, I’m relatively sure that pigging out yesterday is what caused the weight gain. After all, it’s been a moment since I took a movement. Not to mention that it’ll probably take about two days for all of that food to digest properly.
So, I bet I’ll drop three pounds by Tuesday.
Still, that sounds more like an excuse than anything. Sure, I’ve been able to keep calories lower than what I burn this week, but I haven’t been keeping them “green” in MyFitnessPal. If I did so, I would be burning twice what I consume.
I probably gained a slight bit of weight in muscle mass as I’ve been getting back to the gym. But I am relatively certain that it wasn’t two pounds worth of muscle. Luckily, I didn’t have nearly as bad of a problem getting back to weight training as I thought I would. I was only sore for a day or two, which was way better than when I started back at the gym a few months ago.
The good news is that I know what needs to be done to drop the weight. All that it takes is for me to get serious with my goals and put in the small amount of effort I need to make it happen.
What Is the Plan for Week 5?
So, I now have eight weeks to go before Christmas. Statistically speaking, I should still be able to drop 30 pounds in that time frame, or at least get closer to my goal weight. As I said during the podcast, though, I doubt I’ll get under 210. I’ve been putting on a bit of muscle and I’m naturally a big guy.
At around 215, I’ll re-evaluate the goals. But in the meantime, I need to get down to that point.
Keeping it Green Until Christmas
I say this every week, but I need to prove to myself I can maintain my diet for longer than six days. I was doing great at the very beginning, and then I hurt my back. So, I know it can be done. It’s just a matter of getting my butt off the chair and getting physical.
Now that I have five inches of snow outside, it looks like I’ll be doing more Oculus and Kinect exercises. That is as long as I can get people out of my damn living room. I haven’t been able to enjoy that section of my house in months because the kids keep using it as a flop house.
In any case, I need to start getting away from the desk more often and move about. Besides, my back loves the idea of not sitting in my chair for longer than an hour.
So, let’s try to keep my calorie goals green for the rest of the year. Well, aside from the days that I have highlighted for special occasions. This includes Halloween, Extra Life Weekend, and Thanksgiving.
Forcing Breaks Again
I need to get back into the habit of forcing myself to take proper breaks. With all of the projects I have going on right now, taking time off is vital if I don’t want to burn out. This means I really need to put in the effort to follow my daily schedule, which has blocks of time for exercise and house cleaning.
The hard part about this is that I might have to spend a few hours throughout the week driving my youngest to her new school. That’s a 40-minute round trip, twice per day. So, I’ll need to re-organize the time just a tad.
In any case, I need to get into the habit of forcing myself away from my desk, regardless of what I’m doing.
Increasing Weight at the Gym – Ish
I’ve been slowly getting back to where I was at the gym before hurting my back. So far, it’s been working out nicely. I’m taking extra care while using the back machines as I don’t want to take myself out again.
In week one, I lifted 131,125 pounds in total. In week four, I’m back up to 109,775. I’m still a bit shy of what I was doing before, but like I said, I don’t want to go overboard and hurt myself again. It’s all good, I’m all about playing the long game, anyway. I’m not trying to get ripped overnight.
I should be able to get close to around 120,000 pounds for week five. Although I am going slow with my back, I found that I can handle what I was doing before on the tricep push-downs, ab machine, and seated machine row. That’s a spot of good news, regardless.
Time is Ticking Away…
There are eight weeks before Christmas, and they are going to go by wicked fast. Mostly because of the sheer amount of projects and events I have going on for the next few months. As long as I can maintain myself and put in a conscious effort to move about, I’ll easily hit my goals by then.
But that’s the rub – actually putting in the effort.
So, let’s try to set this one in stone. No more red or yellow weight days for the rest of this challenge. I know I can do it…as long as I don’t do something else to cripple myself.
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