Last Updated on July 15, 2024 by Michael Brockbank
Well, I thought the chaos would subside a bit this past week, but I was wrong. Still, I managed to lose 0.6 pounds even though I was slacking a bit on the exercise and ate a bit poorly on several days.
That’s the benefit of actually taking your time to lose weight and learning to make permanent changes in your lifestyle. I’m able to keep things in check out of habit and know how to adapt to my binge triggers.
Now, I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. However, I was able to maintain myself reasonably to still lose weight despite the sheer amount of chaos and mayhem this week.
Losing weight and keeping it off is all about the long game. If you don’t learn what caused your gain in the first place, you’ll be doomed to repeat it – even after a successful diet. It’s a lifestyle change if you truly want to keep the weight off and improve your fitness.
OK, enough of the commercial.
How I Lost 0.6 Pounds This Week
Perhaps the thing that impresses me the most is how I’ve been able to lose some kind of weight since the Summer of Effort started. Well, with the exception of the one week where I weighed the same. The fact is that I haven’t gained since beginning this challenge.
Sure, I wish I would have lost a bit more over the past five weeks. But for those who don’t know me, not gaining any kind of weight from one week to the next is a MAJOR milestone.
What this past week all boils down to is the fact that I kept somewhat active while not overindulging. Coming from a stress eater who has been dialed to 11 since about February, that’s quite an accomplishment.
If you look at the spreadsheet, I’ve been all over the map with recording food. But I was able to shave off a little more than half a pound, so I’ll call that a win.
Setting Some Goals in Stone!
The rest of this month has a couple of major events: my birthday and my Grandma’s memorial service. The idea is to keep everything on track and in the green for the rest of the challenge with the exception of those two events.
Of course, that will really depend on what life decides to throw at me. Nonetheless, I’ll set some goals this week and see if I can make some magic happen.
This week, I’m going to keep it a bit simpler, though. I was thinking about adding a step goal, but it’s been insanely hot lately. Being prone to heat exhaustion and heat stroke, I’ll need to watch myself closely.
That means the goals this week are going to be more indoorsy.
40 Minutes of Gaming…Again
This is perhaps one of the easiest goals to accomplish, yet I was just not in the right headspace last week. So, we’re going to give it a try again.
The idea is to average at least 40 minutes of gameplay every day between the Oculus and the Kinect. And now that I have my living room cleaned up from Grandpa’s stuff from the Father’s Day incident, I can get back in front of the Xbox.
Plus, I recently bought a Fitbit Charge 6. That means I want new data for ColoradoPlays.com to show how many calories I can burn with various games.
Hitting an average of 40 minutes per day is essentially two rounds. For instance, I can play a 20 to 25-minute round in the morning and then another during my 3:00 pm break. At least, that’s the idea. Doing so will help me rack up both calorie burn and steps for the day.
Also, keep in mind that this is in addition to going to the gym three times per week.
Keeping the Carbs Under 150g
I know averaging fewer than 150 g of carbs each day causes me to burn fat relatively quickly. This is especially true if I stick to my gaming sessions. In fact, I’ve been able to drop more than seven pounds in a single week by keeping active and keeping the carbs low.
Considering how much I enjoy salads, this shouldn’t be all too difficult to achieve. A lot of it comes down to watching what I snack on. A cookie here and there isn’t necessarily bad. But several cookies every day can add up rather quickly.
Another element that I’m cutting out this week is dining out. I’ve spent way too much money recently on Taco Bell and Culver’s. Want to talk about racking up the carb count? Most fast food meals can jack those numbers up to unbelievable levels.
Besides, for the same amount of money I spend at Taco Bell, I could get more than a week’s worth of food at Costco or Trader Joe’s. And right now, I really don’t have the funds for indulgences.
Ramping Up the Effort
OK, now that it seems some of the chaos is subsiding a bit, it’s time to ramp up the effort for this challenge. After all, that’s the point of a challenge – to push yourself to succeed. And even though I’ve been under an immense amount of stress lately, I’ve managed to keep things in check.
Let’s see if I can burn more than five pounds this week. I’d love to be in the 220s by my birthday.
About Author
