Last Updated on November 19, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
This week wasn’t all that bad, considering the sheer amount of stress and chaos I had to endure. And in some ways, it’s still going. Still, I’ve managed to lose 2.4 pounds this week, so I can’t really complain.
That means I am back into the 220s. If I play my cards right, I should still hit the lightest I’ve been since I was in my teens. Better yet, I have so much more muscle mass now than I did back then.
How I Lost 2.4 Pounds This Week
The idea was to get back to having every day in the green according to my Net 600 Calorie diet. Well, last Sunday was a clustered mess, and last night, I had a bit of a moment of self-reflection and drank a bit much.
The middle of the week wasn’t so bad, though. I kept at least three days in the green while not allowing the stress to drive me to binge eat at night. So, that’s still a win no matter how you look at it.
I’ve been keeping pretty regular with my gym routine and racked up quite a few steps on a few of the days. In fact, I’ve logged more steps throughout this last week than I have since starting this 12-week fitness challenge.
In the grand scheme of things, though, I’m pretty proud of the fact that I still lost weight despite the sheer amount of stress I’m going through. For the most part, I’ve been able to keep a lot of things in check while dealing with a slew of problems. A big part of that is because I’ve been trying to keep focused on the end goal.
At this moment, I am still on track to weigh 212 by Christmas, which is something I haven’t seen in more than two decades. I truly believe I can do it this time around. That is as long as I can keep my head in the game.
What Are the Goals for Week 8?
So, I have five full weeks of seeing what I can do before Christmas. That means I need to turn it up some, at least without burning myself out. As long as I can find other ways to handle the immense amount of stress going on right now, I should be golden.
At the end of the day, though, I don’t know if I’ll hit 212 pounds by Christmas. Not because I don’t think I can maintain myself, but more because I have been adding a lot more muscle mass than I thought I would and I’m naturally a big guy.
I am six feet tall and built pretty solid, not to sound egotistical. I’ve always been a big guy, though. That’s how I was able to wear 300+ pounds without really looking like I weighed that much. Even then, I had a great deal of muscle mass going on.
That means I’ll really have to consider changing my ultimate goals once I get closer to 215.
Sticking with the Diet Plan
I am determined to demonstrate just how effective my Net 600 Calorie Diet plan is. Now, I know it’s probably not for everyone, but it’s definitely the component that has helped me lose a great deal of weight.
That is as long as I stick to it.
This week, I’m going to aim to keep every day in the green outside of Thanksgiving. This also includes keeping the carb intake a bit lower just so I can burn fat instead when I’m physically active. I’m not going all Keto on my diet, but keeping the carbs at around 200 grams per day seems to work relatively well for me.
Getting 87,500 Steps Total
I’m getting closer to hitting 87,500 steps in a week. It’s the goal I had set when trying to walk a million steps in 80 days. Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of physical and mental issues that prevented me from hitting that mark so far.
Still, last week, I came closer than I have since starting this recent challenge.
To put this into perspective, that’s only 12,500 steps per day. I’m almost hitting that now and I might be able to squeeze it in this week. Even though Thanksgiving is probably going to interfere a bit, I should still be able to rack up some steps.
Setting Up an “America’s Ass” Challenge
I’ve been looking at a few glute exercises and decided to set up my own “America’s Ass” challenge. The idea is to firm up my buttocks to the point of bouncing a bowling ball off of it. Seriously, I wouldn’t mind having an ass that I can be proud of.
For the most part, it’s just to see if I can do it. This is the same motivation behind seeing if I can sculpt a six-pack. I highly doubt I have the motivation to maintain them, but it would be fun to see what I look like in the end.
Anyway, I’ll be pouring over a few things this week to set up the challenge. This will include taking measurements and keeping track of progress over time.
Yep, that means another spreadsheet is in the works.
Not Stressing About Thanksgiving
Lastly, I’m not going to stress about Thanksgiving. I’ve demonstrated time and time again that a single day of eating horribly doesn’t necessarily destroy a diet. In fact, there were days when I over-indulged with Taco Bell and still lost a pound the next morning.
Remember, it can take two to three days to fully digest meals. That means even if the scale says you gained three pounds over Thanksgiving, you’ll easily lose most of that down the toilet by Sunday.
The point is that you can’t stress yourself out about being too rigid or strict on your diet, especially when it comes to the holidays.
Besides, I’m not the fat kid I used to be. The days of covering my plate with everything available are long over simply because I just can’t eat that much anymore. In reality, I think my Thanksgiving dinners only reach around 500 calories total because I can’t fit more than that in my stomach.
That’s a good thing, though.
Keeping Positive Momentum, Physically and Mentally
Despite the rough go of things lately, I’m still positive that I’ll end 2023 far lighter than I’ve ever been. I’ve been able to stave off midnight snacking, stress eating, and have been able to turn down free, calorie-rich foods. Even if I don’t lose much weight after this, I’m still proud that I have been able to conquer a lot of these demons.
All that’s left is to keep positive and keep reaching for something I haven’t done in my entire adult life. It’s going to be an exceptionally exciting last few weeks of this challenge.
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