fat

Oops, I did it again.

However, rather than weep in despair over the weight gain, I’ve decided to step back and take a more nuanced look at what is happening to my body.

First, about an hour after weighing myself this morning (I was up 0.6 pounds) I had to answer the call of nature, which would have effectively meant I had no weight gain today and would have been up 1.6 pounds for the month, which is equivalent to about two days of average weight drops. Not a big deal.

Second, I noted that for the month, my weight only went down on two days around the midway point and both drops were minimal, rounding errors.

Third, the Garmin scale measures other stats, and I’ve added several below:

• Skeletal Muscle Mass. This is the muscle you can build through exercise.
• Body water. This is when you feel bloated because you drank at the fountain for five minutes solid after a run.

Both of these result in weight gain–one more permanent, in the form of muscle growth, the other more variable, as your hydration level rises and dips.

And looking at all the stats, I see something interesting for this month:

• My body fat percentage is unchanged, even as my weight increased
• My muscle mass has improved slightly, by 0.3%
• Body water is unchanged (with a higher weight, it also counts for less)

In all, it seems I am not losing much fat (almost entirely due to diet), but am also building muscle (due to running), with the net result of weight gain, which is mostly due to positive changes.

It still means I need to change up my diet to lose more fat, because it’s still too high. So in November, no snacking at all, save what I may have left over from this month, then nothing after (I don’t have vast stores of snacks, so I should deplete them in a few days at most). Then we’ll see if I can actually bring that pesky body fat number down.

I remain, as always, donut-free.

Stats:

Weight:

January 1, 2023: 164.2 pounds  
Current: 168.8 pounds
Year to date: Up 4.6 pounds

October 1: 166.2 pounds
October 31: 168.8 pounds (up 2.2 pounds)

Body fat: 

October 1: 24.9% 
October 31: 24.9% (unchanged)

Skeletal muscle mass:

October 1: 29.8% 
October 31: 30.1% (up 0.3%)

Body water:

October 1: 54.8% 
October 31: 54.8% (unchanged)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

This was a weird month. I started with an uptick in weight, which normally makes it easier to be down for the month.

Normally.

And in fact, I was down for 21 of the 30 days, so the trend was definitely down. Three days ago, I was still down, by 0.4 pounds (my lowest of the month was a week before at 164.8 pounds), then two days ago I jumped 1.2 pounds, meaning I had to lose 0.8 pounds in two days to be down for the month. I lost 0.3 pounds.

:sadtrombone:

On the plus side, part of the gain was actual muscle mass (if my scale is accurate, and for this I choose to believe IT IS 100% ACCURATE ALWAYS)–about 300 grams in the last week (I ran four times). My body fat was also (just barely) down for the month, too, despite being up slightly. You can’t argue with math!

So while this uptick is unfortunate, I actually believe–not fake believe!–that it’s temporary. Thus, I boldly predict:

I will be down in weight for October.

Stats:

Weight:

January 1, 2023: 164.2 pounds 
Current: 167.6 pounds
Year to date: Up 3.4 pounds

September 1: 167.1 pounds
September 30: 167.6 pounds (up 0.5 pounds)

Body fat:

September 1: 24.9%
September 30: 24.8% (down 0.1%) 

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

The good news is I didn’t gain weight this month, yay.

The bad news is I also did not lose weight this month, boo.

The weird news is my current weight is an evil 166.6 pounds.

Fun Facts:

• I was legit down in weight 11 times during the month.
• If you count from July 31, when I was 167.3 pounds, I actually did lose weight, dropping 0.7 pounds!
• My body fat edged up, boo.
• I did not stick to my “no snacking” rule very well, though it wasn’t a complete disaster or anything.
• I remain donut free.
• Despite the cost, I’ve thought about returning to Noom. On Noom I was able to get down to 157 pounds before my plan expired, and I chose not to re-sub.
• On the other hand, I was able to get as low as 146 pounds on my own way back when.
• On the other other hand, I was also single at the time, and it was easier to keep away temptations, because I was the only one deciding on meals and what food was kept in the house.

My hopeful prediction: September will see an improvement on “no snacking” and actual weight loss. How much weight loss? I’ll be modest and say maybe a pound or so. I’m not looking at some huge breakthrough here, just a slow decline.

Stats:

Weight:

January 1, 2023: 164.2 pounds 
Current: 166.6 pounds
Year to date: Up 2.4 pounds

August 1: 166.6 pounds
August 31: 166.6 pounds (up 0 pounds)

Body fat:

August 1: 24.4%
August 31: 24.8% (up 0.41%) 

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

I started the month at 166.6 pounds, which was not only devilish, but also up from the previous month. Today I weighed in at 168.7 pounds, meaning in just seven days I have gained 2.1 pounds.

For those who think that you can lose weight just through exercise, I’ll add that I also ran three times during those seven days, including twice where the total distance, including walking, came in at over 18 km.

Now, this is entirely my fault. Yesterday, I had two meals with bacon, for crying out loud. I was slothful to the point of being inert through the weekend. Today, I’m actually going outside. Maybe the fresh air will make me magically shed a pound. It’s possible!

Here is a robot attacking a human, because I don’t deserve a kitten today.

Yes, I know. How did this happen? Was it donuts? I had a few snacky days, but no real set pattern of snacking, so I’m not altogether sure what caused the weight gain (I added 0.4 pounds just today, which makes it look even worse).

I have decided for August that I must go cold turkey on snacking. Which means no snacking at all–not even cold turkey! I may allow myself the occasional banana or apple, nothing else.

The month started strong, with me down to 164.8 pounds, then got even better the second day when I dropped a massive 1.8 pounds to an even 163. I was also sick with the flu.

Once I got healthy, the fat came back, then it was a rollercoaster of up and down for the rest of the month, but trending more up than down and here we are in Fatville at the end of the month, population me.

One bit of good (?) news: My body fat percentage has gone from 24.3 to 23.9 in the past month, so maybe I’m just building lots of muscle! (I’ll ignore the fact that on January 1 it was 23.1%)

In a way, deciding to go snack-free, no exceptions, is liberating. I don’t have to think about it, I just know that if it’s not a part of a meal, I don’t eat it. Done!

We’ll see if this all proves to be a sham on August 31!

Stats:

Weight:

January 1, 2023: 164.2 pounds 
Current: 167.3 pounds
Year to date: Up 3.1 pounds

July 1: 164.8 pounds
July 31: 167.3 pounds (up 2.5 pounds)

Body fat:

July 1: 24%
July 31: 23.9% (down 0.1%) 

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

Yes, down! I have achieved the impossible dream and actually lost weight over a 30-day period.

The weight loss started early, right on the second day of the month, and I stayed below 166.2 pounds for all but two days of the month. Ominously, one of those days was June 28, just two days ago, but I was down for the next two days to come under.

The weight loss is small at only 1.1 pounds (I have actually gained more than that overnight a few times this month), but it does signal a trend, I think, and it puts me less than a pound up on the year, so I am hopefully going to see more weight loss over the summer.

If my right knee behaves, and I can run more, even better. But I’ll continue to focus primarily on diet, because it is donuts and Ding Dongs that are the enemies of the waistline. Mmm, Ding Dongs…

Stats:

Weight:

January 1, 2023: 164.2 pounds 
Current: 165.1 pounds
Year to date: Up 0.9 pounds

June 1: 166.2 pounds
June 30: 165.1 pounds (down 1.1 pounds)

Body fat:

June 1: 24%
June 30: 24% (unchanged) 

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

Poop.

I was up again.

Let’s break it down into the negatives and positives again, like last month.

The negatives:

• Up three months in a row (March, April, May). Boo.
• The amount I’m up on the year to date has further increased, from 1.2 pounds, to 2.5 pounds. Mentally, this creates a bigger barrier to seeing weight loss because the bar is now that much higher to actually seeing the numbers go down.

The positives:

• This is less than last month’s gain of 2.0 pounds, so weight gain appears to at least be slowing
• The snack-free attempt was mostly successful in terms of reducing snacks, which should bode well for the future
• My body fat percentage remained unchanged at 24%
• I’m running again, which I missed for most of the month; this should also help
• Most of the weight gain literally happened on the final day of the month, when I jumped up 1.1 pounds
• Spread over five months, this averages out to gaining 0.5 pounds per month, which doesn’t seem as bad 😛
• I did see actual weight loss three times during the month, proving it is actually possible!

Stats:

Weight:

January 1, 2023: 164.2 pounds 
Current: 166.7 pounds
Year to date: Up 2.5 pounds (was 1.2 pounds previously)

May 1: 165.2 pounds
May 31: 166.7 pounds (up 1.5 pounds)

Body fat:

May 1: 24%
May 31: 24 (unchanged) 

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

I’m writing this one in the morning before I’ve eaten anything at all because it doesn’t matter! My snack-free attempt has been a failure, in the sense that even with very little snacking, it’s made no difference and my weight has gone up. This is a tad frustrating. I am mulling options.

EDIT: If I had weighed myself some hours later, it likely would have been down for the month, or very close to it. How do I know? Let’s just say the number two might be involved.

Anyway, I’ll keep on the no-snacking with renewed vigor in June.

And for today, I had a couple of Reese’s minis again, and more toast. But I also ran. Not to these food items, but on the lake trail.

Warning: Some snacking.

Specifically, I had two Reese’s mini peanut butter cups (about 22 calories) and some Fritos BBQ hoops (about 120 calories).

Worse, I had two hot dogs for dinner and felt kind of gross afterwards. One would have sufficed.

Have I doomed my chances of being down in weight for the month? Very likely! Tune in tomorrow for the bitter regrets.

I was so excited about not snacking that I forgot yesterday’s update!

The only thing reminiscent of a snack I had was a slice of toast with some no-sugar-added strawberry jam on it, which I ate after my run, because I was hungry. The toast doesn’t count, so it was a totally snack-free day, woo.

I was up another half-pound, which means I have to lose 0.9 pounds over the next two days in order to come in below where I started the month. Technically possible, but given my yo-yoing and the trend toward still going slightly up in weight, it seems less likely than it might first appear.

But I will remain hopeful and snack-free for those two days. Or else!

I’m writing this a little early because there has been cheating. Yes, cheating!

Behold:

• Several Reese’s mini peanut butter cups
• A small handful of Fritos BBQ Hoops

I estimate that this cheating is probably about 225 calories (the Reese’s are about 18 calories each for reference). Which is not too bad, really, but it represents a clear break from previous days when I only ate a wee bit of cheese as a snack. I have been bad. I will atone by doing my stretching exercises tonight, which will burn off at least 25 of those calories, and also make my legs feel like wet noodles.

If I was flexible enough, I could whip myself with my wet noodle-like legs. Maybe that can be one of my goals for the year, along with getting down to 150 pounds in weight.

Now that I’ve cheated, I enter Phase 2 of Snack-Free, where I find out if I can gracefully rebound, or if I just bury my face in a giant chocolate cake and eat my way out.

OK, I cheated again. But I can explain. Again!

Today I went for a run at Burnaby Lake:

• I ran 5 km
• The total distance walking to and from the lake was close to 14 km
• Checking my Garmin Forerunner right now, it reports 27,019 steps
• By my estimate, I burned about 10 million calories
• I ate a slice of banana bread again, which I believe was no more than 5 million calories
• Therefore, science says I have actually eaten negative banana bread
• I’ll still be up in weight tomorrow, because I’ve drank something like 50 litres of water post-run

I also dropped in weight this morning, so I’m officially down for the month, if only by the barest margin possible, 0.1 pounds. Still!