fat

The month started with me at 177.8 pounds and ended with me at 177.9 pounds, which is the very definition of a rounding error. While it looks like my weight stayed virtually unchanged, what happened on the other 29 days tells a different story, because the 1st and 31st are the only days I was below 178 pounds. I was up to 181 at one point and hovered around 179 a lot of the month.

This was due to making brownies and then eating them. I also didn’t run much in the first half of the month, and have started running more frequently and generally being more active in the second half of October.

I can’t say I’m thrilled with the weight gain, but am relieved that I managed to work it all off to at least end up neutral for the month.

I promise not to buy any cheap Halloween candy tomorrow.

Stats:

October 1: 177.8 pounds
October 31: 177.9 pounds (up 0.1 pounds)

Year to date: From 174.2 to 177.9 pounds (up 3.7 pounds--unchanged from September)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
October 31: 23.3% (41.4 pounds of fat) (up 3.3 pounds--unchanged from September)

The good news is I am down slightly for the month, even if it is “margin of error” down. It’s still better than up.

More good news is that my body fat, despite still being up for the year, is trending downward as I exercise more.

The not-as-good news is while down for the month, I’m still up from where I was at the beginning of August, so I am still not yet back to where I was before the re-ballooning began.

Most of the month, my weight bounced right around where it ended, around 177 pounds. I mean, it’s better than 187, my all-time high, but I’d really like to break the 170 mark before collecting a pension.

I remain donut-free, though.

I will make a modest prediction for October: I will be down a little again.

Stats:

September 1: 178.4 pounds
September 30: 177.9 pounds (down 0.5 pounds)

Year to date: From 174.2 to 177.9 pounds (up 3.7 pounds)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
September 30: 23.3% (41.4 pounds of fat) (up 3.3 pounds)

Whoops!

Now let me explain how I almost but not quite completely wiped out my gains from July.

Basically two things:

• Two weeks of vacation where I did not overly pay attention to my calorie count
• Various and random indulgences to celebrate breaking free of a job that I had come to no longer enjoy after many years

I feel bad, but not really bad.

September should be better, though, as I now have lots of time to exercise, I am already running again, and will be paying more attention to what goes in my gullet.

I remain donut-free.

The stats:

August 1: 176.2 pounds
August 31: 178.1 pounds (up 1.9 pounds)

Year to date: From 174.2 to 178.1 pounds (up 3.9 pounds)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
August 31: 24.1% (42.9 pounds of fat) (up 3.8 pounds)

More good news for the second month in a row, woo. Actual weight loss that is just outside what I consider a rounding error: Down 2.2 pounds. Most of the weight loss came in the last week of the month, with a handy dip of 0.8 pounds just this morning.

Body fat is still going down, but slowly–but it is at least going down.

Sadly, I am still up for the year, but if I behave in August I may see actual weight loss for the year, which would be nice. I am trying to keep active despite the heat and possible wildfire smoke (they say it may arrive today, in fact).

Still, I am at a point now where I can see myself tracking toward 170 instead of away from it, then onward to that eventual, mythical goal of 150 pounds. I’ve done it before, so I can’t deny it isn’t possible.

I was also good and resisted buying cookies on sale this week. I was tempted, but the temptation waned quickly. Yay for me.

Stats:

July 1: 178.7 pounds
July 31: 176.5 pounds (down 2.2 pounds)

Year to date: From 174.2 to 176.5 pounds (up 2.3 pounds)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
July 31: 23.9% (42.1 pounds of fat) (up 3.0 pounds)

The good news is I was down, even if it was only what amounts to a rounding error.

The better news is my body fat, although still up for the year, has started coming down more noticeably over the past month, so even though I am largely in a holding pattern, I’m at least starting to trend in the right direction.

I also stayed cookie and donut-free this month. I did have some snacks, though. I’ll beat myself with a wet noodle later. Then try not to eat the noodle.

For July, I plan on applying a firmer hand to food intake and get some daily exercise, whether it’s walking, running, flapping my arms or something else.

Stats:

June 1: 179.8 pounds
June 30: 179.5 pounds (down 0.3 pounds)

Year to date: From 174.2 to 179.5 pounds (up 5.3 pounds)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
June 30: 23.6% (42.4 pounds of fat) (up 3.3 pounds)

Yeah, oops.

May was not a good month, but some of this was legitimately out of my control. What was in my control were the cookies I bought, which I shoved into my mouth. Repeatedly.

So in that sense, being up only 1.6 pounds is not that terrible. But it is still terrible and as far as weight loss plans, about as well-executed as the Titanic’s dodge around the iceberg. The sole consolation is that I am only up 0.1 pounds over the past month, so despite the cookies I was mostly treading water (fat).

For June, I am going once again with the cold turkey approach: no snacking at all. It will not be easy, but I think this is the only thing that will work. If it does work, I should see some actual weight loss over the next 30 days. If it doesn’t, I will be sad and a little puzzled.

The overweight stats:

May 1: 178.7 pounds
May 31: 180.3 pounds (up 1.6 pounds)

Year to date: From 174.2 to 180.3 pounds (up 6.1 pounds)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
May 31: 24.8% (44.8 pounds of fat) (up 5.7 pounds)

I successfully erased last month’s weight loss and gained a little more on top of that, so April, even though it was largely a holding pattern, was overall a big fat fail.

I ended the monthat 180.2 pounds. I have not been north of 180 since 2008, before I began my first (and successful) weight loss round, when I tipped the scales at a chunky 187.5 pounds before putting on the brakes to eating everything I could grab hold of. I am way too close to that mark now and feel bad having regressed so much this year.

Sure, I could blame the pandemic and not having a commute which forces me to walk at least a little every day, but those are excuses. The reality is I am just not trying hard enough. I just had breakfast as I type this and I’m already thinking about snacking.

It also doesn’t help that my partner (also very much overweight) is keeping a bunch of snacks around. One of the keys back in 2008 was not having stuff like that handy–removing the temptation. Oh well. I know I should be strong enough to resist.

No predictions for next month.

Stats:

April 1: 179.4 pounds
April 30: 180.2 pounds (up 0.8 pounds)

Year to date: From 174.2 to 180.2 pounds (up 6 pounds)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
April 30: 24.5% (44.1 pounds of fat) (up 5 pounds)