fat

A Christmas miracle has arrived! In January! I am down 2.6 pounds for the month. Curiously, this is also exactly the amount I was up in December, but if we track back to December 1st, my total weight loss since then is 0.6 pounds, Less impressive, but sustained actual almost-for-sure not a rounding error weight loss for two entire months? I’ll take it.

The key was likely related to a couple of things:

• Much less snacking, especially in the latter half of the month when I started seeing regular dips in weight
• Frequent 30+ minute workouts on the treadmill. I think my body got a bit used to exercise and may have started burning a tiny bit of fat from it as a result (16 workouts for the month, so an every-other-day average. Not bad!)
• And of course, no donuts

In all, a nice trend and one I hope will continue.

Stats (rolling over yearly stats to this month, but for reference, I started January 2021 at 174,2 pounds, so I’ve got a ways to go just to catch up to where I was 12 months ago, let alone my target goal of 150):

January 1: 180.6 pounds
January 31: 178.0 pounds (down 2.6 pounds)

Year to date: From 180.6 to 178.0 pounds (down 2.6 pounds)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 23.2% (42.1 pounds of fat)
January 31: 23.5% (41.8 pounds of fat) (down 0.3 pounds)

The tragedy and triumph of the month that is December when it comes to waistlines and the expansions thereof.

I started the month well-positioned for weight loss, 1.4 pounds under 180. 170 here I come!

By December 4th, I had dropped to 177.9, which would sadly turn out to be my lowest point of the month, because…December. By the 8th I had ballooned up to 180.8 pounds, and it took 16 days to finally get back below 180. I held a glimmer of hope that I could carry the downward trend onward. It lasted two days. Even after a lot of exercise and old-fashioned calorie-burning yesterday, I was still up this morning to my highest point of the month at 181.2 pounds. Sigh.

However, while I am always striving to do better, I am no longer making promises to myself. I will hazard a prediction that I will be down at least a little in January, if only because the worst indulgences of the holidays will be past. But we’ll see.

Stats:

December 1: 178.6 pounds
December 31: 181.2 pounds (up 2.6 pounds)

Year to date: From 174.2 to 181.2 pounds (up 7 pounds)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
December 31: 23% (41.6 pounds of fat) (up 2.5 pounds)

I gained a tiny bit of weight this month, all thanks to cookies and chocolate bars being on sale. What can I say? It was a very wet, dismal kind of month and I indulged. I was bad.

On the positive side, the weight gain was minimal, and I was trending down by a few pounds for the first half, so I know actual weight loss is within reach.

I just need to avoid sales. And buying stuff and then eating it. Easy peasy.

I won’t mention that December is likely to be even more dismal than November. Nope.

Stats:

November 1: 178.1 pounds
November 30: 178.3 pounds (up 0.2 pounds)

Year to date: From 174.2 to 178.3 pounds (up 4.1 pounds)

Body fat (year to date):

January 1: 22.4% (39.1 pounds of fat)
November 30: 23.2% (41.4 pounds of fat) (up 2.3 pounds, unchanged from previous month)

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)