Phase 2: Double Time - Week 1 & Week 2

I'm really proud of how hard I pushed myself during Week 1. I made a plan and stuck with it. As each day progressed I also began to feel more confidence. My lower arms and lower legs are firm with minimal fat. I've also started to lose weight from my sides. I can place my hands on the upper sides of my ribs and move my hands straight down a bit before I hit any curves. While a great deal of my fat is in my stomach, it's still a big deal to be able to cover a hand and a half distance of flat surface on my sides. It means I'm that much closer to losing from the area that will finally allow me to drop jean sizes.

To help further my goals, I started tracking my caloric intake at livestrong.com/myplate/. In order to lose 2lbs per week, my personal maximum caloric intake is set at 1,400. Whenever I crave chocolate or need a snack, I go to my Special K Delightfully Chocolate Cereal. It has actual mini bars of chocolate in it and it tastes amazing while extremely low in calories. By immediately logging in everything I eat, I instantly know if I have room or need to pace myself.

"People that keep food journals are more likely to lose weight. Why? Because there’s a lot of calories we eat unconsciously during the day."
- 92.3 Now

If you've never heard of 92.3 Now, they're a station set in NYC. They play a great selection of music, but the reason why I like them the most is because they are real. They openly discuss weight from time to time and they embrace the normal person.

Recently I had a heart to heart with my mom about making healthier choices like eating less meat and using smaller dinner plates. Since then she has really started to work with me. Every dinner I've had during Week 2 has been all around healthier. It meant a lot to me too since Week 2 was somewhat of a fail for me.

Here comes my list of excuses (I don't think they're half bad... but you tell me.):

I always say I have no energy, so any exertion that does not go to exercise pretty much wipes me out for the day. Week 2 was dedicated to chauffeuring my dad to different doctor's appointments, all over an hour drive each away. So 1 hr there + 1 hr back + all the waiting time in between, and then I'm asking where my day went?! After Monday and Tuesday I took 2 days of rest, and then wasted Friday because my Dad misread the date on the appointment card. Then on Saturday I went to an autograph signing which was also over an hour away and required 5hrs of standing. I know I'm using excuses here, but it was a little bit of overkill with all of that traveling I had to do this week.

I ate a bit more during Week 2 and exercised less than I had planned, but Week 2 wasn't a total fail. Instead of exercising Double Time, I only managed to fit a regular weeks worth of exercise in. On some days I ate much more than others, but my average caloric intake was balanced at the 1400 mark for the week.

My worst day this week was on Saturday. I didn't really eat all day and ended up going out to Red Robin for dinner. One amazingly tasty meal hit the 1400 mark, and over killed my fat intake for that day. I have no complaints about enjoying that meal, but it's so not worth it. I probably won't do that to myself again anytime too soon.

RESULTS

Week 1: 10 1hr workouts, walking 33.75mi, @ 17'53"mi, burning 4652 cal.
Week 2: 5 1hr workouts, walking 16.88mi, @ 17'52"mi, burning 2327 cal.


ONE HOUR WORKOUT ROUTINE

20 min 3.0 mph
20 min 3.1 with 10 mins of 2lb weights.
20 min 3.0 mph

UPCOMING GOALS

• Play Catch Up. Since I did a regular week as opposed to my goal of doubling it, I plan to add a week at the end if I don't manage to cover the 5 missed workouts in the meantime.
• No chin fat. I think I can accomplish this during the next week. I've already noticed I've lost weight in my face. No matter what, by the end of Phase 2, there will be no chin fat at all. The second I notice a fat free chin, I'll weigh myself immediately and use that as a reminder marker of why that weight is just too much.
• Sugar Worries. I recently heard that you shouldn't eat more than 15g of sugar in a day, because it's worse than eating actual fat. I don't know if this is possible, but I'm going to look further into this.

Phase 1: Results

I've learned a valuable lesson in life: Every time I quit on myself, I set myself back much further than where I started. Over the years I've tracked my weight on livestrong.com. In the last year, I started and stopped exercising twice, with months in between filled with self pity. The first time was in April at 175lbs, and again in August at 181. When the holidays came around I decided to let loose and not think about my actions and their consequences. I figured at most I'd put on 5lbs while I pounded back the sugar cookies, left overs, and anything else available in mass quantities.

I admit I have no self control, and that's why I hate the fact that my parents are fat. Fat people eat fattening food. It's a cruel cycle that I can't escape. In a perfect world my house would be limited to healthy foods in minimum quantities, so I could "overeat" without doing any real damage. As much as I beg and plead for healthier options, there is only so much that my parents can do set in their ways of over 50 years. I'm not going to even go into the fact that I should be old enough to move out... it's not plausible at this point in my life.

Alright, let me get to the results. After a month of walking an hour a day, at an admittedly slow speed, 5 days a week, with 10 minutes of 2lb weights thrown in during each workout... the month resulted in 190lbs. (UPDATE: 186lbs immediately after my period, which will be the number I use to compare.)

Now I'm not one for excuses, but I'm going to explain how I think these results occurred. I gained 15lbs between October and the end of December putting me in the 195 bracket. I exercised for a month dropping down to 190lbs. However, the results aren't even the most accurate because it was the day before I got my period and I weighed in at the end of the day, partially because my sleep schedule has been off again. Therefore you can see how these results are inconclusive.

With that being said, I know I can't continue my lazy lifestyle. I can't continue to start and stop exercising again because a yo-yo diet does too much damage on me emotionally. All those months and years wasted on self pity aren't worth the meager 6 or so months of hard work that it takes to get it off.

I'm not going to start being happy with myself until I get down to 170lbs. This number represents where I could have been last year if I didn't give up exercising at 173. It's only 20 lbs away and I have no doubt that I can get there in 2 months.

Phase 2 will be double time. Instead of walking for an hour 5 days a week, I'm going to bring it up to 2 hrs. Walks will now be at a minimum speed of 3.0 mph with 5% incline. The walks will continue to have 10 minutes of 2lb weights. I'm also going to start tracking my food intake at livestrong.com/thedailyplate. I need to be more conscious of what I'm putting in m body and this is the only solution. As for how long this double time phase will last, I don't want to give up, so I'm not going to set a time frame. I probably won't end up weighing myself again until the end of this phase for the same reason.

Phase 1: Walk 5x a Week - Week 4

I'm so proud of myself! Four weeks have gone by and I didn't miss a day of my program. This last week I even exercised 5 days straight! I'm wondering if I should bank my last 2 days or just keep exercising? In the past, I've overworked myself and ended up quitting so maybe I'll err on the side of caution.

Tomorrow I'm going to weigh and measure myself. Even though I've been doing so well with exercising, I'm afraid that knowing my weight might cause me to jinx myself. At the same time I want to know where I stand and how I am progressing. I'll just have to remember a month of fatty foods means I should be happy with even maintaining what I was prior to Dec 1st. Although I'm going to say I hope the scale says 178 or less. I'd be thrilled then!

Week 4: 5 1hr workouts, walking 16.63mi, @ 18'30"mi, burning 2292cal

My hour usually consists of:

5 min 2.6mi
5 min 2.7
5 min 2.8
5 min 2.9
20 min 3.0 (10min of 2lb weights.)
5 min 2.9
5 min 2.8
5 min 2.7
5 min 2.6

RESULTS ADDED TOMORROW...

Phase 1: Walk 5x a Week - Week 2 & Week 3

Junk food is slowly but surely disappearing from my house. I'm going to say by the end of week 3, the house should be cleared of it completely. (Yep, It's gone!) With that being said, I'm not going to bother weighing myself or measuring myself until the end of week 4. I'm considering Phase 1 my pre-exercise & diet phase because it doesn't involve any strenuous work and will probably result in minimum weight loss if any.

However, this Phase is not a useless phase as it provides me with a schedule, the rebuilding of a better metabolism, and strengthening of my muscles. Mentally and emotionally it will provide me with patience and endurance.

RESULTS

Week 1: 5 1hr workouts, walking 15.53mi, @ 19'26"mi, burning 2141cal
Week 2: 5 1hr workouts, walking 16.05mi, @ 18'51"mi, burning 2212cal
Week 3: 5 1hr workouts, walking 15.99mi, @ 18'54"mi, burning 2204cal

I would have expected all of the numbers to improve but it's not that big of a deal to me. During Week 3, I tried to resist eating whenever I was bored. Now that the junk food is out of the house, I've been snacking on Special K Delightfully Chocolate Cereal. It's just as satisfying as any other type of chocolate too.


My hour usually consists of:

5 min 2.5mi
5 min 2.6
5 min 2.7
5 min 2.8
5 min 2.9
10 min 3.0 with 2lb weights.
5 min 2.9
5 min 2.8
5 min 2.7
5 min 2.6
5 min 2.5


Right now I'm sick with an unrelenting cold, so I have a feeling that I am not going to start this week off strong. No matter what though, I'll make sure to end the week with my 5hrs accomplished, even if I have to bang it out all in one day. I'll be sure to log-in next Sunday with results.