Originally Posted by
Machka
16 weeks ago I embarked on a mission to lose some weight. When I started, I didn't have a set number in mind, but along the way I created a few little goals.
First up was to fit into my Ground Effects cycling jacket again. I accomplished that quite a few weeks ago and have been wearing it comfortably since.
Next was to get back into a "normal" BMI range. I was just up into the "overweight" range when I started. So I accomplished that a few weeks ago.
Then I had a two-option goal ... either lose as much weight as I could on a net 1250 cal diet by mid-June or lose a total of 15 kg. Whichever came first.
Today, I have successfully lost 15 kg (33 lbs) in 16 weeks.
I am taking a break from the diet side of things ... still planning to keep up the exercise ... for the next month-ish. And then I'll reassess the situation and decide what I want to do next.
One of the features of MyFitnessPal is that when you close your food diary for the day, a message pops up telling you that if everyday were like today, you'd weight ____ in 5 weeks. Obviously each day is different, every day is not going to be like today, so the number they give you has a good chance of being inaccurate, but the thing it did for me was to suggest that perhaps I could get down to a weight last seen in about 2007. So we'll see. Maybe I will!
And then, mid-June ... I went on holidays.
While I was gone, I ate whatever I wanted to eat, and lots of it. But I also exercised a whole lot. In 3 weeks, I cycled about 390 km, including riding a century one day (161 km = 100 miles). I walked about 64 km, including a 9.5 km hike to the top of a mountain. And I went sea kayaking!
Losing the weight prior to going on holiday allowed me to do those things much more easily than I would have if I had not lost the weight.
I hoped I would not gain more than 5 kg, and I estimated that I might gain 2.5 kg, which would be all right.
The day after I arrived home, I had gained 2.5 kg, but the next day I dropped 0.5 kg, and the following day I dropped 0.6 kg ... so I think some of that was flight-induced water retention. By the end of the first week back, I was only 0.5 kg higher than I had been before the holiday, and by the end of the second week I was back to where I left off.
I've got a new goal now ... the end of September. I'll reassess the situation then.
But going on holiday and taking a break from calorie counting was OK. It did probably help that I was very active ... and that I got right back into it when I returned.
BTW ... I made a few interesting discoveries when I was on holiday ...
1) We don't have good donuts in Australia, so one of the things I enjoy when I go to Canada is eating donuts. The first one I had was a Krispy Kreme donut, and WOW was it ever sweet!! Like sickly sweet. I know on other occasions, I've packed away a whole pile of them and thought nothing of it ... this time I could only manage 2. But the Tim Hortons donuts were really good ... as always.
2) There are no dill pickle potato chips in Australia, so that's another thing I go for when I get to Canada. But this time, I could barely finish the bag because while I like the flavour, they were so incredibly salty. Normally, I might go through 2 or 3 bags, this time I ate the one bag and that was it.
In the 4 months prior to this trip, I have faithfully stuck to CI<CO, and in order to do that, I cut out most (but definitely not all) sweet treats. I also did not touch potato chips in all that time because they tend to be a trigger food for me. Generally speaking, I ate a reasonably healthy diet ....... and it seems to have changed my taste palate. While on holiday, I found myself craving veggies of all things!!
Update ... 1 month after returning home, I'm down 2 more kg. So in total, I've lost 17 kg so far.
