Accountability through public posting

 

Well, Noom tells me I'm now on day 33 of my journey here trying to be more like Steve Rogers and less like Fred Dukes ('lil Marvel insider joke for you).  

Here's how you know I was doing all the wrong things:  it's been less than 40 days and I'm down about 27 pounds.  Now, keep in mind, I'm *huge* even when I'm thinner.  I'm 6'5" and barrel chested.  I am a scaled up human.  So when I do the absolute bare minimum of, like, eating not-crap, I lose weight.  I'm not at all surprised.  This is my third go-round at the weight loss thing.

So far, I'm maintaining my walking schedule - 6 days per week, at two miles per walk - or more.  I'm doing the elliptical 3-4 days per week of 34 minutes (it usually works out to 3.4 miles per session).  I mix up which routine I'm doing - flat, hills, random, etc...  

What I am not doing is adding in the gym quite yet.  I want to hit my target weight before I start adding muscle mass, which just throws me off if I'm going by numbers.

The big thing is that Noom sort of does what is advertised - something just plain calorie counting never did for me.  Yes, it's counting calories, but it's also telling me, as I eat, what I should and should not be eating.  Which seems like a real "no duh" sort of thing, but it's kinda not.  I wasn't necessarily eating a huge amount of food, but what I was eating just wasn't very balanced, especially toward the "high protein" end.  And while I don't think Noom advertises as much now as they do during the holidays - to get people to sign up as part of their New Years' Resolution - they do state that it can teach you what to eat.  

So, that's what I'm working on now.  Learning how to balance different kinds of food.  And, yes, it is absolutely tied to the High Protein and lots of veggies idea.  I rarely hit the Protein it wants me to hit - and did so yesterday only after eating a thin chicken breast at lunch and two chicken breasts at dinner.  

But, kids, it's working.  It doesn't mean I don't eat some rice or whatever - and the diet seems to love potatoes, which is great because I *love* potatoes.  It's considered a "green" food.  But I was eating a lot of, say, crackers and cheese, and now I can have *some* crackers and cheese.  (It likes cheese, doesn't love crackers, which I think is an orange food).

I'm not experiencing cravings, even though I know I'm eating less sugar.  I was fully expecting to want, like, a crate of Mike and Ike's.  But, no.  All I really know is when I'm hungry - not for anything in particular.  And protein helps that - it's just the trick of figuring out which protein.  If I'm hungry between lunch and dinner and need to get on the elliptical, I ain't grilling a hotdog.

Anyway - we're learning.  And so far things are working out.

I should note two things my medical contact told me.

1. I'm likely feeling better in my joints because of my changed diet more than my weight loss.  In general the past few years I had to get moving before the joint pain went away.  Now it's pretty much minimized.  Bad diets can cause inflammation, which - when you have arthritis, and I do - is where you get the discomfort.  Which, in turn, makes everything less appealing for moving around a lot.

But I expect taking some weight off didn't hurt.

2.  My weight loss will slow down now that I've hit a certain calorie intake amount, but it should keep going if I track my diet.  So it's not bad if it's not five pounds a week or whatever.  It's just the patience to stay on the path.  Which I plan to do.