Failures and Successes
Seems the harder I try, and the more I want to succeed, the harder my journey becomes. I faced temptations over the last week and succumbed to each and every one. I did pull myself back up each and every time, but I still am not proud of some of the things I’ve had these last few days. Most of last week went pretty well, until the weekend hit. I went out with a friend of mine on Friday. The main course was pretty good – all veggies and proteins. However, we shared a dessert and it was probably the richest, most decadent slice of cake I’ve had in years. It was absolutely fantastic! We DID share it, so I didn’t have all of the calories, but I knew it was something I shouldn’t have, and went for it anyway.
Saturday, I did great all day – eating light and keeping everything in check. Saturday evening, I went with some friends to see Iron Man. My friend recommended hitting a Bar-B-Que place before the movie and I thought it would be like Bandana’s or Super Smokers. Not the healthiest, but I could just get meats and veggies. Boy was I wrong. First, it was mostly BBQ sandwiches. Alright, so I got a bun, not TOO bad. The next problem was the “healthy” sides were unavailable – so I ended up getting mac and cheese and corn bread. Then I ate it all… every single bit. What’s worse: it didn’t taste good at all! If I was going to cheat, I sure wish I’d gotten something I actually enjoyed. Afterwards, we went to see Iron Man, and that just made the whole experience worth it! Great movie – highly recommend it to everyone.
Sunday – I’m back on track, 100%! I ate healthy, and even spread my meals out to several smaller meals. I spent most of the weekend working, so I really didn’t have time for exercise. It’s definitely something I need to work on.
So, this morning, I got on the scale, terrified at how my indiscretions were going to hurt me. I thought for sure I was going to see weight gained since my weight in last week. My estimate was about 313-314lbs, and it really scared me that I would put myself back that much. So, I stepped onto the scale, closed my eyes and didn’t want to look. Eventually I convinced myself that I would have to look, so I peered down, and saw it read 309.0! That’s a 2.8lb loss for this week!
I’m not sure how it happened, and I really don’t know how to explain it. I weighed myself last on Friday morning, and I was still plateauing right around 311.2, so I was already afraid of no loss at all. Adding on the crap I ate from over the weekend, I thought for sure I was going to gain. I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t the case at all.
So, what happened? Right now, I’ve got one theory I’m considering, but it could be completely wrong – I’m eating WAY too little. Everything I’ve read says that I should be having about 2000-2200 calories a day for safe, healthy weight loss. I’ve been aiming much lower than that – 1200-1500/day. Day’s 700-800 calories short of where everyone says I should be. So I guess the question is, should I raise my caloric intake to the recommended levels? It could be my body is in starvation mode and is fighting me left and right to hold on to whatever it gets. Giving it a little extra seems to have helped burn off a little extra. Please tell me your thoughts about this in the comments, I’m really curious to know what you all think.