100g/day day 2

Todays weight: 89.2kg

Yesterday:

Units of protein: 1
500g vegetables: no
Olive oil: none
Bad foods: quite a bit

So not a good day yesterday

A very good reason to lose weight

My cousin. He's about 75 years old, and slowly dying. I'm not too sure how long he's got, months, years who knows? I'm not close to him, but he's been in my life since I can remember, and we shared an interest in photograhpy. I want to go to his funeral, and what I do know is I will not be wearing jeans at his funeral. Unfortunately jeans are all I can wear at the moment, so my day has come when there is an unusual reason to lose weight.

Back to losing weight.

I want to lose 100g a day, for as long as possible, as before. Today I weighed in at 89.2kg, which is high but I'm sure as I start losing weight again, my body will empty out and that will reduce quickly. I want to check in daily with details of the previous eating: good/bad/neither with how many units of protein I had, how much olive oil I had (none indicates I've eaten poorly) and whether I had my usual vegetables. Also my weight.

100g day 5

Yesterday was better than the day before, however I still managed to have a coffee and slice, two days in a row! Even so, I think I ate less than my body used up, which means that I would have lost weight. However I gained a bit of weight today which means that my weight has gone up to 86.9kg, nothing to worry about (yet).

100g day 4

If there was any day that shouldn't have worked out the way it should, yesterday was it. Breakfast was good, then I decided that because I had gone below a kilogram boundary I was allowed a coffee and slice. So much for my 16 days without spending money on food! I didn't think that it would only last about 3 days. So that was done, then I felt tired because of all of the carbohydrates and decided to have a sleep. Sleep reduces my appetite, which is good because I didn't have as much as I should have of protein. In the evening, I had some olive oil, because I was hungry again. I did manage to have some veges at least.

Weight today: 86.7kg, on track.

100g day 3

It's early days yet but things are working well. Yesterday I didn't feel any strong urges to eat heaps in the evening, hopefully my system has corrected itself and my appetite has reduced as I eat less carbohydrates. I'm losing weight, today my weight is 86.9kg. I feel good about the whole weight loss thing but I'm starting to think that a 'treat' is due, how long can I keep this up?

100g day 2

Yesterday went well, I had Special K for breakfast, veges and whey powder for lunch and dinner, together with some olive oil and a few other things. In the evening I got quite hungry and ended up having some cheese, quite a bit actually. I'll have to look at that, maybe a tomato can fill me up, but they are expensive.

Today I had my first weigh in for about 2 weeks, and I weighed 87.1kg. That was about what I expected, so I've got 21.1kg to lose, and I'll see how long I can manage at 100g a day. Usually I get sick of the whole losing weight thing and then my weight then increases or at least stops reducing.

The whole giving money to my workmate is a good idea - the maximum weight I can be drops by 100g a day from now on, each day I am over that I have to pay her $1. I've had to pay her about $30 so far, more than I'd like but it's equal to about 2 Weight Watchers meetings, however of course with Weight Watchers you pay for the meetings you've missed (crazy!).

The possible earliest goal date if I am good is 23rd November, of course I won't make it at that date but I can dream, can't I? I still need my rewards, I need either a coffee and a slice or a McDonalds burger combo every kilogram I lose, plus when I go from lowest weight in x years to lowest weight in x+1 years, I get a reward as well! That means about 32 reward meals, in about 6-9 months, not a large amount I guess. I just need to have sweet and fatty food once in a while.

Another disincentive to gain weight: I've been thinking about a major "fine" if I go over goal plus a certain amount. In other words, if I am 25kg above goal weight, I give the accountable person $50. As I lose weight, the 25kg decreases. Basically, I'm trying to not gain. My accountable person is looking for another job, so she has agreed to continue helping me out with this when she changes jobs, which is a relief.

How I feel about 100g a day: good again.

100g day 1

Yesterday I bought 7kg of frozen veges, so the longest I can go without buying food is 14 days, it'll be interesting to see if I can make that. Hopefully yes, if I am organised. I'll try posting daily, for no other reason than I feel like doing so, maybe I'll stop that, maybe I won't.

I hopefully have all the food I need to lose weight. I didn't weigh myself this morning because yesterday I ate far too much, sort of a last day binge, if you will. When this period ends I really, really don't want a binge before I start the next period, the next day hopefully.

How I feel about 100g a day: good.

100g a day trial

I paused the whole weight loss thing for the last 2 weeks, I'm not exactly sure why but after Easter I decided to take a break and now I'm ready to get started again. I want to see how long I can lose 100 grams a day, not an unreasonable amount, using the whole money system as a motivation as well. Today is the last day for buying food as long as I can manage, maybe 15 days depending on how much spare space my freezer has.

I'll try to post here every 3-4 days or so with an update on how I'm going.

21kg to go

I seem to be losing and gaining a few kilograms over and over again, my recent gain happened around the time of both my birthday and Becky's birthday eight days later. So that's gone, now I can get into the weight that was put on months ago.

The system with giving money to my workmate when I am over a limit seems to be working well, I am pretty sure that I would have put on weight because of the birthdays, although I have paid her about $20 so far, the motivation of wanting to stop that has made me lose weight. I think that this is the best system so far, in the last week it really has meant that I have lost weight.

How long can I go without buying any food? Everytime I enter a store I am at risk of making a poor food choice. Simple solution: delay the food buying process as long as possible. The limit really seems to be how many kilograms of frozen vegetables I can put in the freezer, probably 7 or 8, that means about 15 days. After Easter, I'll give it a try.

Birthday gain and new weight loss help

Last Wednesday I had my 44th birthday. It went well, I had an enjoyable day and as would be expected, I ate more than I usually do. That's fine. I usually don't put on much weight on my birthday (Christmas is different - I usually add just under a kilogram). I'm losing that gain now, there aren't any problems with that.

I have asked a workmate if she could help me with my motivation for losing weight. It's quite obvious that the camera in itself is not enough motivation - it's too far away. I'll go back to what has worked in the past - paying someone when I do not live up to weight loss expectations. I've tried this in the past - using someone else on the Internet, but this time I'll use the support of someone in real life, someone who I've actually met and can talk to.

The plan is simple - pay her money each time my weight goes above a line on my weight graph. At the moment, the graph drops by 50 grams each day, not a lot I'd admit, but I want to start with an easy loss then speed things up later on. Because of the birthday gain, I am giving her money, but that's ok, the maximum I'll ever give her is $7 a week, about the cost of a Big Mac combo. My weighings should be under the line in about 3-4 days.

As for an update for saving for the camera here is what I have so far:

Christmas 2006
Dad owes me $25

Christmas 2007
Dad owes me $25
Becky owes me $30

Birthday 2007
Becky owes me $20

Birthday 2008
My brother owes me $64
Cash from various sources $70 (I must quickly convert to vouchers otherwise I'll end up spending it)
Dad owes me $25

Bets I've won $13
Weight loss paymenths $100
Mall voucher $50

Which totals $422, the camera costs (without warranty $545) so I need to save about $3 a week. Easy.

Protein, protein, protein

It is no secret that protein can control my appetite, I've known about that for years. What is difficult however is actually taking it, I'm sure that I could quite easily exist on 20g of protein a day. I've never been a big meat eater, and usually have to remind myself to eat it.

Given that I'm trying to lose weight, I've decided to try this routine:

3 units (20g) of protein a day

Breakfast: Special K and an egg (yes, Special K is full of sugar but it's about the only breakfast cereal that I like that has lots of protein in it)

Lunch: some type of fish

Dinner: whey powder

Cost is an issue, whey powder is expensive but it's easier than fish to eat. Protein is the most expensive thing about being on a diet, and I'm trying to stick to a budget. $20-$25 a week on protein is a lot of money, I'm hoping when I finish this diet I can go below $60 and my average will slowly drop to that value.

I'll try that for a while and see what happens. Also, I've decided to reduce my carbohydrates and see how that goes. If you've read the previous post, you'll be disappointed that I've pretty much not gotten into that scheme, but I think I'll try the protein first and see how that goes.

Another blowout

Yesterday I had another carb-fest, totally uncontrollable and I just ate too much rubbish. I don't really know why that happened, of course my brain is telling me to eat more but why so much craving? Who knows.

I'll recover in a few days but I really, really want to get to goal. So I decided that it's back to negative rewards if I put on weight. I've tried the weight loss buddy in the past, but that wasn't the best solution I've found, because what happens if they disappear? I gain weight.

I'll go back to handing out money to whoever wants it, leaving it on public seats, on fences, in the library, wherever I am and want to give the money away.

However, the rules are as follows:

• I weigh myself daily (as I have done for years, on and off)
  
• If I weigh more than what I have previously chosen as a maximum limit then I give away $1 each day
  
• The maximum limit gets changed when I see fit, allowing for fluctuations of weight, it can go down but not up
  
• I can't save up payments, the maximum I can give must be $2
  

We'll see how that goes. As for previously going low carb, that was going well, but I don't know what to do about whether to stay on it or not. I miss fruit but I'm just not sure what to do.

The maximum limit starts at 86kg, 20kg above goal.

Went swimming

Yesterday I went swimming, the first time in probably 6 months. Many overweight people have issues going swimming, myself included. I want to be thin and go swimming! That's it really. I doubt that women will stare at me or anything, I just want to show off my slim body. Anyway, I decided that I'd reward myself by having a swim every kilogram I lose. The swimming pool was really hot, and I was really tired afterwards, hopefully that will stop when I've lost 20kg of insulation.

I haven't been on a hydroslide for about 5 years, so I was thinking of treating myself when I reach 67kg, 1kg over goal. The reason why I chose that weight was because whenever I go swimming, I always think about my weight. I want to go on the hydroslide when I don't think I wish I was slim right now.

That made me think that maybe I should have more rewards, obviously costing money but not related to eating. Ideally about 5 over the whole period. In terms of the camera, I really couldn't decide whether to buy the extended warranty or not, so I just tossed a coin, and it came up not buy, so that's $250 nearer to goal. The price will probably drop another $50 or so as well.

One weight related problem that I've got is my legs. In the morning my legs can really ache, requiring me to stretch them a lot to get them feeling right. I worked out that it's likely caused by my weight, since when I carry my laptop the problem is more likely. Strangely, it's not always both legs. That's one problem I'll be glad to say goodbye to.

Sudden weight loss

As the graph above shows, in the last 4 days I have lost nearly 3kg. Of course, almost all of that is not fat, my recent binge probably was at least half of it, plus other things such as water throughout my body. Anyway, I was concerned that I was losing weight too fast, so I decided to buy the salami and olives as a way of slowing down my weight loss. I'm in no hurry, so I can take it gently and not rush things.

Because of this, my new plan is to each Monday buy additional food equal to any loss greater than 1kg. It's an arbitrary value, sure but I've got to start somewhere. The additional foods are likely to be olives, salami and nuts. Who knows how long this will last, this quick weight loss, but I don't want it hurting my body.

I guess I'm in the 'honeymoon phase' of the diet. Things are going well. I'm having cravings though, hopefully they'll go away after a few weeks.

As for the camera, I'm not sure whether to buy one with an extended warranty or not. Not doing so means I'll be needing to save $250 less for the camera. However, I can afford the extended warranty, but I can't afford a new camera if it should fail completely a year or so after I buy it. What I'll just do is think it over for the next 7 months, but I won't buy mall vouchers as planned. That means that I may have a financial crisis and use up my savings for other things. Anyway, I'll start saving as planned, just won't buy vouchers.

Another trip to the supermarket today, I bought diet soft drink because I just missed having something sweet.

Coffee $5 7g over 7 days = 1g a day
Diet soft drink $1.37
Peanuts $3.30 145g over 10 days = 15g a day
Total $9.87, plus $44.57 = $54.44

Tuesday
Coffee 5 of 7 1g
Milk 5 of 7 7g
Frozen veges 2 of 2 20g
Salami 2 of 2 4g
Olives 2 of 5 6g
Coffee 1 of 7 1g
Peanuts 1 of 10 15g
total 54g

Short update

In this post I'll just update my spending and carbohydrates. Rather than measuring every day what I eat, I just record the carbohydrates on what I buy. I then just divide that amount by how many days it'll last, and that's a simple estimate on what I'm eating that day.

Food spending so far:
Friday's trip to the supermarket
Tuna $11.40
Coffee $5.19
Milk $1.89
Cheese $2.89
Frozen Veges $8.70
Total $30.07

Carbohydrates
Tuna 6.4g in 4 days = 2g a day
Cheese 2.5 in 3 days = 1g a day
Coffee 7.6g in 7 days = 1g a day
Frozen veges 40g in 4 days = 10g a day
Milk 49g in 7 days = 7g a day

Friday
Tuna 1 of 4 2g
Cheese 1 of 3 1g
Coffee 1 of 7 1g
Frozen veges 1 of 4 10g
Milk 1 of 7 7g
Whey powder 2g
Total 23g

Saturday
Tuna 2 of 4 2g
Cheese 2 of 3 1g
Coffee 2 of 7 1g
Frozen veges 2 of 4 10g
Milk 2 of 7 7g
Whey powder 2g
Total 23g

Sunday
Tuna 3 of 4 2g
Cheese 3 of 3 1g
Coffee 3 of 7 1g
Frozen veges 3 of 4 10g
Milk 3 of 7 7g
Whey powder 2g
Total 23g

Monday - another trip to the supermarket
Frozen veges 5.00, 40g in 2 days
Salami 4.50, 8g in 2 days
Olives 4.00, 27g in 5 days
total so far = $14.50 + 30.07 = $44.57

Carbohydrates
Tuna 4 of 4 2g
Coffee 4 of 7 1g
Frozen veges 4 of 4 10g
Milk 4 of 7 7g
Frozen veges 1 of 2 20g
Salami 1 of 2 4g
Olives 1 of 5 6g
Total 50g

So the carbohydrates are 23, 23, 23, 50g

Cravings and maybe reward meals are a bad idea

The last 3 days have shown that having a high carbohydrate reward is just not a good idea for me, it stimulates my appetite and results in cravings and eating lots of food that I didn't expect to eat that day. I've got 20kg to lose, about $400 to save for the camera, so every kilogram lost I'll just get a $20 voucher from the mall that I expect to buy the camera from. I'll miss rewards, but they just don't seem to work for me.

As for how many grams of carbohydrates to consume each day, that's undecided yet, but almost all of it should come from veges. I also want to post spending (keeping to the $60 a week budget) and grams of carbohyrates eaten, starting today.

Weight gain then loss again

Graph is since Jan 1st

The last couple of months have been rather non eventful for me in terms of weight loss, basically I gained a few kilograms, then I had the whole Christmas/New Year thing, then I lost again. I'm still not back to where I was a few months ago, but that will happen in 2-3 weeks I guess. Today I had my reward meal due to me losing a kilogram since my recent gain, I've been yoyoing a few kilograms recently but now I seem to be back into the whole weight loss thing.

The graph above shows my weight loss since New Years day, I want constant loss, the rate is unimportant, I just don't want to gain.

As for the money towards the camera, here is the update so far:

Christmas 2006
Dad owes me $25

Christmas 2007
Dad owes me $25
Becky owes me $30

Birthday 2007
Becky owes me $20

Birthday 2008
Becky will owe me $40
Becky's mother will probably give $100
Dad $25

Bets I've won $13
Weight loss paymenths $100
Mall voucher $50
Total so far: $428
Camera and extended warranty $880

Which means that I need to save up $452 over more than 8 months, quite achievable.

Day 1 of continuous weight loss and photo diary

January 1st. I'm am sure that there are millions of people around the world who are starting their diet today, my goal is for continuous weight loss for as long as possible. That means in reality, until my birthday on February 20th, 51 days away. I have actually been losing weight since Christmas, so that is included in the mix as well. I'll be happy with a month, I've achieved that before.

I also want to take one photo each day to record my weight loss, that will hopefully reinforce the idea that I want to get a camera so I can enjoy photography more.