Wednesday, January 23, 2008

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.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

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.

Monday, January 14, 2008

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

Friday, January 11, 2008

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.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

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.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

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.