steve, Author at FitnessFor.Us

December 5, 2019December 5, 2019

My zigzag weight loss plan

I’m still on the Noom weight loss program. It’s been 5 weeks.

However, something different happened this week: my weight went up.

Now, I know that weight loss, slow, healthy weight loss doesn’t happen in a line that heads straight down. There will be plateaus and even moves upward.

That knowledge makes it a little less disheartening. But it’s still a little disheartening.

After all, it was the Thanksgiving holiday, and I still ate well. I busted through my calorie budget a few days, but I always do that. I definitely did not overeat junk on Thanksgiving. In fact, my entree was a delicious butternut squash along with some mashed potatoes, green beans, and pomegranate salad, plus one almond flour roll and gravy. Dessert was baked pears. It was all delicious, and I did not feel stuffed at the end.

But my weight went up.

November 26, 2019March 6, 2020

Decluttering my life

I was at my partner’s house recently, and, while I’ve always noticed that she tends to be fairly minimal — buying smaller amounts of items that generally buy in bulk, and only owning two forks, for example — on this occasion we needed an AA battery for a new computer mouse. She did not have one.

Now, I cannot imagine not having an AA battery on hand. Or an AAA battery, for that matter.

But she didn’t have one. And we didn’t go out and get one, either. We did something else that did not involve using that mouse.

I want to be more like that.

November 25, 2019November 25, 2019

10 pounds in 4 weeks on Noom

I just finished my 4th week on the Noom program, and I’m down 10 pounds.

That’s pretty phenomenal.

And it’s not the result of starving myself. I was talking to my friend Lex the other day, and I said that exact thing — I don’t starve myself. If I’m hungry, I eat, even when it takes me over my calorie budget.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going hog wild and pig crazy! But that’s another part of Noom: changing habits.

Where I would previously have potato chips, I have carrots and hummus. Where I would previously have a grilled cheese sandwich, I have a Boca Burger on sprouted whole grain bread. Those are both better choices for my current fitness goals, because the foods I’m choosing now have a lower caloric density than my old choices (Green or Yellow on the Noom color scale), and, from a hunger standpoint, that is more satisfying than those old Red foods.

Plus, I like those new choices. They are foods I ate before, but now I just eat more of them.

November 25, 2019

Finding sobriety

I quit drinking a few months ago. In fact, August 27, 2019, was the last day I had a drink.

I’d tried to quit drinking for years. It’s not that my drinking was disrupting my life. It wasn’t. But the potential was there.

Sometimes I’d say or do stupid things when I was drunk, but that’s normal (right?), and all part of being a drinker, who occasionally drinks to excess.

I’d drive drunk. Not often, but there were nights when I drove home with one eye closed, wondering why I wasn’t being pulled over by the cops.

I abhor the fact that I engaged in drunk driving. Not from the social responsibility standpoint, but from a more selfish understanding that a DUI had the potential to severely impact my life to the point of crippling it, and I always felt stupid for putting myself in that position. But I did it anyway.

Neither the possibility of a DUI, nor doing stupid shit in public were what I disliked most about my drinking. Nope.

November 21, 2019November 25, 2019

How I am changing myself through Noom

I’ve noticed some positive changes in myself since starting the Noom program 3.5 weeks ago.

My weight is down. I can see it. 8 pounds, and I can see it with my shirt off.
My skin is softer, which is weird, because I noticed this last week, when it was freezing cold here in San Antonio, and usually that means dry skin for me. I’ve experienced softer skin before, and it was directly attributable to a change in diet — I was on a vegan cleanse — so I’m going to assume this change is due to my participation in Noom.
My meat consumption — almost none — is about the same, but I’m not afraid to eat it, because sometimes it’s a better choice (maybe). My sugar consumption is down. And I am focusing more on fruits and vegetables plus whole grains (even though many whole grains are Red foods in Noom).
My dietary choices are changing. Where I’d normally eat bread, I’m eating sweet potatoes. Where I’d normally eat gelato, I’m eating sorbet. Where I’d normally not eat greens, I’m putting frozen spinach into my meal.
My dietary habits are changing. I’m more present in my eating, consuming food only until I’m full. Where I’d normally eat a lot, I’m eating less.