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My life during quarantine and still losing weight with Noom … sort of

Like many other people, I am living life in virtual quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been going on for about 1.5 months officially.

I am in San Antonio, and we are pretty much opening back up tomorrow, but I’ll continue to live more safely, and that will involve staying home, not exercising as much as I used to, and doing a lot more cooking.

Oddly, during this period of inactivity and eating of what seems to be everything, I have continued to lose weight on Noom.

I used to play disc golf almost daily, easily getting in 10k-20k (sometimes more) steps daily. Now on a good day I get in maybe 8k steps.

I used to not eat a lot of ice cream and sweets. Now I am eating a lot more of that stuff.

However, I used to dine out frequently. I thought that before the COVID rules I was eating informedly and carefully most of the time, but maybe I am remembering incorrectly, because I am a little confounded by my continued weight loss.

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Living life 20 pounds lighter

I am not yet 20 pounds lighter from when I began the Noom Health and Wellness program. I’m only 15 pounds lighter since then.

However, I was hovering around 200 pounds just 6 months ago, and now I am in the 180 area.

What’s that feel like to me?

In a word, I feel healthier.

I can see how much my visceral fat — that’s the fat that covers the organs in the abdomen, and otherwise resides behind the abdominal muscles — has diminished. That stuff is gross, dangerous, and I gotta keep it away.

My blood pressure is better regulated. My readings went from a consistent 132/90 to 124/80. That’s huge, because it gets my doctor off my back about taking meds for my blood pressure, which is something I’ve resisted for many years.

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Sickness v. Fitness

I rarely get sick any more, but I’ve had a cold for a few days now. At least, I think it’s just a cold, I hope so.

Illness is bad enough, but when I’m sick and hanging at home, I tend to overeat. I mean, I eat everything in sight. So it’s a good thing that I don’t keep any really “bad” foods around the apartment.

I powered my way through the rest of my boxes of Post Shredded Wheat and Barbara’s Morning Oat Crunch cereals, both of which I love. I also polished off an older box of Nature’s Path Qi’a Superflakes – Cocoa Coconut, which is not that appealing to me, unless I’m sick, apparently.

That’s not to mention a pint of hummus and other comestibles lying about. Oh, and some delicious soup that my partner Tara made, that I think was supposed to be two servings, but I devoured in one.

I may also have bought and eaten a 3-pack of Magnum White ice cream bars last night. Okay, I did that. They were delicious.

In addition to eating a lot when I’m ill, I also tend not to be as active, and, despite the fact that I had a window of feeling well yesterday and managed to play some disc golf, that has held true. The cold, rainy weather hasn’t helped. My walking has fallen off dramatically.

Even though I’m overeating and not exercising, I’m okay. It’s all okay.

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Losing weight with Noom

After 6 weeks on the Noom weight loss program, I had hoped to be at my goal weight. But I’m not.

But let me tell you: I could not be happier with the program!

I’ll give you the numbers and let you decide. I started at 195.0. I am now, 6 weeks later, at 182.8

My goal, or, rather, the goal Noom set for me after my digital interview, was 181.3 after 6 weeks. I’m 1.5 pounds above that.

But I am down 12 pounds! That is 2 pounds per week, and that, as I recall from all my reading over the years on nutrition, health, and weight loss, is a good rate of loss for sustainable downsizing.

I’m ecstatic!

I’ve been trying to lose fat for the past few years, and I’ve failed. When I went below 190 after a couple weeks, I was pretty excited. When I went below 185, I was elated. When I popped back up a little, I was disappointed, but now that the first 6 weeks are over and I’m down 12(.2) pounds, I have a feeling of accomplishment.

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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.

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