Food: I’m getting pretty stable on food, I was –3% of my goal again this week and within my macro goals. I’m going to do one more week at this 1680 calorie mark and then take it down another 60, even if I don’t hit 205 lbs. Why? See “Measurements” below. I am also fairly impressed that I did so well on food this week considering that twice (Thursday and Friday) I changed up the menu fairly considerably, shifting big meals to later because of work and beef-stuffed cabbage rolls just take a long time to make. Due to the shifts, and veggies that are still good in the refrigerator, I also spent quite a bit of time Saturday evening re-planning the next two weeks of food, and adjusting for that shift in calorie goal. Regarding sodium, I was higher this week at +26% of goal, and cholesterol was basically the same at +48% of goal.
Exercise: Hmm. So, good news is that I met my stated goal from last week of maintaining doing 5x/week of cardio and 3x/week of weights. With nine weights sessions under my belt, it is the most consistent I’ve been on weight training for years. Which is kinda sad. But, good. But sad. Bad news is, of course, I still am not doing core exercises in the morning, but again, I noted last week that the goal for this week was to ensure I maintain doing weights, and worry later about adding something more in.
Sleep: I got less sleep on average this week, but that’s time in bed … regarding actual sleep, I think I slept better, and more. Hmm… looking at Apple’s “Health” application, no, that’s not the case. Total time in bed averaged 9hrs 49min, sleep 7hrs 16 min, while last week was 9hrs 36 min / 7hrs 23min. So, basically the same. BUT, I took fewer naps this week, so actual time in bed and asleep overnight was more this week.
Measurements: I think this one gets a straight face rather than a smile this week. Actually losing fat, and losing weight, is not a factor in my points, rather ensuring I record things is. So, I recorded, even though I really didn’t want to. The good news is that the week’s low puts me at finally breaking my last record on most weight lost in one go: In 2006, it took me 11 months to lose 18.5 lbs. On Wednesday this week, after 94 days (just over 3 months), I lost 18.7 lbs. So, that’s the good news this week.
The bad news (or neutral news) is that my bodyfat percentage didn’t budge this week, though nothing specifically went up with respect to body measurements. I really want to break through the 41″ waist measurement, since that’s tied with my minimum in 2019. I’m hopeful I will this coming week, but I’m also dreading not.
Weight, as you can see, has basically been stable this week. It dropped the first few days, but it’s oscillated around that average. So, if not losing weight is neutral, gaining is bad, and losing is good, this week would technically be “good,” but yet I feel like it was “bad.” I guess because I’m no longer losing as quickly as I want to be.
Points: Points this week were identical to last week. First week I think that I had that type of consistency. Basically, I did everything right with respect to what actions or recordings or whatever is worth whatever, but again not doing core exercises cost me points.
Looking Over the Week: So, let’s see. This week I maintained the progress I’ve made, no question about that. I reached a new goal with weight but fell back a bit. Did roughly the same on sleep, but I set a new few-year record on doing weights at goal level 3 weeks in a row. I didn’t make huge progress, nor as much progress as I wanted. But given the size of this grant proposal that was due Friday (not Thursday), that I even managed to maintain and do the workouts I’d planned, I would say, is good progress, and I should focus on that.
Looking Ahead 1 Week: Looking ahead for this coming week, I’d say I hope to make more progress, faster, on weight, progress on bodyfat percentage, sleep a bit more (I was less tired this week, so making progress there), maintain doing well on food, and exercise … exercise I hope will be more this coming week. I’m going to do another Apple Watch challenge with a friend, likely starting Monday, and it’d be nice to finally start to regularly get those core exercises in the morning in. I’d be happy with just 2. Happier with more.
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