I had three simple goals for the end of the summer: eat less and take breaks, run 5k in under 20 minutes, and practice kung fu three times a week.
I got a good handle on my diet, tracking everything meticulously for 9 weeks and then staying pretty true for the last few weeks (without the tracking). I’ve been fasting 2x per week and feeling pretty good. The only problem with tracking calories is that I can make allowances for shitty foods like bagels by eating less throughout the day. I plan on addressing that in the next couple of months.
As for my weight, I’m definitely down a few lbs but don’t have a reliable scale to check my numbers. I’ll remedy this in the next few days.
I failed to meet the 5k run goal or the kung fu goal since my training has been pretty erratic. I’ll keep trying to tackle these in my next cycle.
Catching up on posting. Here’s my summary from the LoseIt app:
Finished 372 calories under budget for the first time in a few weeks. Solid IF days on Monday and Friday, as well as more consistent workouts make it much easier to hit my target.
I’ve been lax in posting, not in executing Operation Slimdown. Here’s the week 7 summary from the LoseIt app:
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591 calories over budget this week, but had a Labor Day BBQ to contend with (Monday) so the rest of the week was basically playing catch up. I think I’m also overdoing the meals at the end of my fast - check out how close Tues and Fri are to the other days this week.
As always, my summary from the LoseIt app:
[picture to come]
I came in 533 calories over budget for the week, which isn’t bad considering it included a birthday extravaganza with a gigantic, home-built double chocolate layer cake that’s still living in my refrigerator. I also only had one day of fasting this week, which threw me off my game a little. I’m feeling pretty good.
Here’s my week 5 summary from the LoseIt app:
It was a rough week for training, but decent otherwise. I ended up 870 calories over the weekly budget this week which could have easily been remedied if I was able to work out more than twice. My quality was better this week too (no pizza!) and I’ll continue trying to keep it in check going forward.
Back on track for week four of Operation Slim Down. Here’s the graphical summary from the LoseIt app:
This week’s fasts were dinner to dinner Sunday to Monday and lunch to lunch Thursday to Friday. The quantity was really good this week, I was 1,840 calories under my budget, but the quality of my fuel wasn’t. The upcoming week will be all about quantity and quality (closer to paleo).
I was over my weekly caloric budget for the first time since starting Operation Slim Down. Here’s the graphical summary from the LoseIt app:
I fasted for 24 hours from dinner Sunday - dinner Monday and again from lunch Thursday to lunch Friday. I ended up 644 calories over budget and it’s all from a long ‘vacation’ weekend where I had pizza, a cheeseburger, ice cream and 2 (gasp!) beers. I was able to mitigate the damage by eating pretty clean for most of the day and having a throwaway meal on both Friday and Saturday night. I’ll get back on track this week and try to find a scale for a weigh in as well.
Two weeks in and feeling pretty good. I’m still logging my intake on the LoseIt app, which generates a handy chart of my caloric intake:
I fasted for 24 hours from dinner Sunday - dinner Monday and again from dinner Thursday to dinner Friday. Keeping in mind that the ‘budget’ line assumes a sufficient caloric deficit for each day, I’m allowed to go over on non-fast days. I came in 343 calories under my weekly budget this week despite a pretty loose weekend. I weighed in at 185 on the scale at my gym which is always heavy, so I’m probably approaching 180 right now.
Week one is in the books! I logged everything I ate on my LoseIt app and here are the results:
Monday & Friday were fast days (I only ate dinner) which accounts for the small intake. My fasts usually go from dinner to dinner, so I’ll stop eating at 8pm on Sunday and break my fast at 8pm Monday. It’s also important to note that the ‘budget’ line is assuming an aggressive caloric deficit, so even on Saturday, where I look WAY over budget, I still broke even (since my BMR is around 2400).
It’s alarming to log some foods and see how terrible they are. Example: a slice of birthday cake on Saturday carried as many calories as one full meal (and tons of sugar to boot).
I weighed in at 187lb on Sat, so I think I already shed a few lbs but I need to stay on task. I gotta find a reliable scale to keep checking my progress.
I was derailed by injuries this summer, so can’t check off any of those goals. I never completed a 5k run in under 20 min, didn’t get my kf practice in 3x/week, and didn’t clean up my diet so well. Since I knew I couldn’t train properly while injured, I sorta let the diet fall by the wayside which was totally the wrong attitude. For the remainder of August and September I’m going to remedy that.
Operation Slim Down is now in effect. I want to get to 175lb by October, which is a better weight for me than 190+ (where I am now). Here’s how I’m going to do it:
- Eat less and take breaks (intermittent fasting). I’ve tried the paleo thing a few times, but the only way I’ve ever successfully slimmed down is to carefully plan my meals and maintain a caloric deficit, by following the advice on Hussman Fitness. I’ll be shooting for about 1700-2000 calories per day and tracking everything I eat with a handy iPhone app called LoseIt. I’ll also plan on doing two 24hr fasts each week. Posting weekly summaries here will keep me honest.
- Run 5k in under 20 min. I’ll keep up the running and hopefully get faster as I get lighter. Injuries aside, this summer has been do disgustingly hot and not conducive to running outside.
- Practice kung fu 3x/week. This is still a stretch with my schedule, but I’ll shoot for it.
Related Link: I’m Sorry That I Got Fat, I Will Slim Down
