Weight Loss Journal: The October Project

Earlier this week I sat down and began looking over some of my weight loss data. I wanted to get a closer look at my macro breakdown and see how it compared to my workout schedule. Has my weight not changed in the past six weeks due to something I’ve done wrong?

The more I went over the numbers the more obsessed I became with making the number on the scale move. Has my body undergone some sort of maintenance routine due to too few calories for the amount of exercise I am performing?

If all calories are equal and I’m theoretically eating at a deficit, shouldn’t I lose weight regardless of what I’m eating? Perhaps it is time to put a little more faith in the process and make a few adjustments.

I’ve declared the month of October to be the month where I will not step on the scale. I’ll judge progress solely on what I see in the mirror and how I feel. I’ll get back to taking progress photos and compare the start of the month to the end of the month.

To take things even farther, I’m going to increase my calories on workout days. Instead of eating 1,800 I’m going to try for between 2,200 and 2,400 with at least 180 grams of protein. Since I won’t be weighing in, I’m afraid I’ll balloon up and pack on 20 pounds before the month is out. This should teach me to trust the process (or I’ll have a bunch of weight to work off next month).

Part of this new process is going to include regular journal entries. I’ll be talking about what I’ve been eating, what I’ve done in terms of exercise, and any other tid-bits about the day that I find relevant.

Journal Entry for October 1, 2015

Being that I’m writing this in the past-tense, the day after, is already making the process a bit weird. With that said, yesterday was a Thursday and not a normal workout day for me. Well, not a normal workout day previously. For the remainder of October it will be the day that I meet with my personal trainer.

The workout itself was basically the same workout we did last week. A couple of the exercises were changed a bit but the biggest difference came in the way the exercises were performed. Instead of working intervals, where I competed against myself to do as many reps as possible in a short window, this time there was a strict rep count.

The session had a distinct strength feel about it. This made me feel very comfortable since it is what I like to do when I go to the gym, however, it was far less strenuous than my normal strength routines. Don’t get me wrong, some of the exercises were very hard, but I didn’t leave with that exhausted feeling I’m accustomed to.

According to my Fitbit, the caloric burn this time around was rather low. The more cardio intense first session burned an estimated 538 calories versus 382 this time around.

The day was kind of chaotic yesterday. I had 4 Eggs and 2 slices of Turkey Bacon for breakfast. I didn’t have lunch on time and wound up making myself a smoothie an hour before working out (361 Calories – 4.3g Fat | 44.5g Carbs | 39.8g Protein). I was a little worried about it staying down during exercise but I wound up being just fine. Dinner came late and consisted of 8oz of Salmon and 2 Cups of Broccoli. I had a couple of snacks throughout the day with were more carbs than protein.

My 40/40/20 Macro Split was off but I don’t feel horrible about it. I kept my carbs in check and consumed a decent amount of protein. Fats were high but eating whole eggs (not just egg whites) tends to do that.

It has only been a day since I’ve been on the scale but I’m curious. On September 28th I was at 240lbs (I almost had a heart attack at that read out) and was down to 236lbs on the 30th. I’m sure the high weigh-in was water retention (I drink a gallon per day) and I just picked the worst possible day to weigh myself.