613....(well not really but I don't have the heart to recalculate right now)...(giant WHOOSH! is around the corner, right?)....

I'm keeping a food journal like a proper dieter and still not a fan of the task. I have one week under my belt and no grand revealations. Interestingly, my sweet tooth has been delightfully quiet lately.

I've drifted away from what I thought were key parts of my plan. The biggest one is I haven't been attempting any fasts lately. After last couple of longer ones, I just felt kind of weird and bit woozy. I had intended to continue with shorter fasts but as I've said I just drifted a way from it and wanted to have some breakfast instead. Although, now I've moved on to just having some coffee with milk and sugar. The next one is I haven't been successfully balancing all of my carbs and protein.

Definitely a bit diet fatigued. This is a long haul and the benefits should be worth it. Still trying to tweak things enough to get the scale moving in the right direction again.

Exercise
Calorie Deficit

612...

One thing I can measure that has shown improvement is my bike ride time. Each evening, I leave at sunset and do the same loop. I need to measure how long the loop is but I believe it is about 2.5 miles. I have been able to shave about 3 minutes off of my time. So it takes me 8.75 minutes instead of 11.5. Here's the kicker. My fast times are based on whether or not I've had my powdered beet juice to drink. Supposedly it increases the body's nitric oxide. The difference is really surprising. I'm going to see if I can learn more about it. I take the powdered beet juice because I know that beet juice is suppose to have beneficial effect on blood pressure. For a while, I tried drinking beet juice itself but I didn't like the taste. The powdered beet juice is cherry flavored that I find to be tasty.

Exercise
Calorie Deficit

611...

I've been a bottomless pit all day. Thought I was doing okay but just figured out I am over calories for the day.

Exercise
Calorie Overage

610...

Womp womp...thought my evening bike ride route was at least 2.5 miles and possibly 3 miles. It is 1.4 miles. I bike 8-9 miles per hour. Although, I do go faster at the tail end. I pass a speed detection monitor and it usually shows 10-11 mph.

So, I made a tactical error at the grocery. Rather a better way to put it, is I had a terrible impulse purchase. I bought a cookie sandwich. Ya know, two large chocolate chip cookies with frosting in the middle. Oh my! I've eaten all of my calories already and started my fast. However, I would really like to eat my cookie sandwich as well. It's points like this where my program fails. I seem to have extreme difficulty in telling myself 'NO' or at least 'not right now" and stopping my impulsive actions. It doesn't help that I drool when I think about it. I managed to put it out of sight. Hopefully, I will stop thinking about it soon.

Exercise
Calorie Deficit

609...

Successfully completed a 17 hour fast and promptly ate my cookie sandwich. It was tasty but an awful choice for a late lunch. I still eked out a calorie deficit. I also found a calculator by the NIH that tells how many calories you should be eating to lose weight. It is spot on with the calculations I have. Still need working the program and waiting for the results to roll in. The scale did pop lower this morning for the first time in ages. Perhaps the waiting period is coming to an end.

Exercise
Calorie Deficit

608...

I haven't been able to bike ride the past couple of days because of the cold and snow. It's so early for snow! We tied the cold record today and should break tomorrow's long stand record for cold. I still got my three walks in and went to the rec center today.

So last night, I couldn't sleep because I was cold and hungry. I got up to turn the heat on and have a snack. The way I ate my snack was alarming. It was like I couldn't possibly eat fast enough. It was after midnight so I put it against today's calorie count. Unfortunately, I was over.

Exercise
Calorie Overage

607....

Well I should be done eating today but I still feel hungry. Let's see if I can tell myself 'no', shall we?

Exercise
Calorie Deficit

606....

It was tough but I made it through. I only had 350 calories left for dinner. There are a surprising number of fast food options available for that calorie level. My exercise got all bunched up at the end of the day. I really don't like that. So within the span of a couple of hours I need to do two walks, visit the rec center and take my bike ride with only a little rest in between. Why not just exercise for longer you ask? Well, the issues I have with fatigue seem to get worse if I try to exercise in one long session. All told, I got about 95 minutes of exercise today.

Exercise
Calorie Deficit

605...

Trying to keep it to the same calorie level as last week or lower and hoping that will be enough.

Exercise
Calorie Deficit

604....

The scale was promising this morning and matched my posted loss. This is the first time in a long time I've seen it on weigh-in day. I have seen it during the week here and there but my weight has been popping up on weigh-in day. Hoping going back to the rec center is making a difference.

I am on travel this week to get my new leg braces. Tomorrow is the big day!

Rest
Calorie Deficit

603....

Today was a great day! My braces are fantastic and really challenging. I have a lot to learn about how to fully use them. In particular, many of the things I have been doing to compensate for my entire life are the exact opposite of what I need to do to use these braces. As a result, I feel a bit intimidated by them. Going back tomorrow to learn more.

Food wise there are so many yummy places to eat here. I was able to stay on track though. I even bought a favorite treat but set it aside until tomorrow. I was out of calories for today.

Exercise
Calorie Deficit

602....

Another great day with PT. Did a lot of things I never would without the braces. I feel really excited in what they can do. There's a lot more work ahead. The PT showed where I have other weaknesses in my body that need to be strengthened to get the full benefit of the braces.. Yesterday's focus was the basics. Today was strength and balance Tomorrow should be the most exciting day of all- going to work on impact activities.

Food was not so great today. Breakfast was bigger than usual and had a knock on effect for the rest of the day. Tried to balance with dinner but the restaurant messed up. I was suppose to get grilled shrimp to accompany my salad but received coconut shrimp. It was take away so I didn't realize it until I was back at the hotel.

Exercise
Calorie Overage

Thanks! I definitely gave it my all!

Today was the best day of all! It was running and jumping; things I literally haven't been able to do in decades. Unfortunately, I crashed (and bled- only a little) on my first jump attempt. Well worth it. Truly exhilarating! Although this week I have traded one set of pain for another. It was a good trade though from permanent pain to temporary pain. It is so strange not to have the near constant pain in my ankles and feet. I stop to think every once in a while because something feels so off. The thing that is so off is such a good thing, The usual pain is missing. A wholly mind bending experience. Now to continue to work to become the person these braces can make me be.

In general, I have accepted my weight for what it is. However, it was really eye opening to what a hindrance it is for activities like I was doing today. Frankly, my exuberance was accompanied by a feeling of shame for not treating my body better. On a better path now though!

Exercise
Calories- not sure yet, tried to keep it all in check

600...

So, I never finished my calorie tally yesterday but I was likely over. Today was the last day of PT and, boy, are my legs feeling it. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure I use my braces correctly. I've been using the word braces which is a bit of a misnomer. These are actually devices. They activate to return energy to my step as well as protect my deficient joints (ankles). I'll need to find a skilled physical therapist who is willing to partner with the device designer to help me develop the muscle to get the full benefit. It takes a minimum of three months to get there. So much for my daydreams of an immediate full benefit- LOL.

Tomorrow is a fun day and no appointments scheduled. I head home on Saturday. I am really looking forward to seeing how these perform during my everyday activities. I think the thing that surprised me the most this week is how slow I move and how hard it is for me to move faster. It is very frustrating and I feel like it ties into my other metabolic issues. I forgot to take on one of my supplements this morning and it made a huge difference during PT. Much more of a difference than I thought it would.

Exercise
Calorie Overage

599...or so I'd like to think. I am planning on recalculating at the end of the month but clearly, I don't really want to. I'd rather be losing on schedule but that's not realistic at the moment.

My devices felt much better today since my legs have started to recover from the intense PT. Had a great day playing tourist. I also had to run one more errand related to my devices. I was worried traffic would be awful and was happy it turned out not to be too bad. I head home tomorrow and have a mid-afternoon flight. No rushing around in the morning for me or getting up absurdly early. The older I get the harder it is to get up very early.

So calorie wise for the last six days, I've had two great days, two days within limits, and two high days. I think it amounts to UJUDD, unintentional up-day/down day- LOL. Hope it turns into a loss on the scale. If so, I'll likely not see it until a week from Sunday. Usually, I am up right after travel.

Exercise
Calorie Deficit