BrianB
Site Founder
Dr. B Centurion
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 5286
Joined: Aug. 2006
Location: Clearwater, Florida
Height: 5' 10"
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Posted: June 17 2008,11:18 |
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I was thinking a bit this morning about the first weigh in I ever had where I was worried (basically the Question 16 issue, but before the FAQ or Question 16 existed).
It happened what seems like ages ago now. In fact, the forums were only 5 days old at the time (and I had been on the diet for 19 days at the time -- yes, I started these forums back when I was only 2 weeks into a very long journey on the diet).
The first weigh in that got me a little worried was on Monday, 8/21/2006. While I didn't have a gain that day, it was my smallest loss up to that point (a 0.8 pound loss -- over a weekend), and it was disappointing.
Up to that point I had been losing weight very consistently and faster than I'd ever lost in my life. I was very encouraged and motivated. In the back of my mind however was the suspicion that, just like everything else I'd ever tried, this would work well for awhile, and then plateau out and not be enough progress to keep me engaged. At that time I had lost 30 pounds in 16 days (wow!) and honestly was expecting a "correction", but had those two sides of my brain battling for control. The logical/rational side of me expected a correction, but the tried-and-failed-too-many-times side of me was worried this was the beginning of the end.
Then, on the Wednesday, 8/23/2006 weigh in I must have had a whoosh because I was down 3.4 pounds from Monday and happy again. I was especially happy because at that point I was down to 333.0 pounds, having lost 34.4 pounds which meant I was already 1/5 of the way to my goal of losing 170 pounds. Being 1/5 of the way done toward losing 170 pounds, in less than a month, was pretty awesome. It's pretty tough to sit here now and imagine that I was ever happy to weigh 333 pounds. It seems like so long ago, yet only yesterday in some respects.
Then came the big downer. You'd never know it by reading my Friday, 8/25/2006 post but I was pretty devastated -- I was up a pound and struggling to understand why. Of course Question 16 didn't exist then, and we only had like 7 members at the time. Everyone did a great job trying to allay my concerns, but I really was worried that this was the beginning of the end. To come from such a high on Wednesday, to such a low on Friday, was really tough. Fortunately I was committed that if I was going to fail, it wouldn't be my fault -- it would be the diet's fault. From the outset I was 1000% committed to the plan that I was going to do everything letter perfect so that if I didn't succeed, I could bash the diet and say what a fraud it was, etc. I knew the only way I'd be able to be righteously indignant (if I failed) was if I knew in my heart that I had literally done everything they said to, 100% to the letter, with no deviation whatsoever. So I continued on.
Fortunately, Monday, 8/28/2006 was a good day and rewarded me for staying strict all weekend despite my Friday disappointment. The remainder of that week was pretty steady, posting a 2.4 pound loss Wednesday, and a 2 pound loss Friday. Things were fine and normal again.
Friday, 9/1/2006 I celebrated my first calendar month on the diet. Really Saturday the 2nd would have been 1 calendar month, but Friday was the last clinic day in that calendar month. Needless to say I was pretty happy with having lost 41.4 pounds in one month. Who am I kidding? I wasn't "pretty happy" -- I was "stupid happy" -- who wouldn't be? Of course I didn't expect that to be the case the following month -- I knew that at lot of that was "water weight" (what I'd now call "glycogen loss"), and was a one-time thing.
Tuesday, 9/5/2006 I actually posted a 2 pound gain. The clinic was closed Monday for a holiday, and my "no problem" attitude in my post was genuine. By that time I'd discovered that it was a good idea to keep rough track of your last BM so you knew if you were "holding onto" some extra weight. After a month or so on the diet, the reduced food volume really made the BM frequency sort of sporadic, and this can make the scale try to tell you bad things.
From that point things settled in to a nice steady rate of loss. I consistently lost 20+ pounds each month. I focused on the mini-goals (maybe more intently than I should have) and didn't fret the individual weigh-ins. I had slow days, and "up days" here and there throughout, but stayed 100% strict and the trend was a nice, happy, steady weight loss.
On Friday, 3/2/2007 after what seemed like forever, but also only a blink of an eye in some ways, I hit 200.0 even, putting me to the top of my clinic goal. My personal goal however was 197.4 because that would make an even 170 pounds. Honestly I'm a little surprised that my post that day wasn't a bit more festive given that I'd made it to my clinic goal, but I guess I still had my "eye on the prize" -- that being my goal which had not yet come.
Finally, on 3/14/2007 I weighed in below my personal goal, and made my mini-goal by 0.2 pounds. I think I weighed in really late that day and went in "dry" to make sure I made that last mini-goal. I declared maintenance that day. Honestly, part of my reason for "declaring" was to get rid of the mini-goals because it had gotten to the point that I was struggling to make each one, and being so close to the end I wanted to finish with a perfect record of never having missed one. Not that it matters so much if you miss them, but to have come that far and never missed one, I wanted to be able to "finish clean" so to speak (a good example of focusing on the stupid stuff).
Looking back at my very first diet sheet a couple things stand out. The first is my first waist measurement: 59 3/4 inches. I know I wore 60" waist pants, but seeing it in writing (and comparing it to my current 34/36 inch waist) is a little shocking.
I also really like my first diet sheet entry on Wednesday 8/2/2006. The morning I was driving to the clinic for my first injection I went through the drive through at McDonald's for a final naughty meal. That box on my diet sheet reads:
| Quote | B
McD BEC Bagel
McD Chix Bisc
McD Hash Brown
L
Protein Bar
1.8 oz. Pemican jerky
1.8 oz. Pemican jerky
3 oz. ground beef
D
3 oz. Chicken (something I can't read)
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Geez, looks like after breakfast I was pretty psycho-set to get into ketosis eh? Of course that would have been breaking the protein limit rule, but that day was still a "whatever you want" day. Looks like I was in ketosis by Saturday as I have a little "K" that I wrote in the upper right corner of the box. There's an "*" in the same place in the Friday box, but I have no idea what that would mean (trace)? I don't remember at all -- something completely lost to time.
So, that's the "Reader's Digest" version of my journey. It's now been well over a year since I declared maintenance. When I "declared" I was 194 pounds and about 21% body fat. Through shifting obsessions, since then I've been as low as 164 pounds and about 6% body fat, to where I am today which is about 194 pounds and less than 10% body fat. It's kind of funny, but weight wise, today I weigh about what I did when I "declared" back in March of 2007. In reality, my body today is nothing like it was then. Doing the math, from 15 months ago I've lost about 20 pounds of fat and gained about 20 pounds of lean. I only wish I had taken pics of myself in like a speedo or something when I "declared" so I could compare arms, abs, etc. from then to now.
Hopefully this helps some of you that are just starting out and maybe can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, or are sure that light is an oncoming train, or had your first disappointing weigh in. It was a fun task for me to step back through my journey to chronicle it -- all the more better if it helps someone somewhere.
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Being 100% strict is for losers! You want to be a loser don't you?
If you're new to the diet, be sure to check out Question #16 of the Dieters FAQ. It might help save you some needless worry.
American College of Sports Medicine - Certified Personal Trainer
ACE Certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant
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I think not, this inspiration of ours was always more like 120,000% strict!!! LOL
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