April changes

 Well as things moved into April I found myself completely devoid of motivation for the night time exercise routine. I stopped doing it and just didn’t seem to build up any energy or motivation to continue. I’m sure I’ll get back to it but as of yet no. My experiment in reducing my artificial sweeteners was a bust for the most part, I did cut the amount in coffee to half but that’s about it. I don’t really feel like it’s a problem since I don’t have any real craving for them and I have given up any sort of Keto desserts so I I don’t feel like they are a problem.

I developed some pain in my right leg but decided it was caused by my shoes falling apart and making me walk funny. Just two days in a more substantial pair of shoes and the pain has all but disappeared. 

My weight dipped down to 212lbs but was 215lbs on Monday. I guess we’ll see next Monday how it stacks up. 

For the last week or so I have moved into a 20% protein to 80% fat way of eating, hoping to move my metabolism into a fat burning state yet maintaining the adequate amount of protein. I’ll continue at least till the end of the month before I re-access.

Weight loss and a new experiment

 Now it’s the middle of March and a few changes have taken effect. Firstly I’m now down to 217 lbs. so the weight loss is continuing. Secondly I have stuck with my evening exercise routine only interrupting it for one week, mainly because I knew it needed to be tweaked to make it more effective. As it was it wasn’t enough actual work involved, it needs to be strong enough that you feel it the next day and need that day of recovery before you go again. I upped up the number of springs and modified some of the exercises. I definitely felt it the next day but was recovered by the next evening to go again. I feel that I can go with it as it is and periodically increase the volume of exercises by either more reps or more sets until some time in the future when I can add another spring. 

My Sunday fast is now working fine. In fact I kinda find it relaxing getting up and not even thinking about food the entire day, till I eat that evening meal. At first I feared I might over compensate and end the day with a oversized meal and stuff my self , but I just eat a regular meal and stop when I feel satiated then get up the next day to my usual routine. 

I am going to make a change to my lifestyle by giving up all artificial sweeteners. It has been on my mind for some time that it was still feeding that need for a serotonin release. Yes it’s not the same as sugar it doesn’t have the insulin release but your brain still release the serotonin and the only reason your having it, so your still using as a crutch. So in a way it’s an experiment to see how I will respond going with no food related serotonin release. I’ll have to have my coffee with just butter and a touch of milk and either get used to the taste or drop it entirely. I’ll also have to drop all the artificial flavored and sweetened powders and squirts that i drink and replace them with only water or lemon water. I’m interested on not only how my psyche will respond to this change but also if it has any effect on my metabolism. It might turn out I have been hamstring my self all along, kidding my self that it didn’t matter since it doesn’t affect your insulin levels. I guess my next post in a week or so will tell the response and where I’ll go from there.

February, starting a exercise routine and weekly fast

 It’s now the middle of February and I’ve made a few changes to my way of life. I finally started an upper body routine to complement my morning stretching routine. Just like my morning routine I do it every day. It consists of about thirty minutes of exercises with my chest expander set of springs. Right now the routine involves several exercise to target different muscles. I’m sure I’ll be making some changes as time progresses, in fact I’ve already made a few and will continue to improve it till I have worked all the kinks. I have some muscle soreness, so I know it’s doing something in a positive way. It’s beginning to warm up enough to add some walking to my weekly schedule as well. 

Last Sunday I tried an experiment in fasting for twenty four hours. After my meal on Saturday night I didn’t eat again till about the same time on Sunday evening. It wasn’t difficult but I was pretty hungry for the last couple of hours. I did have morning coffee but I left out the small amount of milk as I didn’t want any protein in my system at all. I did have butter as usual but since it has no protein it won’t break your fast. I think this could be a regular thing, sort of a end of week reset.

I’ve seen a slow loss of weight now down to 222 lbs. from 255 lbs. where I started. I’ve also seen a shift in body composition which leads me to believe there has been a gain of muscle accompanying the fat loss which doesn’t manifest itself in a change on the scale. I think by the end of February I’ll be back to a 34inch size in jeans which is a 10 inch loss from where I started.

Now in January

 My last post was in December but I evidently forgot to publish it till January. Since the last post I have lost a couple more pounds even though I’m eating two full meals. I haven’t yet started on the new exercise routine but will do so starting tomorrow. I’m also ready to start walking. I have been using google maps to come up with several different locations to go walk and by using the measure distance feature I can create different patterns for different distances. The weather is always a factor which will limit me to when I can do it, but March is only six weeks away so the situation is improving every week. 

Back again and the start of the new year.

 Well since my last post in the middle of November my situation sort of stabilized. I didn’t drop any poundage but I felt some changes in body composition. My morning exercise routine became easier and I felt like I was actually improving in terms of flexibility. Before I sort felt like I was just trying to keep from losing ground I feel like I’m gaining mobility and strength. 

I did slip off the wagon a little bit at thanksgiving and Christmas but didn’t have any deleterious effects the next day so I felt good about that. I have been trying to determine what I could do to get back on the fat reduction and hopefully some increase in muscular situation. What I decided to do is opposite what I’ve done in the past, it never worked before so why should I follow that same path. What I would have done in the past would be to cut the calories and fat, instead I’m upping the protein to a minimum of 140grans a day and fat to a minimum of 100 grams a day. This represents about a 1500 kcals a day. In addition I’m adding an additional exercise routine at the end of day, not a stretching routine but a weight training routine involving my chest expansion springs at first and then moving on to a dumbbell routine. I may alternate them from one day to the next or begin with chest expansion routine and finish with the weight training. What I think is crucial ,that I haven’t done before, is to do it like my stretching routine and do it everyday with out even thinking about it, unless I’m feeling unwell or something. I’m thinking what will work best for me is to do it every night from around ten PM to about 11:30, which is how long I think it will take. Then I’m sure I’ll be good and ready to go to sleep. I’m going to follow the routine for a month before a reassessment at the end of January to see what I need to modify. 

I also plan to post on this blog every week at least. By picking a day and just do it. Probably on Sunday’s but we’ll see. Not that I won’t post on some other day if I have something worth posting about, but at least one post a week.