If you ain't gaining, then You ain't lost

The title of this post is exactly what it's all about. I was getting quite depressed this past month, because for exactly one full month I have been doing nothing in regards to the plan I lay out on past posts in this blog. The reason being, as I have stated before, personal problems I have been going through.

I have been feeling a lot better these past few days. I have begun a very light activity routine, otherwise known as an exercise regimen. This is only to speed up the process of recovery. In the past month I undid all the progress I had achieved since I started in April to write this blog. I had lost 15 lbs. and was weighing 250 lbs. But after a month of no discipline and a lot of booze, I have gained 9 lbs.

You might be tempted to call this a failure. I was, too. For that whole month my mind was plagued by thoughts of failure in my weight loss and in my personal life. But just last night I realized something hugely important.

And that is

IF YOU ARE NOT GAINING WEIGHT, YOU ARE NOT A LOSER!

In other words, it has been over a month that I got terribly sidetracked by life's unexpected changes, and still I have maintained myself at or below the weight I started off with in April, which was 265 lbs. Not only that, but I am actually still weighing 6 lbs LESS than what I started off with. That, my friends, is a

RESOUNDING VICTORY!

That's right. Not only am I six pounds under my initial weight, but I seem to have gotten past the worst part of my depression and stress that I was going through during that month of difficult life changes.

I feel myself recovering my funk, getting my groove back, finding my mojo again! I am starting to gain confidence in my abilities and resolve in my goals. But life is hard when you are trying to lose weight without the use of products of any kind, and are a single father of two boys, and have to worry about work and chores, etc.

So I can only hope to continue on this increasing optimism and motivation which seems to be coming back to me. We'll see in about one month. I think I had said I would give myself until sometime in August to lose the intended weight of 30 lbs. However, I know this is not going to be possible, even if I give myself and extension of one more month, which technically I do deserve, since I was out for a good reason.

So then there it is. I am giving myself until September 23 to see how much of the 30 lbs. plan I will be able to lose. And in the end, if I only manage to keep a couple of pounds off, then even that will be a cause for celebration.

Remember:

The goal of weight management is always one of two. Either you need to lose some, so you focus on that for a while. Or you at least change your habits so that you can stop the gaining process. When you can manage to halt that process, that in itself is a huge improvement.

GHS

Melting In The Sun

Today I saw a man on a park track at high noon wearing black shorts, black shoes, a black t-shirt and jogging. It seemed maybe he was on his second or third run, because he looked slow and kind of hunched over. I thought, "Who in their right mind would pick noon time in South Texas heat (even in "Spring" time) to go out wearing all black and jog in the hot sun? It doesn't make any sense!"

Then it hit me.

This man's motivation is probably driven by the idea that the more he sweats, the more weight he will lose.

Okay, perhaps there could be other very good explanations for why he was out there at that hour wearing all black. But, come on, Ockham's razor states: all things being equal, the simplest explanation is often the best one. I think he was trying to maximize his sweat output. It's all part of the mentality of "NO PAIN, NO GAIN".

 First of all, in my view, nothing could be farther from the truth when it comes to exercise and weight loss. Let me make it clear that I am talking strictly about individuals efforts to become more active and exercise more for the express purpose of losing weight. This post says nothing about people using the no pain, no gain idea to prepare for an upcoming arduous sports competition or body building show/cat walk (whatever they're called).

Who knows what that man was trying to accomplish jogging in 90 degree South Texas heat with the sun riding heavy on his shoulders. But he looked like a regular Joe, overweight, mid to late forties. Not the prototype competitor for the next blockbuster championship boxing match, I'll tell you that. He should have been wearing a straw hat, light colored clothes and carrying a large water bottle at the very least.

I used to believe that if I made myself sweat a lot while exercising, this meant that I was losing weight faster. And, actually, that is not entirely incorrect. Of course, inevitably you will sweat while working out, even if the ambiance, or the weather, is cool. And if you sweat profusely, you might notice a slight, immediate drop on your scale reading. But this weight loss is merely water expenditure due to your body trying to regulate it's core temperature, especially when you are exerting yourself in an already hot environment. This weight is easily regained when you replenish your body through proper hydration by drinking plenty of liquids, and/or eating the right water-containing foods, like fruits and vegetables.

In other words, while you may be somewhat elated that you lost like two pounds on your run in the sun, this means nothing other than that you risked heat stroke, dehydrated yourself and weakened your body. Chances are that by the time you are done, you will be so tired and almost sick, that you won't be highly motivated to return to the track until possibly days later. So in the meantime, your body shuts down to repair the damage and any progress in actual weight loss is lost. This happens to individuals who push themselves to extremes in their workout routines, as well. They effectively make themselves sick and so for one or two days they are suffering from all kinds of aches and pains.

Weight loss through exercise cannot be something that you rush. It has to be tempered. It must be used wisely and consistently in order to get the most benefits from it, and have lasting results. If you begin an exercise regimen and achieve some small degree of positive results in a short span of time, stick to that pace and be patient.

If you are seeking to alter your routine to try to maximize the results then do so very moderately, because if you over do it, you will only jeopardize your body's exertion potential and end up hurt, which will lead you to a longer period of recovery; in turn, this could undo the results gained, which will very likely kill or seriously hinder your motivation. This will sabotage your entire weight loss big picture/long-term plan.

So remember, if it hurts, makes you feel weak, dehydrates you, or pushes you to extremes which cancel your immediate follow-up work out sessions because you are at home recovering from heatstroke or something, then it ain't a good strategy for weight loss.

Do as a snail does. It is the consistency in the snail's pace that gets it to its destination in spite of its slow progress. We are not snails, so we don't have to move tremendously slowly, but don't over do it and you will see that your efforts will be sustained for longer than you might have expected.

And that's the point: to create good, healthy habits which can be sustained for the long term so that you may not be stuck in a yo-yo effect of losing and gaining weight, because eventually you might not be able to lose the weight again.

After experiencing a certain number of failures, most people just give up and resign to their fate as obese individuals. Don't be that guy or girl who says, "I'm just big-boned." No one is born being obese. We become obese through the consistency of our bad habits and the absence of good habits.


***UPDATE!

This morning I had two fried eggs, pulled pork leftovers (about 12 oz. worth), 11 sautéed, mini carrots, two slices of fried, soft, white cheese, two raw Serrano peppers, two cups of old-fashioned oatmeal with 1/6 cups of milk, one tablespoon of real butter, two teaspoons of ground cinnamon and 12 oz. of cherry Kool-Aid. That's right, I took it old-school, eighties, trailer-park-style! I then took a 24 oz cup of black coffee sweetened with stevia for the road. For lunch, I had a single-sized bag of pork rinds with half a large avocado and washed it down with some water. I will be eating a large orange with lots of cold water in a while and that should hold me pretty good until the morning feast. Until then...hasta la proxima!