Food, Glorious Food

Here's another import from Ramblings of the Bearded One, which seemed like it belonged over here

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As a rule I try not to look back on aspects of my life with regret. There’s nothing I can do about things past; besides, whatever happened contributed to the superb, fantastic, yet modest, person I am today.

However, there have been times of late when I’ve been almost overwhelmed with a sense of lost opportunity and it’s to do with food.

As has been mentioned in other posts, Maggie is truly a superb cook. What she is capable of creating through mixtures of buttery, creamy, sugary stuff is mouth-wateringly beyond description.

As has also been mentioned in other posts, I used to weigh 19½ stone (275lbs or 125kg), but over the past 2½ years have lost over 7 stone (100lbs or 45kg) through eating healthily and ongoing battles with food cravings.

Part of the reason I got up to 19½ stone in the first place was indeed easy access to my wife’s tremendous cooking ability, but that was only a part of it. The truth is an awful lot of that weight was gathered from years of eating crappy food that was ok but not of my wife’s making, and nothing special.

If I was going to get that big, why on earth didn’t I do it by eating really tasty, drool-inducing, mouth-slobbering, belly-filling, scrumptious, frumptious food - food worth risking your health for?

It feels like such a wasted opportunity.

Week 141 - 31

2.2lb gain

Well what can I say? It was my birthday last Thursday. And then there were left-over birthday treats on Friday. And then on Saturday we went out to a bonfire party and gathering where there was more food than you could shake a stick at.

Ah well, it was fun while it lasted...


Starting Weight: 19st 9lb - 275lbs
Current Weight: 12st 7.6lb - 175.6lbs
Body fat: 23.3%
Total Weight Loss: 99.4lbs

Week 140 - 30

0.4lb loss.

I was pretty much on track all week with the exception of a slight blip on Saturday night, so I'm happy enough with the loss. Even more so in fact, because I was so surprised not to have put on weight last week that I was half expecting those meals out and cake to show up this week.


Starting Weight: 19st 9lb - 275lbs
Current Weight: 12st 5.4lb - 173.4lbs
Body fat: 22.5%
Total Weight Loss: 101.6lbs

Week 139 - 29

No change!

Now to be honest I'm somewhat gobsmacked by this. By rights I should have put on at least a pound and a half. Friday involved lunch out and dinner out with the family where, of course, I ate far too much.

Then my wife got some good news regarding her application to get into next year's Spring Fling event. This is a major event in the area for artists and will greatly boost her publicity. In celebration my son made a cake.

So I'd already started thinking about this blog post before I stood on the scales this morning. I was going to talk about the fact that while the battle against over eating when feeling low is ongoing but in the long term one I've been winning, the battle against over eating when celebrating hasn't even begun.

But, now I have to figure out WHY I didn't put the weight on and there's only one clear reason I can think of - I changed my meds last week.

The last set of anti-depressants I was on were making me increasingly tired and lethargic, to the point where I was feeling that the benefits were outweighed by the side effects (I wrote a bit more about it on my other blog - see Whose Brain is it Anyway?), so the doc changed the ones I was on.

All this week I've been waking up in the middle of the night, dripping in sweat and I can only guess that my metabolism has gone through a shift while the new tablets settle in.

I'll be glad when I sleep through the night again though.


Starting Weight: 19st 9lb - 275lbs
Current Weight: 12st 5.8lb - 173.8lbs
Body fat: 22.5%
Total Weight Loss: 101.2lbs

Week 138 - 28

1.4lb loss!

I'm happy with that.

Been pretty much on track all week, except an ice-cream over the weekend and a bar of chocolate last night. I'd had a long day loading the new computer with all the data from the old one and was fragile and shattered by the end of the day. I gave in to a bar of Green & Black's Mint Organic Dark Chocolate (70%). It was damn good. However, back on track today.


Starting Weight: 19st 9lb - 275lbs
Current Weight: 12st 5.8lb - 173.8lbs
Body fat: 23%
Total Weight Loss: 101.2lbs

Week 137 - 27

No change.

I might have hoped for a slight loss, but the lack of change is easily accounted for by the extra pieces of cake had over the weekend in a wee family celebration.

I was thinking about my post last week where I mentioned the fact that my weight has been stable (within a 4-5lb range) for 6 months now and figured that maybe I needed to make an adjustment to my post titles.

So from now on, as well as the first figure (137 above) showing how many weeks since I set out, it will include a 2nd figure (27 above) showing how long I've been at what Sir Chubalot calls maintenance level.


Starting Weight: 19st 9lb - 275lbs
Current Weight: 12st 7.2lb - 175.2lbs
Body fat: 22.5%
Total Weight Loss: 99.8lbs

Week 136

1.4lb gain.

Am I worried by this gain?

No.

It was our 12th wedding anniversary on Friday and my wife & I went away for the night, and ate good food, and had extras with our coffees in cafes, and the weight gain was expected.

I've been looking through my charts and today is almost another anniversary, or demi-anniversary.

It's now 6 months since I hit the 100lb loss mark.

And since that time I have not been above 176.4lbs nor below 172.2lbs

I think I can safely conclude that this is now my stable weight range unless I make radical changes to my eating or activity levels.


Starting Weight: 19st 9lb - 275lbs
Current Weight: 12st 7.2lb - 175.2lbs
Body fat: 22.5%
Total Weight Loss: 99.8lbs

Week 135

1lb loss!

I'm happy with that.

Been on track all week, bar one or two very minor discrepancies.


Starting Weight: 19st 9lb - 275lbs
Current Weight: 12st 5.8lb - 173.8lbs
Body fat: 23%
Total Weight Loss: 101.2lbs

Week 134

0.4lb loss!

I'll take that and be happy with it.

Oddly it feels like I've given way more often this week, so shouldn't have lost anything.

However, my guess is that it's probably to do with my B12 injection last week. For a couple of days afterwards my sleep is usually worse and I get, what I can only describe as, minor hot flushes. Either I'm coming out in sympathy with my wife's menopause, or it has a brief effect of speeding up my metabolism. I could quite easily have sweated out a scone or 2 this week


Starting Weight: 19st 9lb - 275lbs
Current Weight: 12st 6.8lb - 174.8lbs
Body fat: 23%
Total Weight Loss: 100.2lbs

Week 133

0.6lb loss.

Several hard battles fought.

Most won.

A couple of minor casualties.

Nothing fatal.


Starting Weight: 19st 9lb - 275lbs
Current Weight: 12st 7.2lb - 175.2lbs
Body fat: 23%
Total Weight Loss: 99.8lbs