Day 27: Feeling positive, feeling strong

I added a new data element to my spreadsheet this morning and discovered that I have lost over 2.5 BMI points this month, down to an even 26.0, which is just one point away from being in the healthy range! While I understand that BMI is useful mainly for epidemiological purposes rather than for individuals, this is a cool thing for me, given that I began the year just inside the "obese" category. This makes me just 2.9kg away from being in the healthy range. Who knew? :)

So it seems that my rich dinner last night hasn't had an adverse effect on the scales (so far). I think the fact that I ate only fruit and green smoothies yesterday beforehand helped, as well as the gym visit yesterday. I went again this morning and worked up a massive sweat: almost 500kcal in just over three quarters of an hour. I felt pretty wiped for about an hour afterward, but now I'm feeling great. Have said all that, I don't think I want to repeat such rich meals. I didn't feel great last night a couple of hours afterward, and that continued until this morning. Who needs to feel that way? Not me.

So, now the computer gets turned off and I get going again on my spring cleaning. Toodles!

Current weight: 74.7kg (-7.4kg, or 16.28lbs)
Current body-fat percentage: 36.2%
Current feeling: Strong and positive!

Day 26: I need to get my life in order

So, yes, I went to the gym today (and had heaps of energy, hurrah!), but that was probably undone by a rather rich and decadent dinner of raw vegan "dips" (guac, curried paté and lemony zucchini) with crudités of carrot, capsicum and celery. All very tasty, all very rich! We're thinking of having them at Xmas and not telling anyone that they're raw vegan, actually...

But that's not really what I want to talk about today. Since I finished Uni I've been at something of a loose end, looking for a job and having a lot of time on my hands. I made a commitment to spring clean my bedroom (wardrobe, desk, etc) when I handed in my research, and so far all I have done in the past couple of weeks is sort through my clothes. Which was great and everything, but 2-3 weeks for that?? Yes, there have been other things on, but too often I've been spending my time on mindless crap that doesn't enrich me or my life (or anyone else's) in any way.

I'm not entirely sure how to get this thing done (the deadline is Wednesday night, as the spring cleaner is coming on Thursday and I'm flying out to visit The Bear on Thursday morning, anyway), but I know that I must. One tactic will be to turn my computer off and leave it off! I will also not just make goals, but write them down, as I was taught in my course the other morning. I want to get my life organised, and I enjoy fantasising about doing it, but now I must just DO IT.

I have an idea for how I'm going to systematise my filing of teaching materials, but that will take a little extra time in the execution. I'm looking forward to that bit, actually. Gotta love the Capricorn in me! (And I've just checked: I've got a Capricorn moon on Sunday & Monday and a Virgo moon in mid-December right when I need it for my filing plan. The stars are with me on this one!)

Okay, so I know what I must do, now I just need to bloody well do it. (And hit the gym again tomorrow to try and counteract tonight's dinner!)

Current weight: 75.2kg (-6.9kg, or 15.18lbs)
Current body-fat percentage: 36.2%
Current feeling: Feeling down about aspects of the past, positive about the changes for the future.

Day 25: A bit blah.

Today hasn't been the best day. Not the worst, by any means, but just a bit blah. I am finding that eight hours still isn't quite enough sleep, which worries me slightly, if only because you're supposed to be so much better rested on this diet. I'm also not absolutely "zinging" with energy, but it isn't low, either, which is good. I think it's just been one of those flat days overall, though, so maybe it has precisely nothing to do with the diet and everything to do with the other stuff that is part of one's day instead.

One pleasing thing, though, has been my fairly even week emotionally, despite this being my PMS week. Yes, Friday and Saturday were pretty bad, but since then it's all been pretty cruisey. I was even able to laugh at my own nit-picking yesterday (a common trait generally, but especially bad once a month).

But yeah, 7kg down, and I'll be going to the gym tomorrow and Saturday mornings (I haven't been since Tuesday due to timetabling conflicts), so hopefully the body-fat percentage will drop back down again, too.

Current weight: 75.1kg (-7.0kg, or 15.4lbs)
Current body-fat percentage: 37.1%
Current feeling: Okay. Not bad, not great, just okay.

Day 24: Some revision may be required

I know that I made a bold claim yesterday, but I think I may need to revise it slightly. In order to make it to a total loss of 20lbs in the time remaining, I would have to lose about 0.88lbs per day, which is near enough to 0.4kg/day. I think that this is a little OTT, and perhaps not really healthy, so I have proposed a couple of options to revise the challenge, and am open to votes and other suggestions.

Revision Option 1: I maintain my average loss of 0.27kg (or 0.6lbs) per day and get to the overall loss of 8.2kg, or 18lbs. If I don't I stay 100% raw until I do.

Revision Option 2: I stay 100% raw until I reach a 20-pound weight loss, with no explicit timeframe in mind.

I must admit, I prefer Option 1, if only because I'm visiting the Wilsons on Thursday (two days after Day 30) and it would be nice not to have the hassle of still being 100% raw. On the other hand, it is a little bit of an easy out. The thing with goals, though, of course, is that they must be realistic. I have determined that yesterday's goal was not realistic, and so revisions have to be made. The question is whether or not to maintain the hard line, or just focus on the fact that I am getting healthier and will be maintaining a diet of at least 40% raw vegan after Day 30 and just to enjoy a greater variety of nutritious foods and take the six months they say it takes, on average, to lose all excess weight? Put like that, I feel that Option 1 is the healthier one, in terms of emotional/mental health, but it also kind of feels like I'm wimping out.

Votes? Suggestions for a third option I haven't considered? All are welcome!

Current weight: 75.5kg (-6.6kg, or 14.52lbs)
Current body-fat percentage: 36.2% (moving down, finally!)
Current feeling: Feeling good, feeling strong, feeling slimmer!

Day 23: A new challenge?

Remember how I said that I was setting myself the goal of reaching 75kg on the BES, and that if I didn't make it in the 30 days I would stay 100% raw until I did? Well, here's another thought for you. What if I said that I would lose a total of 20lbs? The BES reckons that you can lose 5-20lbs on the 30-day challenge, so why not? That would take me to a weight of 73kg, which is a BMI of 25.8, so close to the healthy upper limit of 25! I have already lost 13.86lbs in 23 days, which is is an average of 0.6lb per day. With seven days remaining, that gives me the opportunity to lose around 4.2lbs, which takes me to 73.9kg and a loss of 18lbs. So I'm going to have to step it up a bit to get to the 20lbs mark.

So, how to make all this happen? I am going to get stricter on myself and my consumption of fats, and I am also going to head to the gym more than 2-3 times per week in addition to my walking. In addition, I am going to actually do what I set out at the beginning, and do at least one core exercise every day and stretch every day.

Now, I already know that I am going to have to break the Challenge for one meal, one day early. This is because I am going out for the office Xmas party, and damned if I'm going to eat dressingless salad all night. I will be taking it very easy, and will try to stick to vegetarian pizza only, and of course no alcohol or soft drinks. This is disappointing, but I feel that it is mitigated somewhat by my commitment to continue with an approximately 40% raw vegan lifestyle once the Challenge is over.

Onward!

Current weight: 75.8kg (-6.3kg, or -13.86lbs)
Current body-fat percentage: 36.6% (Go down, damn you!)
Current feeling: Inspired by my new challenge.

Day 21: Good results, bad moods

Despite my resolve to get back into green smoothies and the BES menu plans, this has not really happened. Weekends are difficult at the best of times but, as with the last couple of weekends, The Bear was here, and so plans didn't really come to fruition. Saturday was really fruity, though, with a big slice of rockmelon and a banana for breakfast, an apple and a freshly-squeezed orange and raspberry juice for lunch, a capsicum and some olives as a snack and then a large salad with avocado for dinner.

Today was less perfect, though, with a lot of avo (two salads = two avos) and rather too much almond... stuff... as I made a massive amount of almond milk and then proceeded to drink too much of it! Quite thin, but very rich! Yesterday also involved a 50-minute walk, whereas today involved only about 15-20 minutes of walking and it wasn't as brisk as usual. So I'm not sure that tomorrow's scales are gonna look too good. Still, I'm only 1.1kg away from my target for the Challenge, and I still have 9 days to get there, so I'm pretty confident I will be eating a cooked curry on Tuesday night.

As for my mental state, well, it hasn't been superb. Friday and Saturday were both really snappy days, and I got quite upset a couple of times yesterday, which is always a crappy feeling (for me and for the people around me). I had been doing so well, feeling so positive and being so cheerful, but this weekend wasn't really like that a lot of the time. I must admit, I was tired yesterday (a 3:30am bedtime isn't really recommended), so that could have had an impact. But I need to keep an eye on myself this week, because it's my PMS week and I'd really like to see if this diet helps me to be less volatile than I usually am.

Current weight: 76.1kg (-6.0kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 36.6% (I really wish this would move down into the healthy range rather than prevaricating so!)
Current feeling: Looking to get back into the program properly from tomorrow