Worrisome Weigh-in Wednesday

I am officially down seven-tenths of a pound for the week.  Okay, so there is a loss for the week.

As I wrote in a previous blog, that is why a dieter should not get on a scale daily.  Actually, different diet gurus have different opinions on that, but the majority say weighing in only once a week is best.  If I had taken that advice this week, I would not have known that I had gone from 287 down to 283.3 by Saturday morning and then back up to 286 Sunday morning, where I have stayed until this morning's official weigh-in at 286.3.

So, yes, I lost a little weight this week.  It doesn't feel that way.  It feels like I gained three pounds and just sat on them for four full days despite my calorie intake and exercise.

I now have two theories on this.

Theory One:  My Lose It! app is full of crap.  It is programmed to tell you how many calories you should eat in order to lose two pounds per week at whatever your current weight is.  I have talked about that in previous blogs.  I have not gone over that allotment any day for two full weeks.  I have exercised and programmed those calories.  The app is okay if you eat those exercise calories back, but I never did.  That should have given me a bigger calorie deficit, and yet it did not improve my weight loss.

Theory Two:  In 2009 the weight dropped off shockingly fast, down from 295 on April 8 of 2009 to 220 on November 20.  75 pounds were gone in seven months.  I was 58 and a 1/2 to 59 during that time.  Perhaps being 66 and a 1/2 is just making it harder.  The body and its metabolism slows down with age.  Every article says it gets harder and harder to lose weight as you age, and I have dieted and starved myself off and on my whole life.  All articles also state that the more the body has been calorie-restricted the slower the metabolism becomes.  I believe that at this point in my life, due to calorie deprivations for years and being over 65, my metabolism is as slow as a slug. i doubt if it was ever very high to start with since I was an overweight kid despite being highly active.

My new plan will start today with two big changes.

First change:  When I was losing weight in 2009, I did not have that phone app.  I just restricted myself to 1200 calories a day.  Clearly, the 1600 that I'm looking at on the app does not work.  Starting today, I am going to eat 1200 or less each day for this full week.  

Second change:  When I was losing weight in 2009, I walked every day.  How far and how fast I walked improved as the weight dropped.  I also swam and lifted weights at least two to three days per week, even through the winter months in cold, cold Maryland.  Now I'm not doing that.  I started out living in Solivita going to the gym for a 15 minute weight routine three days a week and a 45 minute walk most every day.  I also occasionally swam or did water aerobics.  Little by little I stopped doing that.  I cruised more. I ate out more.  Exercise was no longer a priority or programmed in to the day.  This has to stop.  I have all the facilities here at my finger tips to walk, swim, and lift weights.  Starting today, I am going to make exercise a priority again.

So summing it up for today...
--I need to lose weight.
--I am older with a slower metabolism now.
--I need to prioritize exercise.
--I need to restrict my caloric intake to 1200 or less calories per day.

If none of that works this week, then I will be seriously depressed next Wednesday.

Looking at my calendar for this week, there are several challenges coming up!

First, I see that I am scheduled to eat lunch out twice this week.  On Sunday, we are going to see Into the Woods at the Winter Garden Theater.  Usually we eat lunch at the Thai restaurant down the block before the show.  I am thinking that I should skip that this time and just go to the theater after eating lunch at home.  I will talk to Mark about that.

Second, I'm also scheduled to eat lunch inside the AMC Dine-In Theater on Tuesday to see Guardians of the Galaxy with the Solivita Disney Fan Club.  I can't skip that; it's already paid for.  I need to be careful what I eat.

Third, After the movie, we are heading in to Orlando to check in to the Rosen Plaza for the Florida NARFE convention.  All my meals will be eaten out from that lunch on Tuesday through dinner on Thursday.  Not helpful to my diet plan, but most of that will be reported during the following week's weigh in.  If I remember, I will pack the scale and check my weight Wednesday morning in the hotel.

Life is full of hard challenges.  Nobody ever said life in general or aging in particular would be easy.