The Six Pack Challenge - accountability thread

[Jon]

I've had enough. The blob has to go! My diet has gone to pot and I'm not making the progress I want. So, a personal revolution is coming!

Starting Monday next week, I will be making significant changes to my environment, diet and lifestyle. A multi-faceted approach is called for.

For this particular thread, I will be recording the changes I am making and any progress in the weight loss. I already have the six-pack hidden under about ten layers of fat. If I stand near a window and catch the right angle, I can see the first part! But as you move down the body, the rest expands into a killer wasteline - and no, I don't mean that in its most positive interpretation! You can call me Visceral Jon from now on. That is until part of me is removed, through weight loss. Then I will be: me - part of me = still me!

Monday, here I come....

 

[Bee]

My top tip is not to focus so much on weight, but to take your measurements. You will see a difference in your measurements even if the scales don't appear to be budging.

 

[Jon]

I will be recording my weight. Wait, my weight is already automatically recorded using my wifi scales that track my weight history online!

I will record the size of my waist. Waste all this valuable data at my peril.

See what I did there, twice?

Yes, I understand the point. When you measure something, just that process itself moves the needle.

 

[Jon]

It is Day 3 and I have lost 2.2 lbs so far. No doubt much of that is water as glycogen (which attracts water) gets flushed from my body. I am having reasonable control over my diet. Just plodding along for now.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Look, there's still Christmas cake that needs eating.

 

[Jon]

Nooooo! My local coffee shop (Costa) has introduced a coffee and walnut cake. Generally speaking, I don't like the long-life cakes in Costa. Fresh is best. But when you have restricted supply, it gets tempting. Banned until the weekend!

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Don't forget that as you diet, you must exercise. This forces your muscle mass to improve at the expense of your fat. But muscle weighs more and it is possible to do good for yourself without losing a LOT of weight. (OK, need to lose some...) Just looking at the scales is the wrong answer. I'm with Bee on the measurements issue.

 

[Jon]

To be fair, I am logging many factors: BMI, body fat percentage, weight, waist size, blood pressure. Hopefully, the needle should move in the right direction for all these factors. Yet building muscle is way slower than losing fat. The benefit of gaining muscle is you can increase your BMR.

BMR Definition: Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories required to keep your body functioning at rest.

This means I get to eat more cake without putting on weight.

 

[Jon]

Ok, it is Saturday and I weighed myself today. On Monday I was 14st 4lbs. Today - 5 days later - I am 14st 0.6lbs. That is a 3.4lb loss, which I am very pleased with.

The changes I made and stuck to were: breakfast (superfood shake or granola + milk (small portion)); small cappuccino instead of medium at coffee shop; lowish carb lunch; no crisps; no sodas; fruit or nuts as snacks (mostly); nothing too massive meal-wise in the evening; weights Monday and Friday (I do cardo anyway on T/W/T).

I have no crisps in the house, which helps. I really wanted a bag last night but I couldn't find one!

My getting up times were:
08:30
10:48 (bad nights sleep due to splitting headache from low carbs)
09:22
09:00
09:06

So, an improvement there too.

All in all, I am pleased with my week so far. Before, when I was dieting I would give myself more leeway at the weekend. This time, I will tighten up that leeway, so it is 2 steps forward and no steps back. I am having some cake as I write this but that is my reward! [Edit: This cake at my local Costa coffee is rubbish. Taste artificial, like this long-life rubbish. Perhaps that is a good thing.]

I am holding myself publicly accountable, hence the thread title change! Feel free to do something similar if you need help from others keeping you on track.

 

[Bee]

Well done. Accountability is a good motivator. I'm really pleased for you.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I have stopped buying the economy box of snacks that I think must be equivalent to what you call "crisps." Used to go to Sam's and buy the 42-pack of, essentially, a variant on a party mix of mini-pretzels, crisp-toasted pumpernickel, and a few other items. But they are addictive and not good for a diet.

 

[Jon]

When did you stop Doc?

This is a good start to the week. Since I kept things relatively in control at the weekend, I didn't reverse my weight loss. Weight now down to 13st 13.6lbs

On Sunday, I did a weekly review. This is what I wrote in my journal:

First week results
Ok, so I started on several goals at the beginning of the week. How did it all go?

Results
• Lost 4.2lbs in the last 6 days.
• Trimmed what I normally eat on Saturdays, so it is not a case of two steps forward, one step back
• Had superfood shake or granola + milk for breakfast
• Increased protein to coincide with weight training days
• Did 2 weight training sessions this week
• Low carb lunches, with things like cheese omelette or mushroom tom yum soup
• No sodas, only Orangina Lite
• No crisps
• Only 1 choc bar per day
• Hardly any puddings
• Keeping the house free of crisps
• Eating nuts or satsumas as a snack
• Getting up a little earlier, averaging 9:21am
• Going to bed earlier, mostly before 11:30pm
• Started reading again, with a good system to log books, page numbers and workload per day
• Had 2 saunas
• Had mostly small coffee at Costa
• No pastry at Costa

To work on
• Get to bed by 11:15pm consistently
• Leave phone in office. Don't take into bedroom.
• Bring up can of red bull to office with my glass of water.
• Put phone in rucksack while working in Costa (similar when in office?)
• Test a digital sunset at 10:45pm?
• Pack for gym the night before on weights days
• Test an early morning walk on the golf course on just one day

I can see an iterative approach to my changes. Perhaps the "To work on" list will shrink as I make progress. It is a question of habitualising the changes. This will take some time.

Maggot >>> butterfly

 

[Bee]

I use f.lux on my pc. Not sure if it works, but I never have any problems dropping off!

 

[Jon]

I use that too. Plus something on my phone. The "digital sunset" is a term I came across last week from Brian Johnson. So, I will try to restrict any TV, computer and phone stuff after 10:45pm.

 

[Jon]

For my lunch, I am choosing mostly between three choices: two egg + cheese omelette; egg, capers and salsa baked in the oven; or tom yum mushroom Thai soup. Each is about 300 calories. I like the taste of all three of them so it works well.

Further, I have just remembered about the Lose it! app for weight loss on my phone. I might start using that to more accurately track my meals. May even go premium since it is only £2 pm.

https://www.loseit.com/

 

[Jon]

Ok, so last night and this morning I made more progress! I didn't take my phone into my bedroom, had a digital sunset at 10:50pm and was in bed by 11pm!! And...this morning I was up at 7:45am. Blimey! Had my super-food shake then off to the gym for a swim. Then sauna. Shower. Now at coffee shop and had my small cappuccino (change from the large).

Things to work on include: pack gym bag the night before; pick up can of red bull and bring upstairs before I go to bed. I picked up a can of Orangina Lite last night by mistake. It was raining so didn't try the quick walk thing this morning.

I figure I might sign up for that "Loseit!" app today. It is super cheap and I only lose £2pm. Will test run it.

 

[Jon]

Just signed up for LoseIt! Cost me £23 because I think it was only annual subscription. Anyhow, it tracks more than I thought.

It can help me track:
- weight
- body fat %
- blood pressure
- foods and calorie intake
- steps
- sleep
- hydration
- body measurements e.g. waist, biceps etc.

Bloody brilliant!

And it links to both my wireless Withings weighing scales plus my Fitbit too!

By tracking all this stuff, I should see the needle moving for each of them. I'm figuring this will aid in motivation and being consistent. You can enter set meals so they are quick to add when logging. Also, I believe the paid version also has some kind of image recognition where you take a photo of your food and it tries to identify what's there. It probably doesn't work very well, but you can barcode scan in food anyway and it logs all the details.

Feel all smug and pleased with my purchase!

Note: I did use this app before (the free version) to log some food while on a health kick. Found it better than the Fitbit food logging app.

 

[Jon]

End of week report

I've had another good week. The LoseIt! app has been fantastic. The premium edition was definitely worth the £23 ($30). It is giving me multiple insights into all sorts of things. Just YouTube IT for a review, if curious.

So, in the last week, I lost 1.3lbs. I am now 13st 13.3lbs, having started at 14st 4lbs.

My getting up times were:
08:43
08:49
07:45 (yes, really!)
08:53
08:17

My previous weeks average getting up time (workdays only) was 9:21am. This weeks was 8:29a.m. A strong move in the right direction!

I've started leaving my phone in the office when I go to bed. A couple of fails when I forgot! It's getting easier. This has helped a lot to getting the earlier nights.

I failed to do an early morning walk yet. It is so cold out, with these freezing temperatures! But I will get it done as a test.

Much of what I am doing is not yet a habit, but I am in the early stages of forming those habits. It gets easier and easier over time, as I forge my new identity.

 

[Jon]

Just to update that it has been 13 days since I started this new protocol and I have lost 5.5lbs. Feeling pleased!

Here is my progress chart:

LoseIt! has helped me identify areas where I can make diet improvements, cutting calories even more. So I am hoping that the coming week will see some consistent progress. The target is to lose 1lb per week, but it is possible that I might exceed that rate.

I also found this tool, that helps me set a body fat target and what weight I need to be to get there.

https://exrx.net/Calculators/WeightBodyComp

 

[Jon]

Update:

- Packed my gym bag the night before. Check.
- Put red bull on desk before going to bed. Check.
- Put clothes out to wear the night before. Check.
- Had early morning walk. Intention was 5 mins, but I ended up doing 28 mins in -1C (30.2F) temperature! Check.
- Superfood shake then off to gym for weights workout. Checkety check.
- Sauna. Check.

I better get some work done though because it is now 12:43pm and I haven't started yet!