4XLT

Today’s Weigh-In: 324.8 pounds – New Low!
Total Weight Lost: 115.2 pounds
Days till Goal: 13
Pounds to Go: 4.8

… I just let my guard down.

It seems that every time I hit a new low or other health related milestone and blog about it, I let my guard down the following day and end up bouncing back a few pounds (e.g. Cakegate and Wingsgate, rather recently).

I got to thinking about this on RodeDaddy’s recent blog: I always pack on a few pounds after my indiscretions. Even though in the big picture two or three pounds may not seem to be a whole lot, let’s look at the effect it has.

For the sake of my example, let’s say that I’m tracking at one pound every day of weight loss and start at 330 pounds.

I have a pretty bad weekend, and gain three pounds over Saturday and Sunday (333 on Monday morning). If I get back on my normal weight loss progress, it will take me three days to get back to the 330 mark. It be Thursday when I would have otherwise been five further pounds down the weight loss road at 325.

I haven’t just gained those three, but am instead five pounds down (if my math is correct – and that’s always suspect).

But in reality, the pound a metric is astounding (and even happens on occasion), but hasn’t been sustainable for me. So, let’s look at something like 2/3rds a pound every day. If I put on those three pounds over the weekend and start out on Monday at 333, it would realistically take four and a half days to get back to my starting mark of 330.

By the time the next weekend rolls around, I get back to my previous weekend weight of 330. If I would have kept eating healthily the whole time, I would have been at that 325ish mark.

That still puts me a full five pounds behind schedule. Now, multiply this a few times and it’s easy to get 10 and 20 pounds behind schedule.

It’s just more proof that wanton “off” days aren’t worth the damage they do to the hard work of fat loss. This isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy my off days, but I make sure I don’t go crazy.

And this time, with my new low weigh in, I refuse to drop the ball again.