A new journey into homesteading "pic heavy"

[flowerbug]

an extra 100 calories a day will gain you 1lb per month. same in reverse, cut out 100 calories a day and that's 1lb per month burned. that's about the number of calories in a cookie or can of soda.

 

[Chic Rustler]

I'm at 204 right now. it's tough for me to lose weight. I'm gonna have to work hard because my body is used to physical work on a daily basis. we will see how it goes

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yep - you might have maxed out on how much exercise will help....a few small intake changes might be the ticket. (I should take my own advice...)

 

[flowerbug]

examine your habits when eating or prepping foods. for me it used to be that no matter how hungry i actually was i would always make two sandwiches or have a second helping and there was always room for seconds for desserts too. now i have retrained myself to most of the time where i make half a sandwich and i can barely have a full plate of food because i can't even fit that in my stomach. the other day i wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and i made a whole sandwhich and it looked strange to me - i did eat the whole thing. yes it was good and i didn't feel guilty but i was also really full when i finished.

i have to adjust my behavior constantly here because there are always snacks around and i love 'em all.

also, i know it is probably a really bad thing to reward myself with favorite foods when i finally reach a goal, but i have been doing that and it is working. kinda like a consolation prize. months ago i made some black walnut cookies and put them in the freezer so where i could eat some every month (on the 15th ) and i could have one a day until they were gone so they didn't last too long, but they were better than nothing, but the deal was that i could only make them when i reached 175 lbs.

since it is summer and i'm more active i can lose weight easier and have actually made it down to 165 lbs, but that was stress related on top of things being really busy. i'm now hovering back in the 168-172 lbs range (i weigh myself once a week). wish i'd keep it down as i'd like to see 160 lbs sometime in the next few months or even next year would be ok. trying to do this gradually instead of doing it all at once. it took me years to get to 183 lbs.

i think the biggest reason that i'm doing ok now is that i actually do feel better not having so much extra weight on, especially during the hottest weather we've had. this is reinforcing the continued efforts to change my habits. the continued real problem i have is that Mom must have the AC on and that means i've not been able to acclimate to the heat as much as i'd like. any cooler days we have and i'm able to get a lot more done.

mowing still sucks.

 

[Chic Rustler]

well there's not much to report on the homestead. we are still waiting on the meat birds I Ordered from the feed store.

I'm 2 lbs lighter than the last time I posted. been working out hard all week and trying something called intermittent fasting. it's basically where you don't eat for 16 hours a day. I skip breakfast, eat lunch and dinner and then don't eat after 8. it's been tough and I dont think it's something ill do very long. I need that bowl of oatmeal in the mornings. lol! I don't really sleep well on this diet. I wake up ready to go about 4am everyday and then I'm really tired later so I've been just going to the gym at 5am. all the exercise has really helped my stress levels! that's what keeps me going.

other than that I've been trying to buy and eat more heart healthy stuff. evidently salmon and other fish have high amounts of some omega 3 that is good for heart disease so I've been eating more of that. I don't really care for salmon but okay.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Yep - you might have maxed out on how much exercise will help....a few small intake changes might be the ticket. (I should take my own advice...)

I've decided to just work out more and harder. maybe if I gain some more muscle mass it will help my metabolism.

 

[Chic Rustler]

I guess I forgot to mention we have ducks now. a friend gave us two male ducks. they reside in the garden for now. I put them a little dog house and some water containers they can splash in the garden and they have been happy little characters. they did eat a bunch of my freshly sprouted squash plants but I'll let it slide. they eat alot of bugs too. they always want to get sprayed with the water hose when we water, the kids really like that.

 

[flowerbug]

I've decided to just work out more and harder. maybe if I gain some more muscle mass it will help my metabolism.

yes, it certainly will, muscles burn more calories than fat even when you're sleeping.

not eating at night is one of the hardest things.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Good for you, CR. Sounds like you are kicking butt on the diet/activity front. Proud of your accomplishments.

 

[Chic Rustler]

thanks. it aint easy