Dieting, weight loss, logbook
I set myself a challenge to eat 1200 kcal per day, on average, for two weeks (until last Monday), and as a reward, I'd get a scraper tool for my standing mixer! :D And that was indeed a good motivation, might do something like that again.
Despite me being that consistent, my weight mostly stayed the same. That's okay, there are sometimes random fluctuations…
Dieting, weight loss, logbook
I'll be travelling next week, and will likely not be tracking at all. So, another experiment: Try to mostly stay at the same weight, with the goal to arrive at 64 kg one week later, on or before October 24th!
Dieting, weight loss, logbook, joy
Wow!! Today, I arrived at my goal weight of 64 kg! \o/
Since I started writing this logbook, almost a year ago, I've lost 24 kg (= 53 lbs)! That means I lost around 2 kg/month, on average.
Really happy and proud that I've made it! This took so much self constraint…
Thanks for keeping me accountable here, y'all! <3
(Graph made with https://github.com/blinry/nom)
Dieting, weight loss, logbook, joy
Since 2020, I've lost one third of my weight! I moved from an "L" shirt size to an "S"!
I feel great! Haven't been this thin and fit since many years! 😊
Dieting, weight loss, logbook
Now the challenge will be to stay at this weight!
I'll start to continuing to track calories for 5 days, but with an allowance of 2000 kcal/day, to re-learn what portion sizes should look like for me.
After that, @piko@chaos.social had a clever idea: I'll monitor my weight, but I'm free to eat whatever I want until I hit a threshold of, let's say, 67 kg. At that point, I have to start tracking again – so I'm motivated to avoid that! :D
Dieting, weight loss, logbook
Eating and cooking whatever I want feels great after so many months of restricting myself! :D
One month later, I'm now between 65 and 66 kg, which means that I ate around 50 kcal too many per day.
I'm really motivated to stay at this weight, so I'll start implementing little behavior changes. First rule, which I'll try for a month: Don't eat while focusing on something else (like TV) – with the exception of vegetables!
Weight maintenance, logbook
Still orbiting around 66 kg! To reiterate, the moment I'm going over 67 kg, my rule is to go back into tracking/calorie restriction mode!
Which is something I'd really like to avoid! :D So I'm trying to implement other, easier rules to prevent that.
(Graph made with https://github.com/blinry/nom)
Weight maintenance, logbook
The "don't eat anything except vegetables while doing something else" rule felt a bit strange, so I modified it to "don't snack anything except vegetables while doing something else" (which means that reading during lunch is fine, for example).
And I added a second one: Have a protein shake as a default breakfast! Protein generally helps with weight loss, and seems a good addition to my current diet.
Weight maintenance, logbook
My calendar reminds me to do another weight check-in:
I hit my "upper barrier" weight of 67 kg on New Year's Eve, and went on a 1200 kcal/day diet again. That wasn't particularly fun, but I'm super used to it by now.
Two weeks later, I was at 64 kg again. \o/
(Graph made with https://github.com/blinry/nom)
Weight maintenance, logbook
I can see that being my strategy for the foreseeable future: I try to stay in that band, but if I leave it, I can quickly reach the lower end again.
My current goal is to stay in the band for three months. As an incentive, if I manage to do that, I'll treat myself to a new fountain pen!
Currently, I'm doing a lot of running, and feel like I can eat a lot, but I should probably add back some additional rules when I touch 66 kg...
And I wanna weigh myself each day!
Weight maintenance, logbook
Here's what happened since the last check-in:
- After 6 weeks "in the band" (and after a trip without access to a bathroom scale) I hit my upper limit of 67 kg again…
- I started eating 1200 kcal/day.
- After 4 weeks, I hit the lower limit of 64 kg again.
I'm fine with this! :) Super used to calorie counting by now. But it'd be even better if I found a way to stay in the band without it…
Weight maintenance, logbook
I learned that "Slime Mold, Time Mold", a group of hobby scientists on the Internet, are conducting a new Potato Community Trial! This time, you're instructed to eat mostly potatoes, but with your own "riff" added to it!
So I decided to eat nothing but potatoes, soy products, and chocolate for a month, and see what happens! Spices and oil are allowed, as well.
Note: I'm doing this because I think it's fun. So far, I don't see a helpful effect in weight maintenance.
Weight maintenance, logbook
Long time no weight update! Here's the current chart (made with https://github.com/blinry/nom).
You can see a couple of things:
- I've left my target weight range of 64-67 kg over the last three months!
- When I'm at home, I'm tracking calories with a restriction to 1200 kcal/day, which makes me lose weight at around 1 kg/week.
- When I'm traveling, I usually don't track calories and allow myself to eat what I want. That usually makes me gain weight at the same speed!
Weight maintenance, logbook
Since May 2024, I've been experimenting with an additional rule: I never need to track calories for vegetables!
Only low-calorie vegetables count. I'm still tracking potatoes and legumes, for example. 🥔
🫛
But all other vegetables are "free" now – I'm trying to trick myself into eating tons of them, and I think it's working! I often eat them as snacks, and my dishes are almost always full of them.
If you're tracking calories, I can really recommend that rule!
Weight maintenance, logbook
Overall, I'm happy that I allow myself to eat what I want when traveling. Counting calories when eating out is difficult, and trying lots of local food is part of the fun for me!
But it seems that those trips are responsible for the most weight gain in the past year.
On my US trip, I tried the rule set "eat what I want, but I have to eat some vegetables every day". It didn't help much, still a bit early to fully evaluate.
Weight maintenance, logbook
In phases where I'm at home and don't track (because I'm in my band), I seem to gain weight less quickly. Possible reasons:
- I'm usually exercising three times per week.
- I feel some social pressure not to snack all the time.
- I cook for myself basically every day.
One interesting phase was April 2024, the potato diet month, where I only ate "potatoes, soy products, and chocolate". My weight stayed relatively level there.
Weight maintenance, logbook
I'm trying a new strategy to count calories:
Each morning, I'm setting a counter ring to the amount of calories I want to consume each that day, and then subtract them as I eat.
Advantages:
- Much faster to use than fiddling with the Cronometer app
- Easier to build an intuition for how many calories are in things.
I've been using a unit of 50 kcal per number, which works really well: A small apple is 1, a slice of bread is 2, and so on. Feels cozy somehow!
Weight maintenance, logbook
Other current rule: Low-calorie vegetables (most things other than legumes, pumpkin and potatoes) and protein shakes are "free".
Because of this rule, I'm losing weight slower than before, but I probably also eat healthier & I'm happier :)
Slowwwly approaching my goal of 64 kg again, from which I drifted up when traveling this year. Bit frustrating. I'll try to remember to make another check-in once I get there!
(Graph made with https://github.com/blinry/nom)
Weight maintenance, logbook
If you want your own counter ring, by the way, I've made an open-source clone of it which you can 3D print! https://blinry.org/counter-ring/
I just published a blog post about all the techniques I've tried and used in 13 years of losing weight!
It covers things like my counter ring; free vegetables; calorie quantization; accountability; rewards + penalties; various software I've used and written; and motivation.
Feel free to steal from it what seems most helpful to you!
https://blinry.org/weight-loss/
blinry