I'm not even going to mix words. Dieting around the holidays absolutely sucks! I'm writing this Tuesday night before I weigh myself Wednesday morning, the day before Thanksgiving. It's a holiday that is pretty much centered around food, so it's a cheat day! Still, the holiday season in the US has begun. Tis the season to fill the house with good food and drink. Tis NOT the season for dieting and watching your weight!
I weighed in the day before Halloween at 251 pounds. My goal was to get anywhere in the 240s. I missed it by 1.4 pounds. I extended that goal until Thanksgiving. I'm really hoping I lost at least 5 or 6 lbs. However, I'll be happy anywhere in the 240s. As long as I didn't gain weight. I should be good. My cheating was limited. I feel good about weighing myself in the morning.
It's just getting tougher. Between football season and holiday preparations. Pretty soon everywhere you go will smell like baked pies and holiday festivities. Yes, the holidays have a smell. It's the smell of cookies and sweet dessert wines. Freshly baked hams, turkey, and goodies everywhere you look. The holiday season is really a dieter's worst nightmare. That's why my loose goal until New Year's day will be to simply try not to gain any weight and just stay in the 240s. If I weigh anywhere in the 240s on January 1st, I'll be really happy with myself. That will make a little over 40 lbs lost in 2022. My goal for 2023 will be to get back into the '190s and stay there this time!
I Have Mixed Feelings
OK, goal barely achieved. I weighed in this morning at 249.6 lbs. I have seriously mixed feelings about this. The good news is that I did manage to lose a couple of pounds and hit my goal of the 240s. The bad news is, I barely made it, and losing 2 lbs in 3 weeks really isn't anything to celebrate.
It's been 8 months of straight losses though and I'm not talking about my crypto portfolio. This is a good thing and I had to slow down eventually. I had many cheat days in the last 3 weeks though. Beer and alcohol on Sunday during the football games, and I did incorporate whole grain bread back into my diet. That needs to stop.
So far, I haven't really dieted at all. It's all been clean eating. Mostly lean meats and vegetables, high protein, low carb. Beer, bread, and refined sugars were out of the question. If it wasn't fruit, vegetable, or meat I didn't eat it. No refined products, everything was natural and the weight literally melted off. Over 40 pounds throughout the last 8 months. I do think that's something to be proud of.
Final Weight Goal of 2022
As I stated last night at the start of this post, the holiday season sucks for dieting. My only goal for the next 6 weeks is to not gain weight. If I'm being honest though, that's going to be a stretch. It's a quality-of-life issue at this point. The Dood enjoys the holidays. I love holiday foods and drink. I think the trick here will be to indulge, but not overindulge.
A person can pack on a lot of weight in 6 weeks if left unchecked. At least I know I can. Everything in moderation I guess. At 249lbs I don't have a lot of wiggle room to stay in the 240s. I'm going to try and continue to eat healthy most of the time, and just break my diet when I'm being social or something irresistible comes around like mom's homemade cherry cheesecake.
I'm also going to push myself a little harder on the treadmill over the next 6 weeks. Maybe I can run off the cheat days. I've been averaging about 1.5-mile jogs on the treadmill. I'll try and up that to 2 to 3-mile jogs and try and up the speed a bit.
We will have to see what happens come 2023. This is probably the last diet post for 2022. I'll weigh myself on January 3rd, and my weight goal for 2023 will be to get under 200 lbs and then stay there this time!
If I can get through December without gaining any weight, that will be a miracle. If I can lose a few pounds between now and then, I'll be really proud of myself. Fingers crossed, let us see what happens!
If you're dieting, hang in there! It's tough this time of year. Just remember, if you cheat, don't keep cheating. Enjoy the cheat, then get right back to dieting!
Wishing you all a happy, healthy, Holiday season!
