Y’hello, Beasties! I have missed you! It’s been a week since you’ve had some updates on my weight loss journey in the form of an article but this one that you’re currently reading is a remedy to that. You see, being a one-person show means that you’re the only one doing everything for that show to happen. The preparation and logistics, the planning, the scripting, the shooting, the editing, the publishing, etc. I do it all by myself and there are not enough hours in a single day. Mind you, I do all this with a primary 9-to-5 occupation, which I love very much and allows me to pursue this business and its endeavors, too. I love them both. Anyways, I am here to give you some updates on this weight loss journey.
In the last update, I mentioned expecting my weight to shoot back up for the 3rd week, and the reason was that this was something I was accustomed to from previous experience. At the time that I was writing it down, I had also forgotten about hormones. Week 3 was also ovulation week. Well, what was naturally scheduled to be ovulation week. I am on the pill and the way I take it is so that I bleed 4 times in a year instead of 12. I have my periods every three months. But each month, the body still prepares for ovulation while the pills take over to bypass it.
So, though ovulation does not happen and therefore I do not bleed before the “due time”, I still get the regular symptoms such as tiredness, cramping and water retention. And water retention in my case is a bit extreme as I can hold onto up to 12 lbs of fluids, which is ridiculous. Usually it maxes around 8 lbs. 5 lbs when I am lucky. So, around that time and even when I have my periods, I do not step on the scale. This is the same advice I give my female clients.
Week 3 was not too bad though. Actually, there are a few things that I noticed that I had not before such as what I ate during ovulation week and how it impacted my hormones response. I am going to write a separate article on that topic when I have more data to confirm that experience. But it was eye-opening and I am hoping not to have jinxed it all now that I have mentioned it.
The takeaway for week 3 is that my weight skyrocketed due to fluid retention and there was not much I could do about it than just letting it happen and go away on its own the same way it came in the first place. But other than that, I also was more rested and more energized, mainly due to the quality of my meals and the fact that I am disciplined with my sleep. I did have an edited version of that bomb burrito I previously told you about, and enjoyed every single bit of it. The difference was the meat as this time around I put in ground beef instead of chicken. That meal was the highlight and best one of the week.
WEEK 4
Week 4 just ended and it was keto week, as I called it. For breakfast I had my famous high protein egg muffins. I love these bad boys so much. I sometimes make them slightly differently but you can always find the original recipe here.
The first snack consisted of a high-protein green smoothie, made with ¼ avocado, some kale, 1 scoop protein powder and water.
Lunch consisted of chicken with broccoli and asparagus. This took me back to the year when I was prepping for a bodybuilding show. I would have that meal everyday, all day, to the point where I would hate broccoli and took a break from it until last year. But I know better now and if I were to prep for a bodybuilding show, my meals would be better than just boiled chicken and broccoli. In this case they were baked, however. Anyways, it was delicious and very light as well, even though I struggled to finish the box each day.
The second snack was rice cake with peanut butter and a Quest Nutrition Salted Caramel protein shake. I have to admit, this was also the week when I had rice cake for the first time in my life. And it is actually more delicious than it sounds. Ok, maybe it tastes like paper if you have it on its own, but with peanut butter it’s amazing. Added to that the Quest Salted Caramel protein shake and you, Beastie, have heaven food.
For dinner I had greens with tilapia. The greens I made with the remainder of ingredients for the egg muffins such as the onions, bell peppers, meat balls, and I added spinaches and kale. As for the tilapia, I boiled it. I was tired and slightly lazy to make my usual baking mixture and add to it to. But listen, boiled tilapia tastes awful!
All these meals were very light, to my surprise. I mean, it was no surprise that in terms of calories the quantities for each meal would not make a big difference but still, they were lighter than what I remembered.
The week was also very busy, and unfortunately I missed a few meals, which I usually hate because those meals now have a higher chance to end up in the trash. But not this time as I found a way, and I will tell you below. On Thursday, for instance, I missed lunch and dinner. Well, mainly lunch. The day vas a hectic one at the primary occupation, and I also had my CPR recertification in the evening. I ended up having French fries on my way home from the CPR recertification, replacing lunch and making up for the lunch in terms of calories.
Friday was not better. The slight change that I did on that day was to replace the first snack with the dinner meal from the night before. I also made a stop to one of our cafeterias as they had made some fries. I found they also had salmon. So, I took both and added to my tilapia and greens. It made for a massive meal, which kept me satisfied until the evening. But it was delicious.
I found myself with lunch and dinner for 3 days, which I am going to have in Week 5. This means that I will more likely repeat the week with the same meals except for the fries. They were not just not on the list but also I felt a little sick after having them.
Anyways, this is more likely what week 5 will be like, with about the same meals except I will up my carbs intakes a bit. I miss my fruit. Like with my clients, I have my monthly assessment. This is when I take more measurements and compare them with the previous ones, make any necessary adjustments in terms of nutrition, exercises, etc. By the time you read this, the assessment will have occurred already. But I will talk about it next week.
Until then hug your loved ones, train mean.