20 pounds down

An update on my journey to better health.

Back in August, I wrote a blog post chronicling my journey towards better health. I wanted to document an update on where I am with that journey.

Today I reached a significant milestone: I've now lost over 20 pounds since mid-July. A staggering number for me (amazing how much work is required to get down to this point, and yet also how easy it is to gain).

As noted in my previous post, my approach is simple: stay within my daily caloric budget (trying to avoid foods known to trigger calcium oxalate kidney stones) and exercise regularly. It's bizarrely simple. To help me, I use an app called Lose It! that allows me to log and monitor my caloric intake.

Along the way I've had some hiccups, including some days here or there where I've gone over my daily calorie limit. I've noticed that my body is very efficient at adapting to the changes I'm "teaching" it. I've also learned that my body punishes me if I deviate from these new patterns, generally resulting in weight pushes or gains. (Of note, I had a significant gain over a month ago that eroded around two-three weeks of progress after a very busy week where I wasn't able to maintain my routine. However,at the next week's weigh-in I was back to positive progress 🤷‍♂️).

One of the other more interesting observations I've made is that some days I am ravenous no matter how many calories I consume (within my daily caloric budget of course), while others I'm able to sustain a smaller amount of caloric intake and not feel much hunger at all.

Another observation are the patterns that have emerged from weekly weigh-ins. Generally, I will lose about one-two pounds one week, and about ½ a pound the next, then surge again to losing one to two pounds, almost like clockwork (though there have been some deviations in the pattern, it's surprisingly consistent).

However, the biggest observation is that with the right will and determination, I know I am capable of doing the work (which, if I'm honest, I doubted because of so many failed attempts before).

While I am celebrating this milestone today, the job is not done. Now it's time for me to focus on losing the next 20. I'll be back with another update (hopefully soon). 💪

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Backyard Starship

J.N. Chaney

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Franz and the Eagle

Stuart Duncan

Edgar Meyer

Chris Thile

Yo-Yo Ma

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