OK. So it's Friday and my weight hasn't changed enough to post. If I look close enough at the scale I'm almost a pound light than I was Monday but I wouldn't feel right fudging it- not even a little. This all about losing weight and doing it as empirically as possible. What I WANT to see should not and must not influence what I actually do see.
Because I haven't kept the pace of previous success I can only surmise that I have somehow caused it through either negligence or self-sabotage. Not that I'm taking a hard line on this whole renaissance thing and no, I'm not going to go and beat myself up over not having lost what I consider a reasonable amount of weight this week-- it's just that I am serious and I am committed and I need to figure out why and make some adjustments to get back on track.
“Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.”
That's a quote from Fred Shero, a former Philadelphia Flyers coach, and he couldn't be more right. My body isn't going to shrink itself unless I do the shrinking. So, for me it's a little reflection and correction- then back on track until the trains run on time.
What has been the problem? Thinking back over the week I realize that there have been some subtle changes which may or may not have had an impact. One is a change in the peanut butter I've been eating. I was in Winco the other day and noticed that you can fresh-grind your own peanuts and make peanut butter right there in the store. You just fill up a couple of quart-sized deli containers with the stuff fresh from the machine and pay for it by the pound. It is really good! And that may be a problem.
It's different from the Adams peanut butter I've been buying. It's darker, richer, and tastier. Also, the peanut oil never has a chance to separate and collect at the top of the container- I had been pouring off the oil from the Adams stuff, so I'm probably getting a few more calories per tablespoon than before. I am also sure that I have been eating more of it during the week- using it as a substitute for other snacks. So, self-grind peanut butter is evil! Winco is evil!
“The superior man blames himself. The inferior man blames others.”
That's from former Miami Dolphins coach, Don Shula. True-dat, Don. True-dat. (say “true-dat” out loud, it'll increase your street cred.) Unless Winco confesses to being evil it must be me that is truly at fault. But instead of any self-flagellation, I'm going to pay more careful attention to my peanut butter consumption from this point on.
OK enough of peanut butter. That's done. So what else?
I have been doing more with heavier weights at the gym. One of my goals was to max-out the weight machines. I started doing just that with the rowing and the biceps-curl machines. My guess is that I maybe might possibly may or may not be bulking up in those affected muscle groups. And because muscle has higher density than fat, perhaps I've been replacing fat weight with muscle weight.
Pish-posh! What I really need to do is make damn sure I'm sticking to my plan, cut back on the new peanut butter and see what the scale says on Monday.
PS. I want to say thanks to all those of you who continue to send ideas and words of encouragement. It helps.
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You are not alone!! I've spent the past week reevaluating things and trying to tweak a bit here and there to push myself back on track again. Peanut butter is something I really have to limit too because its always been a favorite. I really think the next six weeks are going to be the most challenging and thats why we need to push ourselves that extra mile. We can do this!
The weird thing is that I used to absolutely hate peanut butter (probably due to some childhood trauma). Changing the range of foods has really opened my mind to what tastes good. My Achilles heel has always been moderation when I find something so tasty.