Losing a part of me

I have been having a much more difficult time getting back into the groove of the full-fast program than I had previously, and I think I know why that is. I pushed myself with exercise. On previous attempts I might have walked, but this time I started the full-fast program (900 calories per day, plus maybe another 25 if we count my coffees) with jogs and walks that combined each day for over 10km per day. While I know that I am able to do those workouts, my body these last couple of days has sent me a clear message that doing it on reduced calories is either something I will need to work up to, or else something that I need to rethink. If the former then I need to take a couple of days off from exercising (which begins today – I rethought my 5:45am alarm last night and reset it for 7:15am), and then start back once my body is used to the full-fast again. If the latter, then I need to adjust from my full-fast program to a modified program that will either include a fifth shake, or else replace one meal replacement with an actual meal. I am leaning toward the latter.

After my video chat with my diet buddy yesterday I went out for my jog. To read yesterday’s journal entry you would think that I was ready to run 10km without hesitation. I realized a couple of kilometres in that I was optimistic in that belief, and my energy drained much quicker than it had previously. While I jogged the first 4km without stopping, only the first kilometre was of a pace that I was seeing the previous days. I walked the rest of the 10km and had very little energy the rest of the day. Even sitting with Lyle and Dorothy on their patio they mentioned that I did not have my usual energy. Usually that would have been because was down emotionally. Yesterday I was perfectly happy… but completely drained physically.

While I was originally planning to wake up early and jog today, I decided against that late yesterday afternoon. If I was unable to get through my day off yesterday without almonds and then a can of salmon, I did not want to risk that on a day when I have to be teaching and fully on. Tomorrow I am going to the vampires to have my bloodwork, so I was never planning to jog tomorrow. I will see after that how my body is feeling, and one of two things will happen. Either I will be ready to continue on my journey, or I will have to go shopping so that I can start integrating a meal at lunchtime to supplement my regimen. While I love seeing the progress on the full-fast program, I also know that getting out and exercising is equally important. I also know that one day in the not-too-distant future I will be weaning myself off the program (full or partial), and the two keys factors to my not regaining all of the weight are diet and exercise. By getting used to the exercise now I will not need to force myself to start later on.

My plan for today is to stick to the program. The bathroom scale was kind to me this morning, showing a very slight drop, even though I cheated yesterday. I needed to cheat because I was literally falling over. Today I will not exercise (beyond taking Her Royal Floofness for her walks), so I expect that sticking to the meal replacements should not be too difficult. If I truly feel like I cannot get through the day then I will go shopping during my break and I will put the full-fast program off until the weekend. I do not expect that will be the case. I am teaching all day, and then in the evening I have my sommelier course. After that I will speak with my wife before getting into bed at a reasonable hour. I have changed tomorrow morning’s alarm to 6:30am so that I will be able to get my morning routine in before running to the lab to have my blood drawn and be back at my desk in time to start class. I have to stay mindful not only of my food intake, but also of my resting. The last two nights I could hardly stay awake until 9:30pm, but that was with me pushing myself. Today I will not push and should be able to make it through the day and then get a good night sleep.

I am happy to be in best weight ever territory again this morning, but I need to balance my amazing progress with my ability to get through the day. My weight loss must be not only achievable but sustainable. Yes, I love when people stop me when I am walking with Princess Sophie to ask me if I have lost weight… but I also need to make sure that I can get through the day without collapsing.

Have a great day folks!