Week 5 Day 5: Damage Control

On Monday May 23 we had a cheat day as per page 100 of The 4-Hour Body (4HB). We did it because my wife has been volunteering down a the evacuee center for the Slave Lake fire and she has not been able to follow the program to a tee. Different companies where donating lunches to the volunteers so she had not control over what she ate because they were told they wouldn't have any space to store personal things like lunches. This change is daily routine was bothering her and in turn affecting me so we planned an organized preemptive strike!

The Damage Control chapter in 4HB is an important part of shocking the body out of routine to help spur further weight loss. The basics of it are take special supplements that day, then do special yet very simple exercises at certain times through the day and eat a couple of helpful foods during the day. The results were interesting.

I gained 4.4 lbs in that one day...is this bad? Did the cheat day rules not work?

I also LOST 0.5% body fat that day! What does this mean?

I gained weight but lost body fat so...I gained muscle! I would have to say it was a very successful cheat day even though after 5 days my body is still sore all over from the exercises we did that day.

But the real damage control I was speaking about in this posts title would be the next two days after our cheat day.

Even though on our cheat day we got very full and sick from the crap food we were eating we ended up cheating the next 2 evenings. I think we cheated these two other times because we still couldn't get back onto our regular routine the very next day. We were also foolish enough to cheat the second 2 times without following the 4HB rules of cheat days or cheat meals. This is where my problems were this week.

We needed to get right back on program as strict as ever!

Well it's been 1 full day since getting back on full program and I'm already almost back to my weight and body fat pre-cheat day. On Monday I will be getting measured again and I plan on getting the numbers from the weight loss clinic to share with you.

I think after 3 good days on program with weekend the results will be good.

-Ian

Week 4 Day 5: 8813

I'm excited this week because I'm getting new found energy and just a little ambition to do things. Don't get me wrong I will always love movies and video games but now I feel like I can start doing other things. Now this is just a feeling...getting up and doing things is still a mental fight.

Some fights I'm winning this week are: 2 lunch time walks, 22 to 24 cups of water per day, new hole on my belt.

Because of my first lunch time walk I got a new personal best steps in one day 8813! It really didn't seem that hard to do that much walking. I'm already thinking of working to 10000 steps.

On our Wednesday visit to the weight loss clinic I was informed that for my size I should be drinking at least 22 cups of water per day. That's over 5 L man this has been a challenge both for drinking and pee breaks! After upping the water intake over 3 days I lost 2 more pounds so I can't really complain.

Making the new hole so my belt was smaller was fun! This little win made me feel really good...because my jeans were beginning to slide down. Don't worry, Ethel didn't see anything!

I have decided to start tracking my Body Mass Index (BMI) as well. It can't hurt to track something else. So check out the stats page to see updates for that. Also, you can find some helpful links to Wikipedia to help you understand BMI and Body Fat Percentage.

Have a great day,

-Ian

Week 4 Day 2: Water for Slave Lake

So this weekend 40% of my childhood town of Slave Lake Alberta was destroyed by a forest fire. I was so shocked when I first saw the pictures of the new town hall & library burning. Then I got scared because my little sister and step mother still live in Slave Lake. I also have extended family and friends in Slave Lake.

Slave Lake Town Hall & Library Burning

I couldn't find much news except for Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. It was amazing the info that was getting out from people in Slave Lake but I don't know if this was helping or making things worse. I didn't hear from my little sister till almost 1am that night. They were safe and heading to Westlock. The roads out of town were closed due to 3 forest fires that seemed to be all around the town so they had to wait before being allowed to leave town.

I was in shock most of Monday and didn't go in to work. There was a chance my little sister and step mother may be dropping in to stay with us because they didn't know if their trailer in Slave Lake was destroyed.

By mid morning we heard word that my older sister and family who live in Wabasca, that is 123km north east of Slave Lake, may also be evacuated. So now we had a chance of having a big group of visitors. Turns out things are fine for now in Wabasca and my litter sister and step mother didn't have to come to our house.

With all this excitement I didn't get my 5000 steps Monday and I don't think I drank enough water. We did make it to the weight loss clinic and still lost a pound so I'm happy for that.

But I'm still sad about my childhood memories that went up in flames.

-Ian