Week 1 | Pizza, Concerts, and Sunday Funday

Hey Strong Friend!!

Before we dig into this I just want to let you know how much I appreciate you following along with me on this journey.

Disclaimer: This is purely research to see if I can come up with a system to provide more options for the clients of the SBAB program. My goal is not to convince anyone that this is the best or only way... It is just another option for those who find tracking tedious OR want periodic breaks from tracking while knowing they can stay on track. 

Okay, let's do this! 

Week 1| Pizza, Concerts, and Sunday Funday

I am going to be super honest here. Before I decided the timeframe to do this experiment, I was debating waiting for a time of year when I would be less busy, less tempted, and less likely to drink alcohol. 

AKA NOT SUMMER TIME. 

Then I thought, "But if I can do this during one of the hardest times of the year, imagine how well will be able to maintain it when I am not as busy... or have as many gatherings... or don't typically drink as much." 

And I have been telling you all since day 1 that you can, in fact, live life and get results so I figured I better prove it. 

Let's dive into this. 

Week 1 was exactly what I expected. Which was an adjustment. 

I have been eating at maintenance all summer and It's been really lovely, but I knew that in order to do this, I would need to be intentional about a few things... 

Here is my focus: 

1) The types of foods I eat. Huge focus on veggies and protein. 

2) Eating at consistent times BEFORE I get super hungry. This will help with overeating.

3) Getting in the 3 meals (Staple Protein, BAS, & Balanced Plate) plus snacks. 

4) Portion sizes.

5) Moving a lot. My goal is 10,000-12,000 steps a day. 

6) Drinking a lot of water. 

As you could probably guess, the weekdays went pretty well, the only exception was a get together with some friends that I forgot about until a few hours before, so I did not eat a Big Ass Salad that day, and instead, I had pizza. 

No big deal. I ate a few pieces and drank water, and I had a nice time. 

The weekend is where things didn't go quite as planned, but it was my fault. 

I knew the plans for the weekend, baby shower, concert, and we hosted a swimming party yesterday.

I knew this, and yet, no proteins were prepped and no greens/salads were purchased, even though I KNEW I would have to be intentional. 

In my defense, we did finish wrapping up a home remodel at the end of the week, so it wasn't like I was just sitting around doing nothing... lol

But regardless, with a little better planning, I could have stuck with the plan better. 

So here's how the weekend went: 
Sat Morn - Perfect... High protein breakfast
Sat Lunch - Great... Shower had some great options and I did a balanced plate (1/2 veggie, 1/4 carb, 1/4 protein) . Easy peasy.
Sat Dinner - Wasn't Prepared. Ate a big slice of pizza. 
Sun Morn - Great... High protein breakfast
Sun Lunch - In a hurry. Ate high protein leftovers. No veggies.
Sun Dinner - Hosting friends. Pizza again. No veggies. 

Side Note: Drank alcohol both Saturday and Sunday.

Here's what I did correctly: 
1) Kept my food choices besides the pizza high protein.
2) Kept My pizza portions in check 2-3 slices each time
3) Stuck to the amount of alcohol I allotted for the weekend. I decided how many drinks I was going to have all weekend, and then stuck with that amount. 
4) Opted for low calorie drinks. 
5) Drank water before, during, and after the alcoholic drinks. 

What I'd do differently: 
1) Purchases a lot of greens and picked veggies before the weekend and prepped them so they were easy to grab Saturday for dinner and Sunday for Lunch. 
2) Made sure I had high protein snacks on hand. Since I didn't have them, I ended up not eating enough, and that can cause major issues for me with over eating in the evenings. That didn't happen this past weekend, but easily could have. 
3) I would have paired a BAS with the pizza I had on Sunday so I felt better and was more satiated. 
4) Probably could have lowered the alcoholic drinks by 2 and still had a great time.

Here's the stats: 

-Started the week at 135.4lbs
-Ended the week at 132.5lbs

Side Notes: I had a BIG drop in weight the first couple of days adding up to over 4 lbs. I want to be very clear... That was NOT fat. That was water weight from the weekend before when I went on a bachelorette party. 

After that I had a spike up of 1.5 lbs which is normal. 

There will be a lot of ups and downs along the way, but what we are looking for is an overall downward trend of fat loss. We'll talk more about that in the up coming weeks. 

I also want to mention that I did not do resistance workouts last week. It was an active recovery week for our program and that allowed me to focus on creating the new eating habits for this experiment without getting overwhelmed. We also promote focusing on one habit at a time in our program to avoid overwhelm, so this follows what I would suggest to members. Just following my own advise :)

Hunger Cues: 
Slightly hungry before bed. Not enough that I would even think about getting out of bed to eat, but while you are in a calorie deficit, you will definitely have times that you are slightly hungry, not starving. If you are ravenous, you need to eat more. 

Apps Used: 

WeightFit - To track my weight
Daylio - To journal my meals, activity, moods, and take notes. 

And that wraps up week 1! 

I am happy to receive feedback on the information I am sharing here. 

Let me know what information you are wanting and I would be happy to do that! 

See you next week for week 2! 
Ash B