Week 15 – Friday Fitness and Weight Loss Update

updownflight

Scale with question marks

Main Topic: Surprise! Hmm?

I’ve felt so unwell for the past couple of weeks. I must confess that I “fell off the wagon” both weeks, but particularly this week. Some of my meals were just scrounged from the far reaches of the fridge. Some were delivery, and not the most diet-friendly choices. I guess in my ill state I just didn’t care. Sorry I’m not a better example for dieters right now. Those who follow this update series know that I gained a bit last week. My weight has been going up and down. I’ve been lucky so far that the downs have been about the same as the ups.

I felt so bloated and chunky this week. My clothes seemed so tight. This morning I was dreading my Friday weigh-in. I considered not even stepping on the scale. I was going to just write this post without the weight change amounts, but an online friend convinced me otherwise. What did the scale say? You might be surprised. I was surprised, but my reaction was perhaps not what you’d think. Here are the results for the week:

Week 15 weight change:  – 1.6 lbs ( – 0.73 kg)

Total weight loss to date (over 15 weeks):  – 9.8 lbs ( – 4.4 kg)

Week’s exercise (above & beyond):  Exercise? Don’t even ask, unless you consider going from my bed to the bathroom exercise. There were a couple of days I managed to run an errand or cook dinner, but that’s it. Sounds odd? I’m sort of depressed, folks. That’s par for the course with bipolar disorder. It’s not called a mental illness for nothing. Oh yea, actually my husband and I did do a little work on our deck last Saturday, but…read on.

Last weekend my husband and I were excited that we FINALLY finished preparing our deck. It’s almost August and we had only been on the deck once. We brought up the furniture and started putting linseed oil on one of our rocking chairs. It was hot as hell outside, so we decided to do the second chair in the afternoon. Hubby and I went upstairs. He was napping, and I was on the computer. Then the door bell starts continuously ringing and the person is slamming on our door. I ran down wondering what I’d find. What I found was my neighbor yelling “Your deck is on fire!” OMG! I screamed for hubby and he ran down. Luckily we had lots of fire extinguishers. Long story short, hubby was a hero, and thank goodness for our neighbor. We did have the fire company come and police to write a report, but hubby did the main fire-fighting. Both rocking chairs are burnt to a crisp, as well as part of our deck, other furniture, railing, and privacy fence. Extra depressing!

At one point this past week I developed an extreme craving for chocolate cake. That’s sort of odd for me since though I like chocolate, it’s not a passion of mine, like it is for some people. But I wanted the darkest total chocolate cake possible. And not the crappy stuff they sell at the store. I managed to find the little energy and motivation I had to bake that stinkin’ thing. Twice. The smart thing was that instead of baking one huge-ass monster cake, I found a “Teeny Weeny Chocolate Cake” recipe online. Yes, I made a chocolate cake just for one (or really for two). To make it a little less evil, I used Swerve confectioner’s sugar substitute for the icing, which cut the calories and sugar content down, but the recipe’s cake part I left unmodified. Some cakes are not that easy to “lighten”. The little chocolate cake recipe was perfect. I’ll share the link to it below.

Now back to my week’s weight loss. I lost weight? Very surprising! But oddly, I was not excited. I think I felt only marginally better than if I had gained. The loss was just 1.6 lbs to last week’s 1.4 lb gain. Some progress.

Interim goals:  I see my therapist tomorrow. No more to be said right now.

Recipe Share

Though the chocolate cake I mentioned is not “lightened”, it’s small. That means eating only one or two portions max. You can find the recipe at Teeny Tiny Chocolate Cake for One. I actually thought it was a generous portion “for two”.

Teeny Chocolate Cake with cherries
Two serving mini chocolate cake – decorated with cherry slices

Unlike the recipe directions, I actually split the cake batter between two 4.5” parchment paper lined and cooking sprayed crème brulee pans, making it into a double layer cake. I made it more indulgent by putting  raspberry preserves (good quality) in between the layers. You can either use the recipe author’s icing recipe(s) or do what I did, use Swerve confectioner’s sugar substitute to save calories, net carbs and sugar grams. I kept the butter quantity the same, but added more Swerve, cocoa and milk, and a teeny bit of vanilla extract. My icing was even darker chocolate, and the quantity was enough to ice the whole cake.

To read about the weight loss plan and tools I chose for this effort, click My Fitness and Weight Loss Plan Described. You can also read my very first post introducing this effort at Long haul healthy weight and fitness efforts – creation of a Friday post series.

21 thoughts on “Week 15 – Friday Fitness and Weight Loss Update”

    • updownflight July 20, 2018 / 9:35 pm

      I sure hope so! It would be great to lose at the very least 0.2 lbs. That would FINALLY get me to a 10 lb loss to date. It’s been a rough road, but I’m glad I haven’t totally gotten off track.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • Michael July 21, 2018 / 6:47 am

        Any loss is good 🙂 could have been a gain. Or a bigger cake..or two cakes 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      • updownflight July 21, 2018 / 11:53 am

        I think 1.6 lb losses in a week are really good. I’m feeling more relieved about it this morning.

        I know a mini chocolate cake recipe is definitely not a diet recipe, but I posted it anyway because as you wrote, mini is better than having an 8-12 serving bugger staring at you.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Michael July 21, 2018 / 1:03 pm

        1.6 pounds in a week is really good I’d be happy with that every week for sure

        Liked by 2 people

    • updownflight July 20, 2018 / 11:35 pm

      I know! Honestly, if it wasn’t for the luck of my neighbor noticing it it could have really been a crisis. I don’t know how I could have coped. It could have even spread to my two neighbors’ homes.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
  3. Alanna July 21, 2018 / 12:41 am

    Be kind to youself. It’s enough to get through tough days let alone trying to shed weight. Maybe make it your goal to just hold at the weight your at. Glad your house didn’t burn down!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
    • updownflight July 21, 2018 / 2:24 am

      Thanks, Alanna! I actually have told myself that same thing. It’s certainly a learning experience. I think many people following my updates might be learning how hard such efforts can be when ill or even just stressed. I won’t totally abandon the effort. Even if my calorie intake and calories burned aren’t yet back in step, I’m still mindful of the effort in some ways. I’m finding that to be very significant.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
  4. happyhealthythings August 23, 2018 / 10:03 pm

    We ALL have our up and down time during our journey. It’s natural. I think the important part is to not be so hard on yourself. Just get back into the game! Don’t quit. That’s too easy 😉

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply
    • updownflight September 16, 2018 / 11:39 am

      Thanks, Deborah! I’ve been ill lately, but yesterday was a slighty better day. Toothaches have forced me to eat only very soft foods.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  10. Saguren December 13, 2018 / 4:28 am

    I’ve often found that getting sick means that I’ve been pushing my body quite hard. Do you think that it is the same for you? Ironically, I am ok with getting a little sick because it means that I get to give my body (and mind) some good ol’ rest.

    The fact that you still lost probably shows that your metabolism is still getting better. Hopefully next week will be better.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

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