Healthy and maintanable weight loss is between 1-2 pounds per week. I’m right on target with that — averaging 2 pounds per week since I started Body For Life. I’m 1/3 of the way through the 90 days and have lost 8 pounds through 4 weeks. This morning my weigh-in was:





Now, for the week 4 pics. From the front:

From the back:



Compilation of the first 4 weeks together (click images to enlarge):





Man, you can really start to see a difference. I think it is even more noticeable from the back. That tire tube around the waist is getting smaller. The crease at the top of the tire tube is almost gone. Taking pictures once a week and putting them together has been very motivating for me.

This week I’m swapping my days off. Up until now I’ve had Saturday as my day off each week. Hello? Super Bowl tomorrow? I’m switching with Sunday this week. Who wants to go to a Super Bowl party while on a diet? I’m doing my DDR today instead of tomorrow and will take the day off tomorrow and not worry about what I eat at the Super Bowl Party we’re going to.

Time for my week 3 weigh-in. This morning I was 164 – down one pound from last week.

I am down a total of 6 pounds since I started Body for Life 3 weeks ago. I’m down from 170 to 164:

Picture in progress from the front:

Picture in progress from the back. You can really start to see the fat getting burned away around the waist:

Now, for the first ever muscle flexing picture in progress (hey, they’re starting to appear):

One thing I enjoyed on my day off. Blue Bell is the best. Mmmmmm….

Saturdays will be my official weigh-in day each week. I’m only officially recording in 1 pound increments using the traditional rounding rules when weighing in (1-4 round down, but 5-9 rounds up) for the decimal points. My first week on Body for Life must have been a lot of water weight. I lost 3 pounds and am down to 167 now:

Now, for the pics in progress. From the front:

From the back:

Even though you can’t see much change yet, I can already feel a difference. I just feel healthier. Energy is more sustained and I feel better all the way around. I’ll admit, though, it’s taking a little bit to get used to eating 6 times a day again. I’ve looked down on more than one occasion at the clock and been like, “oh crap, I need to eat!”

Today was my first day off on Body For Life. Conveniently it was my son’s birthday, which made it less of a hassle to try to deal with all of the Birthday stuff and stay on BFL. Oh, and as mentioned in this post I did indeed enjoy two and a half one cupcake cone that Allison made for Travis’ birthday party. We went to the Double Dave’s lunch buffet (another one of the reasons I put back on some weight the last year and a half). Peproni Roll and Cheesesteak Stromboli:

Chocolate Chip Pizza:

The food was really good as usual, but I paid for it later. In the afternoon, I felt low on energy, and just had that icky feeling that you get when you don’t eat healthy. I find that the two best reasons for the day off is to:

1. Remind you of how good you feel when you are eating healthy. Now, I’m not saying that your day off has to be unhealthy – it’s not supposed to be a binge day. But, if you enjoy that piece of pizza or ice cream you’ve been craving all week, don’t worry about it. Eventually you’ll start to notice after eating healthy all week long that the things you used to crave aren’t quite as “awesome” as they used to be. They may even make you feel a little yucky afterwards like Double Dave’s did for me. The longer you continue to eat healthy, the more healthy choices you will begin to make – even on your day off.
2. Remind your body that you are not starving. When you eat low calorie food and exercise a lot, your overall calories intake is less than the calories you burn. After a while your body will think it is going into “starvation mode” as I like to call it. Your body does not burn the fat because it thinks it needs it due to the fact that you are not eating enough calories. Taking a day off each week is important because it “shocks” your body and tells it you are not in starvation mode. This allows your workouts to continue to burn the fat.

The one thing I need to do better at is drinking more water. You are supposed to drink about a gallon of water per day when on Body For Life. I drink too many diet sodas and should cut back on them and replace them with water. That will be something I focus on in week 2.