Hmm, Maybe Not

Well the first couple of days of alternate day fasting were looking pretty promising, but this morning, things weren't looking so great.

I expect on my non-fasting days to see my weight go up. What I didn't expect was to see it skyrocket overnight. When I weighed in this morning, I'd gained 2.5 lbs.

That's not so good. I was especially surprised at such a big gain because I'd exercised for more than two hours yesterday. My Wii Fit estimated that I'd burned 915 calories for the day, so that should have been more than enough to offset my eating.

I guess not. I think I'll have to do this a couple of weeks before I'll be able to determine whether the overall trend is in the downward direction or not.

On January 1, I set a goal of weighing in and exercising every single day for a month. Assuming that I exercise tomorrow and Sunday, I will have achieved that goal.

I was going to give myself a reward for meeting the goal, but I can't think of anything I want.

For February, I have two goals in mind:

1. Continue weighing-in and exercising daily.
2. Stick to the alternate-day fasting regimen for the entire month.

So Far, So Good

So far, the Alternate Day Fasting seems to be working. Of course I've only been at it for a few days, but the initial results seem promising. On the days that I fast, I'm down about a pound and a half. On the days I eat, I've been up roughly half a pound.

The overall trend, at least, is downward.

We'll see how I feel about it after a couple of weeks on this program.

So far, the fast days haven't been super bad. I'll admit to being hungry -- very hungry -- but it's not as bad being on straight Cambridge because I know I won't have to be hungry tomorrow. The problem with the Cambridge shakes alone is that they don't taste very good, and if you are really sticking to the diet, you know that there's no break in sight.

Even when you switch to the plans that allow food, there are many things that are still forbidden, and you still go around being a little bit hungry all of the time.

I'll have to see if the trade off of being very hungry part of the time is better than being a little hungry all of the time.

But the initial results are promising, and it seems easier to stick to than the shakes alone.

A New Approach

Since the exercise alone doesn't seem to be working, and I tend to gain back weight faster than I take it off with Cambridge, I'm trying a new approach. I've decided to try alternate day fasting for a few weeks.

Alternate day fasting is just like it sounds. You fast for one day and eat normally the next. A number of studies have suggested that it might be an effective weight loss tool, as well as offering some of the health benefits offered to those who practice calorie restriction.

I'm curious if it will work for me.

I've also bumped up my exercise again. I'm now doing three 36-minute periods of exercise per day -- one before breakfast, one before lunch and one before dinner. I know that it would probably be better to exercise after my meals, but given I'm so prone to exercise-induced urticaria, I don't want to take the risk of having food in my belly. Pretty much every time I've broken out in hives is when I've exerted myself some time after a meal, so I want my stomach as empty as possible.

So far this month, I haven't had a full-blown episode of hives caused by exercise. There have been a couple of times where my scalp has started to itch and I thought I was going to break out in welts, and even a time or two where I had one bump pop up, but so far (knock on wood) I haven't had a major outbreak that's covered me from head to toe.

Believe me, there is almost nothing as bad as being covered from head to toe in welty, itchy hives. Not only does it look terrible, it itches like nobody's business, and inevitably I get welts in places I can't reach or I shouldn't scratch in public. (Think my pal Oscar)

The only cure, of course, is to take an antihistamine tablet, which gets rid of the itchy hives, but in turn sends me off to an unavoidable four-hour nap. The nap is usually a blessing, as I generally fall asleep before the hives have disappeared, but it's a real killer when it comes to trying to do anything productive.

So, we'll see how it goes.

Since Monday, I've been alternating days of Cambridge shakes with regular food, and I've lost a little bit of weight. We'll see what the end result is this Friday, and if I'm happy with my results, perhaps I'll even update my sidebar, which I haven't done in nearly a year.

Yeah, I know... Bad piggy! Bad!

Very Little Progress

This morning, when I stepped on my Wii balance board, I was told that today was my 41st day using the system. We got the unit in December, but I wasn't too consistent about using it until this year. I've consistently weighed in and exercised every single day since the first of the year.

On some days, I've exercised as little as 30 minutes. Most days, I'm doing more than an hour and a half. On some days, I've exercised as much as three hours, including time spent playing Wii Fit Plus and various flavors of Dance, Dance Revolution.

And how much weight have I lost since the first of the year?

A whopping three pounds.

It hardly seems worth it. Lots of sweating, turning down foods I want to eat, and trying to do the right thing for very little results.

At this rate, it will be close to three years before I get all the weight off.

I was doing Cambridge for a few days, but I got too tired and I went back to eating. I'd lost about six or seven pounds, and turned around and gained it all back within two days. Worse, I wasn't stuffing my face full of crap. I was trying to make good food choices and to exercise even more, but it just didn't seem to matter.

So now I'm trying something different: alternate day fasting.

The idea is that you consume less than 500 calories on your fast days, and try to eat normally on the days that you are not.

We'll see if this goes any better. I am just getting so completely frustrated.

Few Results

I know it's only been a couple of weeks since I started seriously exercising, but I haven't seen any results.

I've been spending sometimes as much as three hours exercising per day, and still I haven't lost an ounce.

I'm frustrated.

I'm going back on Cambridge again.

Yech!

Trying Again

As of the first of the year, I've been back on a diet again.

We got a Wii for the December holidays, so we've been spending a lot of time playing the exercise-style games.

I've seriously working out since January 4th. So far, it seems like a lot of effort, a lot of starving, and very little result.

I'll let you know how it goes.