I’m closer to my 150 lbs goal, folks! This week I lost 5 pounds which means I’ve lost a total of 10 pounds on my weight loss challenge! I’m very excited and feel motivated and inspired to continue on this path. I’m also happy to report that I am no longer experiencing chest and shoulder pain. I had been experiencing the pain for over a year and I was in constant fear of having a heart attack. I’ve also started doing body weight exercises.
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Weight Loss Challenge Update
I’ve been feeling great with a ton of energy! I’ve been following the Starch Solution and incorporating most of what I spoke about last week. I am still eating a high carb, a low-fat diet that is mostly plant-based. This week I did have 2 eggs.
My breakfasts have been consistent. Every morning I have overnight oatmeal with fruit, flax and chia seeds, and cinnamon. This meal keeps me full for a long period of time.
For lunch, I usually have some leftovers, rice, beans, and vegetables, or a veggie sandwich with a salad.
Dinner time is when I usually switch things up. Sometimes I have mashed potatoes and gravy with vegetables. I like green beans, carrots, cabbage, and corn. Sometimes we have Mexican, Indian, or Asian type dishes. But, I’m a simple guy. I can eat rice and beans with a banana or mashed potatoes every night. 🙂
My wife, Natalie, has also embraced this way of eating, so she’s been cooking lots of delicious meals. She took a Cuban black bean stew recipe, which usually has ½ cup of olive oil and smoked pork, and made it vegan and low fat. I thought it turned out even better.
I’ve been eating as much as I want. I eat when I’m hungry and stop when I’m not without overeating. This is huge for me because I have been a notorious overeater since I was a child. Feeling satiated has been one of the reasons why I’ve been able to lose the weight.
Body Weight Exercises
Also, this week I began doing body-weight exercises which are exercises where you use nothing more than your body. No gym membership required! Weight training exercise like those found in a gym usually isolate only certain muscles but with body-weight training, you include many more muscles at once. These types of exercises also help prevent chronic injuries associated with weight lifting and other unnatural exercises.
These are the types of exercises that I have heard our Cuban family members talk about. In Cuba, there are no gyms or weird machines and gadgets for working out. Those that live there live an active lifestyle; they walk or bike everywhere! But when they want to get toned they will use bodyweight exercises. They actually don’t have a specific term for it, they just call it exercise.
So, based on my research this is a great type of exercise for weight loss and getting in shape. I’ve been doing a lot of push-ups. This is most likely why my chest measurements have increased by an inch. My muscles are probably a bit swollen. However, my waist did reduce by a whole inch which is really important. Fat around the stomach is the worst kind of fat and I’m happy to be getting rid of it.
As always, I want to thank you for reading.
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