This week was easier than last week. I'm on a roll and I'm a believer that success breeds success.  Here is a summary of last week:

Pounds Lost: 1.8 (6,300 calories)

Calories consumed: 8,167

Total Calories Burned: 14,467 (6,300+8,167)

BMR Calories Burned:  10,353 (1,479 x 7) -- My Fitness Pal calculated my Basal Metabolic Rate at 1,479 calories per day

Calories burned through exercise and exertion:  4,114 = (14,667 - 10,353)

Cumulative weight loss end of week 2:  4.2 pounds.

I loss less weight this week than last week.  Let's see if we can see why:

Weight loss: Week 1: 2.4 pounds (8,400 calories); Week 2: 1.8 pounds (6,300 calories) 

Calories Consumed:  Week 1: 7,984; Week 2: 8,167 - Consumed 200 more calories this week than last week.

Calories Burned Through Exercise/Exertion:  Week 1: 6,031 Week 2: 4,114

The difference in the weight loss is the equivalent of 2,100 calories.  If you look at calories l consumed this week versus last week, 200 calories are attributed to increased calorie consumption this week. It is probably a bit more than 200 as I had to estimate when I went out to dinner. However, that means the rest of those calories I did NOT burn, given that my basal metabolic rate (BMR) hasn't changed, are due to decreased exercise and exertion.   

I mentioned in my previous post that most apps are not accurate with calculating how many calories you burn.  My Fitness Pal says I burned 1,454 last week (when it was actually over 6,000) and this week the app says I burned 1,202 calories when it was actually over 4,000.  Even though those numbers are not accurate, it is clear that my lower weight loss this week can be attributed to less exercise. 

Exercise matters.

I took three yoga classes this week, the same as last week. That didn't change. However, I missed three days of walking last week, and instead of making my walk home from yoga class an actual walk, I took the shortest 1/3 of a mile route back to the house. 

Walking has a big impact on my weight loss, apparently. 

This is really good information because walking is an easy exercise.  I don't even have to go outside to do it. I can go to the gym and do it, if I don't feel like lifting weights or there is bad weather outside. I can even exchange it with the elliptical machine and get similar, if not better results.  

Analyzing the weight loss numbers is important, and if you look at them, they can help you see where your focus should be and what you are doing right and what you are not. This is why counting calories matters. 

I had a few challenges this week but navigated them as best I could.  I continued on with my walking but missed a few days due to weather and an appointment that took up most of the day.  On Friday, I left the house to walk and discovered it was drizzling, so I gave that up and cleaned the bathroom, instead.  I have now found a good two mile walk I can do in my community that doesn't bring me too far from our home at any given point. I also went to my two yoga classes this week and did an additional hour-long yoga workout on YouTube. 

The big diet challenge for the week was on Wednesday. My husband and I had lunch with my former boss, and he suggested meeting for lunch at a Mexican restaurant near his office. We planned to stop by the office afterwards so I could say hi to my former colleagues that were still working there.  His office is over an hour from where we live so we decided to do our Wednesday grocery shopping in the area after this lunch, making this kind of an all-day event.

There is a reason why Mexican food is yummy. It's filled with tasty, high-calorie ingredients like cheesy and creamy sauces, sour cream, and avocado. That's not even mentioning the carb-y delight of chips and tortillas.  My downfall is usually chips and salsa. I especially like the green salsa they make with tomatillos. I could also eat an entire bowl of guacamole with my chips, too.  Not a good place to go when you are on a diet.

I knew I had to have a plan before I walked in there, else I was going to risk breaking my diet. I'm glad that most menus are online these days and this restaurant's menu was as well. I looked at the salad options and they were horrible. One was with salmon (I hate salmon) and the other had gobs of avocado on it, fruit, candied nuts, all things that are high in calories. I was hoping for a basic taco salad where I could put salsa on it. Not on that menu. I figured my best bet would be two chicken fajita tacos in four tortillas with charro beans instead of refried beans. That is what I ordered. It also came with rice, and I only had a spoonful or so of that. I logged it all and noticed that dinner was going to have to be managed as even those options were a high calorie lunch for me. It was 'steak night' so I opted for a big salad that night and cut up my steak and put it on top, instead of doing a potato and vegetable with it.  

It was lucky that my old boss and I had a lot of catching up to do with the respect to my old firm. The first thing the server did was plunk chips and salsa on the table. However, I was eager for news of my former work friends, and some of my old clients, so we dove into that. We discussed former colleagues that both work and no longer work for him and our personal lives. I think that is what helped me to ignore the chips, salsa and green sauce on the table.  Boredom and not having anything to occupy my mind can be a reason to eat when I am not hungry or really don't need to eat anything.  I felt like I handled this food situation as best I could with the food choices that were available.

I'm glad we went shopping after that as it allowed me to work off some of the lunch by walking. We ended up going to three different stores to get everything we needed.

My husband and I have date night every Thursday. which involves eating out, and this week he wanted to go to the local Italian restaurant. Another challenging choice for someone on a diet, but it can't always be about me and my diet.

I know if I said I didn't want to go there because of my diet, my husband would be fine with that. He understands how hard I have worked and how hard I am currently working to lose weight and doesn't want to unintentionally sabotage those efforts. I am grateful to have such a supportive guy but he should not have to always adapt because of me. I'm the one on a restrictive diet.  Luckily, I know there is one thing I can order at this restaurant that will work on my diet.

Although I did think it was a bit cruel for him to order the giant meat-lovers pizza... which was a foot from my face the whole meal... ha ha.....

I love that for him......

I ordered Chicken Tirana, which was a pounded chicken breast with mixed vegetables sauteed in olive oil. I asked the server to request they go light on the olive oil. I learned to do this after the first time I ordered this dish, when the food came out almost swimming in olive oil. This time it was perfect.  There were onions, summer squash, broccoli, green peppers, mushrooms, and carrots so I feel like this was the best choice given that we were in an Italian restaurant. We don't have a lot of restaurant choices in our town. We have three Mexican restaurants, an Italian restaurant, an Inn with a restaurant, a steakhouse and a cafe type of place that serves mostly fried and fattening comfort food.   

I never want you to think that you can't go out to eat on a diet. You just have to be intentional about the experience and find things you can eat. Many times, you can order and substitute so that you can avoid fattening, starchy foods.  When you say you are on a diet, most servers totally understand and can be very helpful with choices.  I have asked for double portion of vegetables instead of a starch and a vegetable at some places we have eaten out.

Eating at home is much easier as I have more control.

In case you were wondering what I do eat at home on this diet, here a few examples:

This is my "faux omelet" that has 2 eggs, 3 tbsp of egg substitute (egg whites), 1 tbsp of Mexican salsa, some raw sweet pepper and some chopped spinach.  That is a cinnamon raisin bagel from Sola (110 calories) with 1 tbsp of sugar free raspberry preserves. Note that my omelet has no cheese in it.  The bagel is a high protein type of bagel. I usually have the bagel on yoga days. This breakfast, along with 1 tbsp of half and half for my coffee, is about 322 calories.  The bagel with the added protein makes this breakfast extremely filling.

Last week on "burger night" I opted for this instead of putting a turkey burger in a low carb wrap:

This is a 6.8 oz 99% fat free ground turkey burger, oven roasted spaghetti squash, steamed broccoli and a 2.7 oz baked red potato.  This dinner is about 362 calories. The trick is piling on the vegetables for fewer calories. That pile of squash and broccoli is about 100 calories.  Vegetables are an excellent source of fiber, which can help you to feel more satiated.  I will buy a package of ground turkey, mix the ground meat with onion powder, salt, pepper and maybe a little garlic powder, form patties based on weight, and then freeze them until I want to use them.  These patties weighed 8 oz when I froze them. They shrank down to 6.8 oz after cooking. I like to add seasoning to the patties because ground turkey is very bland, so it needs a little help in the flavor department. 

My lunches are usually pretty boring. My go-to lunch is 4 oz of baked chicken breast in a low carb low calorie wrap with mustard. I also eat celery and carrots with it.  Mustard is a great condiment, like tomato salsa, because it's very low in calories.

I did make a vegetable soup for lunch this morning. We are having an arctic cold snap descend on us with snow tonight (in a town that boasts zero annual snowfall) and it is 32F (0C) degrees outside, which is unusual for us. I thought soup would be a good lunch. I used 4 cups of organic vegetable broth, added a cup of water mixed with 3/4 tsp chicken bouillon to it. Then I added onion, carrots, celery, some frozen green beans, chopped frozen butternut squash, a little frozen broccoli, and 1/4 cup of dried brown lentils. I just chopped what needed chopping and dumped it all the broth. I did not sauté anything. I then added salt, pepper, dried rosemary, a little dried sage, one bay leaf, several shakes of freeze-dried chives, a shake or two of chili pepper flakes, and a little Tobasco (hot) sauce.  After it had been cooking long enough to soften the vegetables, I scooped some of the soup out into a measuring cup and blended it with my immersion blender. I should have just done that straight in the pot, but I wanted to look at the consistency. I put the pureed soup back in the pot and later did more immersion blending in the pot. This makes the soup thicker and gives it more flavor. I had some for lunch and it was very tasty for something I just threw together this morning.  The whole pot of soup is about 340 calories (made with 5 cups of liquid) so it is very calorie friendly.

If I want a midafternoon snack, it's a granny smith apple. After dinner, it's usually Greek yogurt with some berries. I like the extra shot of protein at night.

Eating and preparing foods as I do has become a habit I'm very used to. I had to do it back in 2023 when I was on a mission to lose 60 pounds by age 60. When it becomes a habit, it becomes easier. 

Are you developing some healthier eating habits in 2025?

(Photo courtesy of Polina Tankilevitch)