Update 5: My Relationship With Food

Starting Weight: 355
Current Weight: 313
Last Week’s Weight: 317
Difference From Last Week: -4
Overall Pounds Lost: 42

— —

The number one thing and most important aspect of my weight loss journey is food.

Whether it’s the food I binge on the weekend or the counted-calories during the week, every piece of food I ingest has an impact on me. I don’t necessarily hate food during this diet, but they do invoke certain emotions. I read an inspiring piece about how food is nothing more than fuel. I won’t link it because I don’t want any negative connotations towards the author or specific article.

The gist is that the food we eat is the fuel our body uses. Duh, right? So to me, that meant that food could be bland, repetitive and sometimes unappetizing. As long as my caloric needs were met and I was hitting my goals, food was just another hurdle that I needed to overcome. It was a part of the process that I needed to chow down on certain foods and stay within a certain caloric limit.

In a way, I was right. Food is truly nothing more than fuel. It’s what our body uses for energy, so food is so much more than just the calories we consume. Of course, not all foods are the same. 100g of French Fries compared to 100g of Broccoli will be different in caloric value, fat content, salt content and volume of food.

I learned writing now that food is so important to any goal I am trying to achieve. I love food. Eating is one of my favorite activities. But all these changes need to be made for the long term, not short term gain. If it is not sustainable it won’t work and I learned that this past week.

I keep a dedicated food journal and for the past three weeks, I ate the same foods every single day. For the time-constrained person, it’s nice. Never having to think about your next meal is heavenly because it is always prepared and ready to be eaten. With that being said, I started to hate food.

After eating the same things for the past three weeks, I didn’t want to eat anymore. Food was a chore and I was mentally drained by eating the same foods every single day. The foods themselves were cooked fine and prepared with taste, but to have the same breakfast, lunch, or dinner for nearly 21 days straight takes a mental toll on you, whether you know it or not.

This week, I changed my diet completely with food I haven’t had in a while and I am starting to enjoy food. I have found I can meal prep the same foods for two weeks maximum before growing tired of the same meals. I think I will switch it up again next week, but even doing something minor like switching out egg whites for whole eggs makes a huge difference.

I reconnected with an old friend and went for my longest walk since beginning my weight loss journey. I clocked in at just over 50 minutes and I couldn’t believe it. It’s surprising how much further you can push yourself when you’re chatting with a friend and getting distracted. I think what also helped is that we took some breaks for a minute or two to either chat with people we knew or even pet a dog haha. But overall, it was my second best pace and longest distance.

This still all feels weird to me. I see people all the time on Reddit displaying their new bodies and the progress they made. I always dreamt of being in the same position, and now that I am seeing success it’s surreal to see myself in a good position. I am still classified as obese but clothes are starting to fit different and I am also able to exercise for longer, albeit a walking pace.

This weekend I hope to hit up the driving range. While I won’t gain a ton of steps doing so, it’s a fun little activity that I am looking forward to.

Other than that, I am excited about this week. I upped my calories to 2300 which is just under the -500 calories I would need to lose weight, as indicated by my TDEE. With no room for error, I will need to make sure my weekends aren’t packed with binges because I don’t want any progress lost. However, the TDEE calculated was set to a sedentary lifestyle, so if I exercise consistently, I should be able to eat more and still lose weight.

That’s all for me. Again, any comments, questions or concerns you can comment below or contact me on twitter @patrick_trudeau.