Friday, August 31, 2007

FREE and Redistributable E-book

The E-book, found at this Site, is PDF format; it's entitled "How I Lost 40 Pounds In 60 Days." It's a short one: 16 pages, and the word count is more suitable for a pamphlet, so you can get through it quickly. You may even like the design of it.

(If you have trouble with the main link, you can also access it through this alternate link. There's also another alternate access link from another holder Site.)

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Day 60: Goal on Hold

I'm bringing the diet I'm currently on to an end. As of today's weighing, I've lost 40 pounds in 60 days, which is actually the title of an E-book that I've written.

There are three reasons that explain why I'm halting. First of all, although I have seen that the Plateau Buster technique does work, it nevertheless rates a test under conditions controlled in advance, so I can have a better idea of how it works. If you're a regular here, you may have noticed me introducing variations to it recently; to be honest, I'd like to introduce more, but I'm running out of fat.

The second reason relates to the first. The decision to introduce the sliding calorie scale did wind up confusing things for me; I shouldn't have. Instead, I should have stuck to a fixed caloric intake all the way through. The next time 'round, I will do so until I hit 200 pounds, after which point I'll worry about pulling my appetite up to normal.

The third reason is more involved. To be honest, I had this suspicion that the diet I'm ending has been relatively easy for me because I was a "recreational eater." The more intractable kind of overweight problem is one where you've hooked performance to eating. I haven't done that, so I have no tips to offer for someone that has to go down that more difficult road. This point has bothered me, as it implies that I had a relatively easy time reducing my weight.

Once the link to the finished E-book is posted, this blog will remain dormant until - yes, this date is deliberately chosen for effect - January 2, 2008. By that time, I should be in worse shape (both in terms of weight and of overeating dependancy) than I was as of the start of this diet in the beginning of July. I do plan to jack around in a manner similar to the way I did so here in June, but not on this blog. It's too anchored as a diet blog for that approach to make sense, so I'm going to be doing so on a newly-started, independent Blogger blog.

Regarding the E-book: I'll post a link to it on this blog, in a more recent entry, once I'm finished. It will be short, but down-to-earth; it's being done in PDF format. It will be both free and redistributable, in an unaltered form. One the link to the book is in place, that will be it for here until January 2, '08.

If you've been a regular, thanks for reading what I've posted, and I hope you've gleaned some useful tips from what I've written. A diet is a challenge, no doubt, and I hope I have either eased it somewhat or helped a little in terms of extra results.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 220 pounds.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Day 59: Still Thinning

The Plateau Buster has worked yet again, getting me slightly below the plateau I was stuck upon (with diet interruption) for eight days running. I've lost about four pounds since the start of the latest use of the Plateau Buster.

It's only been relatively recently that I've faced a hurdle that normal dieters normally face at the outset. Even though I'm entitled to a ration of 1,500 calories/day on the self-imposed scale I've been using, I'm hungrier than I was when fatter and eating less. Whatever the cue (I believe it's visual,) I've found that being thinner than "normal" makes a diet more intractable.

There are two options available to get through this added hurdle. One is to start off a diet at the normal-overweight level for you, and see the gnawing hunger as part of the initial shift-to-diet burden. The other, the option I chose, is to fatten up before commencing a diet, and then put off the gnawing experience until long after being habituated to calorie reduction. This option inculcates new habits to fall back on. With it, passivity is your aid. With the former option, fortitude is.

I don't know which one is best. The former option gets the bulk of the pain and discomfort out of the way at the outset. The latter option splits the discomfort in two. To be honest, part of me wishes that I had gone with the former option, even though doing so would have missed the experience of going abruptly from a huge appetite to a small one. In the final analysis, it's a value judgment, as is the decision to stay the course when things start to get tough. My own value judgments incline me towards toughing it through if I can, and deciding that I'm not committed (or ready) enough if I can't. There's nothing wrong, after all, with dress rehersals, pilot plants and practice runs - all three range between useful and vital.

I'm about five to ten pounds below my normal weight. If you're interested, my unconscious plays a trick on me when I weigh myself: I mis-remember the 220 level on my scale as 230. Chalk it up to diet anxiety.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 219 pounds.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Day 58: Back To Bottom

As of this weighing, I'm back to 220 lbs, the low for this blog. After some time without wearing a belt, I have also found that my "pull it tight" habit involves me reaching for a notch that isn't there. The tightest notch fits, mostly comfortably.

The last round trip through a weight digit ending in a zero - 230 lbs. - lasted seven days. This present dally at 220 lbs. lasted eight days, from first touch at that level to today. Both interruptions included times when I pulled myself off the diet entirely. All in all, this wasn't a bad length of time, as my regular calorie consumption has gone from 1,000 calories/day to 1,250/day. The days at which I hit the 230-lb level were ones where I could go to 1,250 calories/day, and the ones where I hit the 220-lb. level were ones I could go up to 1,500/day. So, an extra day's round trip is understandable; it's less than 15% longer in terms of time.

I've been wondering, actually, if I set the threshold for increasing caloric intake too high. According to this body-mass-index calculator, someone like myself, with a large frame, should be at most 202 pounds. Perhaps, I should have set the threshold levels lower, or added more weight in between them.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 220 pounds even.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Day 57: Binge Recovery

As I write this entry, I'm on the way down from a jump-up, thanks in part to the Plateau Buster. After ending a weekend binge and shifting to a more normal application of the Plateau Buster - a large slice of coffee cake as the main meal of the day - my weight is beginning to drop. It's one pound away from the all-blog low point I had established last week.

As the diet I'm on reaches the sixty-day point, I'm beginning to see glimmers of myself as a thin man. That pinch-the-stomach test I've brought up from time to time - in my case, it's "grab at all the fat you can around the area of the belly button" - shows 2 1/2 inches on the left side of the belly button and 2 5/8 inches on the right. One thing I've found is that your appearance changes in unexpected ways when you thin up. When I glanced at myself recently in a window that had served as a shadowy mirror, what struck me about my appearance was how wide-mouthed I appeared. As the "fat features" disappear, other features of the body become noticeable.

Of course, one of the drawbacks about the Saturday-night binge party I discussed in yesterday's entry is that it makes for a hungry Sunday. A heavy head might be bad enough for some, without the addition of a hungry stomach to it (even if water is zero calories.)


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 221 pounds.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Day 56: Big Rebound

This last weekend, I ate, drank and was merry - and I have the weight gain to show it. As is customary for me, I threw myself off the diet for the length of the social occasion in question and am now back on, now that a normal schedule has been restored. I ate, drank and was merry from Friday night to Sunday morning, with a big "blow-out" on Saturday night - and now I have to repair the consequences.

This brings up an interesting question. Many people drink, but few are chronic drunks. That's because "social drinking" is socialized: beyond the Saturday night beer bust, the social drinker drinks little. This convention helps keep many drinkers from becoming drunks.

It's true that food does not have the same effect as alcohol; far from it. Also, food is a necessary for life, and alcohol really isn't. This difference, though, applies to food in general; it doesn't apply to specific foods.

There are already certain kinds of foods that are both delicious and deemed unhealthy if eaten chronically: corn syrup is a recent example. Foods of this sort do form a parallel with alcohol, with the noticeable exception of the hangover or lack of, and thus open themselves up to socializing in a similar manner. In fact, they can be mixed together.

It's true that a Saturday night "Sat Fat Fried Chicken And Beer Party" sounds a little odd, but it might not be if the dieting trend becomes general. People need a break, after all, and most are quite capable of indulging moderately but not excessively. With respect to alcohol, we've known it for decades (if not centuries or millenia.)

[If you're interested: a six-pack pulled me through the entire weekend; yes, I am a cheap drunk. Also: while I was choring away in the rain yesterday, I slipped and ripped the front closer out of my tight pants; I also ripped a little skin off a knuckle. Word from the slipped: if you spring for a new wardrobe in a lower and tighter size, save your old wardrobe for active days and use the newer stuff for dresswear until they're loose on you. Tailors cost.]


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today, after yesterday's hiatus: 223 pounds.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Notice

There will be no entry tomorrow, as I'm going away for the weeked on one of those social occasions. This blog will resume on Sunday at the usual time. Enjoy your own weekend.

Day 54: Little Rebound

I may not have gotten much of a drop thanks to the use of a pre-plateau Plateau Buster over the last two days, but the side effect of the little drop has been little or no rebound. Despite having socked away three (small) meals so far today, I'm at almost the same weight as I was yesterday.

I've also noticed that the take-out plan, where you eat more calories as your weight approaches normal, has the consequence of making me feel more hungry throughout the day than I was when used to the diet rut. Once again, the closer you get to the norm, the more the old habits are brought up from the unconscious.

On a more sartorial note, I'm writing this entry while in pants that have been in my closet for years because they've been too small for me. I'm normally a 38/32; these pants are 36/32. Except for the waist and the legs, they basically fit, although I'm not confident enough to test 'em on an athletic field.

At a waist of my size, the appearance makes little difference around the hip area. The main difference in appearance is the effect of the narrower pants waist: my flest, and fat, bulge out a little over the top of the pants. So, the ironic consequence of trading down a waist size is more visible flab. I suppose this effect explains why it's urged: it tends to keep the momentum going in the drop towards a truly low-fat body.

Or, for those who didn't mind being fat, it leaves a residuum of flab to carry the good memories of the old days through...


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 220 1/2 pounds.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Day 53: Interrupted Plateau, Day 2

It looks, as of now, like the Plateau Buster only works for plateaus. After the second day of using the technique for a pre-plateau situation, I've found that my weight has dropped to where it was the day after the previous use of the technique. So, it looks like using the Plateau Buster to force weight gain in the absence of a plateau doesn't work very well.

I've also found that the use of more sugar-concentrated foods (such as the chocolate-covered biscuits I consumed this morning) doesn't make that much of a difference when compared to eating bulkier sugared foods with the same calorie level, such as donuts or danishes. Sugar seems to be essential, but the concentration isn't. All in all, if you plan to use the Plateau Buster, you'd get about the same effect through using sweetbreads as you would using, say, candies. Further caveat: it may not work at all for some people, as my digestive makeup may be unusual.

The above being said, though, the Plateau Buster has had the usual effect.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 220 pounds.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Day 52: Interrupted Plateau, Day 1

As I mentioned yesterday, I've started a special use of the Plateau Buster technique, which has gotten a little extreme. (By "extreme," I mean overly focused on the sugar with no attention to either hunger or nutritional needs.) Today, I've consumed what might as well be liquid sugar, and that's all the eating I'll be doing for the day or night: as a special test, I consumed the entire day's ration at that one sitting. Day 2 of this Plateau Buster diet adjustment will be a little less extreme: I've got a small pack of chocolate-covered biscuits slated for tomorrow's breakfast, which total slightly less than 1000 calories. This will leave me a little more than 250 calories for the final meal of the day, the late supper.

If you're interested, the sight of all that sugary food did lead to a temporary hunger attack. Instead of just ignoring it, though, I did eat a 330-calorie meat pie at about that time. One benefit of the fat-burning five-(very light)-meal-a-day plan, late in a diet, is that hunger can be assuaged through the consumption of a very small meal. Unfortunately, though, this shrug-off comes with prior habituation to the fat-burner meal plan. Earlier in the diet, I had to either ignore or outright disown such hunger attacks.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: still 222 pounds.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Day 51: Rebound and Setback

As I expected, reaching the 220-pound level when unclothed, and thus rating a higher caloric intake per day, has resulted in a rebound. I've gained enough to push my daily ration back to 1,250 calories/day.

I suspect that this rebound isn't uncommon when following a plan of this sort. The shift in intake isn't enough to convince the body that the good eating times are back, but the extra calories do mount up. So, the body's metabolism rate stays stuck at semi-famine level while the calorie intake goes up, leading to a stoppage in weight loss or perhaps even a gain. Add fluid variation and the gain is explained.

Speaking of surprises: I'm going to deviate from procedure somewhat and use another application of the Plateau Buster to see if the metabolism-boost effect, or the fluid-release effect, is central to it. This version is going to be another "extreme" one, and it's not really recommended unless you have above-average control over your hunger. Like the last one, I'm doing it for test purposes. I want to see if I can use it to jack down my weight without having been on a plateau for some time. Based upon what I've seen, it probably won't have much of an effect - but it's worth a try in order to find the Plateau Buster's limits.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 222 pounds.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Day 50: Droppage Accomplished

As I write this entry, I'm wearing a pair of pants that I sent to the tailors a few weeks ago with a ripped crotch. They now fit comfortably.

The end of the latest use of the Plateau Buster has worked as expected. I now weigh in at an even 220 lbs. unclothed, which means that I'm now entitled to eat 1,500 calories/day. At this consumption level, I'm unlikely to lose much more for some time, as it's close to weight-maintenence level. Given my dance-around at the 230 lb. level, I'm also likely to go back to 1,250/day for a time.

That doesn't matter much, though. I've managed to lose 40 pounds in 50 days, with several diet interruptions along the way. These interruptions include experimenting with two other techniques that failed, as well as three social occasions and one deliberate "cheat test" for resolve.

In general, fat-burning does work, provided that you consume fewer calories than you use. I know because I've been trying it for most of the 50 days I've been on this diet - without exercise. To remind everyone, the Plateau Buster was developed as an add-on to a generic fat-burning diet.

One more disclosure: the only times I've eaten vegetables or fruits have been when they were given to me. The staples of this diet have been frozen and microwaveable food, ham slices, and small hamburger buns - generic fat-burning foods.

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"Different Scales, Different Weighings"

I have another disclosure to make: I switched scales in the middle of this blog. I didn't think it would make a difference, because one scale should give you the same weight as another, but I recently found out that it has. I started off with a (borrowed) basic spring scale with a small platform, which was already used but relatively new. What replaced it was a new, store-bought scale that's the same as the basic one I had used initially with one exception. It has a larger platform attached to the top of it. In addition to re-borrowing the small basic spring scale, I've also borrowed another one - also a spring, but more elaborate with a dial gauge. It's much older than the other two.

Here are the weighings - fully clothed, but with light slippers on - for all three scales:

The one I bought new: 225 pounds.

The one I used to start off this blog: 218 pounds.

The more upscale, but much older, one I borrowed: 209 pounds.

Yesterday, I made mention of the apparent fact that I was approaching my lowest weight since starting this blog. The above double-check shows that I've already been at my lowest weight in months for the past few days.

Based upon my disappointments during hospital physicals, I'll have to go with the newest one, and claim a weight of 225 lbs. fully clothed. This weighing puts me at an all-blog low anyway.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today, unclothed: 220 pounds, with the current scale.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Day 49: Plateau Buster Works As Usual

After close to a week at a plateau of 225-6 lbs., I've used the Plateau Buster for the second day in a row today, in an extreme version: using sugar-laden snack foods for my 1,250 calories/day. For the last day and a half, all I've eaten is snack cakes and caramel corn, and one more snack cake is all that I rate for supper.

This use of the Plateau Buster is, obviously, extreme because it's not nutritious. I Plateau Busted in this way because I wanted to test if it was the sugar that revved up my metabolism and got rid of the excess water in my body through urination. What I've found is that this is largely the case, although there seems to be no added "oomph" to using sugar-laden snack foods as opposed to foods with sugary components to them, like danishes or glazed donuts. To be honest, it seems better to go with the sweetbreads because they fill up your stomach and keep the hunger at bay longer. I will, however, be testing the more sugar-centric variant once more.

I've found that my metabolism has increased over the last day-and-a-half. I'm presently at work on a repetitive task, and have found that my endurance level when at it has gone up. Unfortunately, I've also found that the more sugar-centred variant has upset my sleep a bit. (The amount of coffee I drink during the day has stayed about the same throughout.)

I've also reached a kind of moment in this diet. I've weighed myself naked throughout the diet, in order to control for difference in clothes weight. Afterwards, though, I weighed myself fully clothed with light slippers, as I used to during the first month of this blog's existence. I weighed in at between 226 and 227 pounds clothed, which is within a pound of my lowest weight since June began. Tomorrow, day 50, is likely to be the point where I sink to the lowest weight I've had since May 31st.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 222 pounds.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Day 48: Back To The Usual, With A Twist

I've shifted back to the usual kind of Plateau Buster - one with sugared foods. In fact, after yesterday's debacle, I've shifted over to the other extreme, for test purposes. My "big breakfast" was a small bag of caramel corn and two snack cakes, both of which total 1,060 calories. The residuum of 190 calories is reserved for supper.

Before I reveal the result, I should add a warning about the "extreme" use of the Plateau Buster that I'm currently using. Once the morning ration of (in this case) approx. 1000 calories is gone, that's it for the end of the day except for supper. If you're on a, say, 1000 calorie/day limit, then approx. 800 calories' worth of sweet stuff is all you'll eat until a small snack-sized dinner at the end of the day.

The trouble with using candy or (in this case) caramel corn or snack cakes as a sugar booster is that they hardly fill up the stomach. Once again, I emphasize (with stomach growling) that once the big breakfast is done with, that's the end of the eating for the day except for the small supper. Danishes, donuts, et. al. seem to provide an adequate compromise between sugar-caloric and stomach-filling. Calorie-rich candy doesn't.

So, again, I say that this variant is only for experimental purposes, to see if it's the sugar that results in the metabolism boost/extra water clearout. So far, the answer to this question is "yes," but the full effect won't be seen until early next week. Happy rest-of-the-weekend.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 224 1/2 pounds.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Day 47: Lower Metabolism, No Drop

The first day I've used the Plateau Buster with a non-sugared food item was definitely a "bust." My metabolism has slowed down, and my weight as measured today hasn't shrunk. Given what I know of the technique, this result is a sign that it's not working as it should.

So, I'm calling a halt to it in its present form, and am shifting back to the sugared alternative - which, for me, has meant sweetbreads (danishes, donuts, cinnamon buns) up to now. My digestive makeup may be unusual in this respect, but that's what the results for me show: no sugar means no metabolism boost, no unusual increase in urination, no weight loss. I'll have to confine experimental alternatives of the Plateau Buster to sugar-centric foods.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: still 226 pounds.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Day 46: Less Fat, Same Weight

I will have to use another Plateau Buster menu-shift; my weight's bounced up a pound and is at the same level as it was five days ago. As I had noted yesterday, if the supposed success of the Plateau Buster was merely due to good timing on my part, I would have been dropping again right now. I haven't been.

Thankfully, in times like this, there are other points of reassurance that aren't confined to the scale. The amount of fat in my belly is dropping; a finger-squeeze right around the belly button reveals a little more than 2 1/2 inches to the left of it and about 2 3/4 inches to the right. As long as the diet is being stuck to, and you're consuming less than you go through, such points of bodily reassurance can help in keeping morale up.

As I also mentioned earlier, I'll be trying this Plateau Buster with non-sugared food - specifically some egg noodles in soup. If it doesn't make a difference, then I'll shift back to the sugared foods. The next try, over the next few days, will show whether or not the sugar or the calories, if not both, are the decisive routine-buster. As is usual with the Plateau Buster, the full effects will be revealed in four days.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 226 pounds.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Day 45: Edging Down

That old habituation I mentioned in yesterday's entry is largely gone. So, as based upon my own experience, if you find that your own weight loss has been rendered harder by a hunger attack at an old weight level of yours, toughing it out will make the hunger pangs go away in a day or two.

I also mentioned that, if my weight hadn't lowered today, I would be re-using the Plateau Buster technique. The reason why I waited was to see if the Plateau Buster had launched a drop, or whether I began to use it when a drop from a plateau was due anyway. If it had been the latter case, then I would have been assigning credit where it wasn't due.

Based upon today's weighing of myself, though, the Plateau Buster does push the weight downwards. I've eaten the 1,250 calories/day by the regular schedule; my weight has dropped, but only by a little. This is the fourth day after I initially reached 226 lbs. unclothed. Normally, I would have been using the Plateau Buster today, so if the technique was a mere placebo, I should have been dropping more today. I'm still at the same weight I was two days ago.

I'm going to be testing the Plateau Buster once again, starting Friday morning, unless I see tomorrow that the plateau is melting all on its own. Indications from today suggest that it won't, without that push. As I said yesterday, I'll be using non-sugary food for the next time.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 225 pounds.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Day 44: Heavier and Hungrier

Last night, I bumped into a dormant but well-established habit re-asserting itself. Before this entire experiment began, I used to eat a moderate-sized meal in the morning or early afternoon, and then sent myself off to sleep with a huge dinner. As last night wore on, I begame hungrier and hungrier, even though I was sticking to the same level of calorie restriction that I've become used to.

Evidently, the shape, as well as the look and feel, of my body at its present weight has triggered an unconscious expectation that I can go back to the old eating habits. So, here's the word: if, like me, you're shrinking your weight down from an unusually high level, you will encounter a tug of hunger once you get down to a long-established weight level. It'll kick in at the time(s) when you had usually eaten big. If that level is above where you want to be, then an extra challenge awaits once your diet takes you to it.

Ironically, this hunger resumption occurred during a time when I managed to gain a pound from yesterday. At the consumption level I'm at, I estimate that I should be shedding - if I were a reliable input-output machine, which no living person is - about 1/2 pound/day. Even though I've stuck at the same weight I had been at four days ago, it hasn't quite been long enough for me to call it a plateau this time. If I'm still at the same weight (or more) tomorrow, I'll pull out a special variant of the Plateau Buster which tests whether or not it'll work with non-sugary foods.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 226 pounds.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Day 43: Approaching A Kind Of Closure

Fully clothed, I've weighed in at 228-229 pounds this evening, which is the same weight I was when I started this blog. It took me about 32 days to go from 229 pounds to about 264 pounds. It's taken me 43 days to go from c. 264 pounds to about 229 pounds, fully clothed. Had I stuck to my original calorie level of 850 C/day, I probably could have reversed my c. 35 lb. weight gain in the same time that I gained it.

This was not to be the case, for two reasons. The first reason is, I've had several diet interruptions, with one being completely self-imposed and the others being ones in which I was basically complicit, as I could have taken sick. The other reason is the shifting weight scale, which has bumped me from 850 calories/day to 1,250/day. The reasons behind the use of this kind of calorie scale are also two in number: one, to link future hunger satiation with weight loss; two, to head off any incipient anorexia. There's always the risk of getting to love dieting so completely that the process becomes an end in itself. If you consume more calories than you take in, regardless of what your present BMI is, then you will lose (more) weight over the long term.

Although my weight is the same now as it was when I started, my body isn't quite the same shape as it was. On the one hand, I've still got a bit of a pot; on the other hand, I'm (mostly comfortably) wearing my belt at a notch tighter than where it used to be. So, the distribution of my fat has changed so as to make me more "apple-ish," even though I'm at the same weight that I was at the beginning.

Unless I zig-zag, I'm on the verge of going into weight territory where I haven't been for years. I have three pounds to go before I clock in at a weight lower than any of the scale readings I've had while writing this blog.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 225 pounds.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Day 42: Plateau Buster, Assessment Day

Now that I'm back on a normal food regimen for this diet - meaning, 1,250 calories/day consumed in five meals/day - I've seen a hint of what made me back away from the plateau buster earlier: after several weighings at around 6 PM, I found that I've gained half a pound over the last day. Fully clothed, with light slippers on, I weighed in at 230 lbs; unclothed, I weighed in at 226 1/2 pounds.

This slight gain isn't enough to make me abandon it. I have three meals behind me so far this day, even if the calorie count for all of them is slightly less than each of the big breakfasts I ate over the past two days. Since my weight is 3 1/2 pounds below the plateau level I started off at, I've decided that the plateau buster is a real, workable technique, although only an ancillary one to a real diet of the fat-burning type.

Here are its limits:

- This technique, as fully explained in the E-book obtainable at this Website, only works as part of a stuck-to diet. If you're not on a diet, it won't help you sustainably lose weight.
- It acts as a kind of "equalizer." I use it when a reduction of calories has not met with corresponding weight loss. This disparity is what makes it go: the use of the plateau buster should result in a catch-up to trend, not an acceleration of it.
- From what I can tell, it partially depends upon clearing fluid out that has been accumulated in the body.
- It also depends upon breaking food habit to speed the body's metabolism up to normal from diet-shutdown mode. Both this point and the last add up to the point two above: it's only an equalizer, which should get you back on trend. Whatever the underlying trend is depends upon the difference between the calories you consume and the calories you use.
- It also depends upon prior habituation to dieting. Anyone who isn't, will find it a special challenge to fast between the breakfast and supper. I mention that I started experimenting with the plateau buster after I deliberately pulled myself off the diet as a resolve test, and passed that test by going back on the diet.

Despite these limits, I believe it is a valuable technique for this reason: it's a frustration-lessener. One of the frustrating parts of experiencing a plateau is that the input-output relation is seemingly broken: you've got the input down, but the output isn't coming through. If this goes on for a few or several days, then it becomes a real dragdown and confidence drainer. In fact, the temptation to go off the diet does increase, from my own experience, because sticking to the calorie ration doesn't seem to matter than much anymore.

Luckily for me, I haven't experienced the annoyance of being accused of cheating on my diet when I haven't. The plateau buster may be of added use in these circumstances (especially if the big breakfast is eaten before anyone else in the household is awake, and nothing is eaten until the light supper near the end of that day.)

That's what I've got, with both limits and benefits. The plateau buster has, for all intents and purposes, passed the test as a side technique.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 226 1/2 pounds, as stated above.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Day 41: "Plateau Bust," Second Day

Today is the second and final day of me eating a (comparatively) huge breakfast and small supper, and nothing in between, with the breakfast being sugary. I've settled upon glazed donuts for this trial: five of them in the morning. At 950 calories for that meal, I'm left with 300 calories, or less, for supper.

This "plateau busting" technique is designed to shake the body out of normal fat-burning mode, where five small meals are eaten each day. If it works in shaking out the accumulated fluid, then overnight urination will be greater than normal.

I'm summing up the technique, as based upon my recent experience with it, because it largely works. The last plateau I faced was 230 pounds, a level that I stayed at for three days most recently. Now, after using the "plateau buster" for two days, I'm down four pounds from the plateau level. Unless something weird happens tomorrow, it looks like I can call the "plateau buster" a success and take the quotation marks off it, while I go back to the five small meals/day that I've become habituated to.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 226 pounds.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Day 40: "Plateau Busting" Seems To Pre-Work In This Case

I saw it was coming last night - specifically, in the middle of the overnight sleep stretch when I had to wake up and evacuate my bladder. I had to do so subsequently this morning. This dual bathroom session means that I lost a lot of water from bed to wake-up.

I mentioned yesterday that my weight after waking up and urinating, but before consuming any food or water, was unusually low. So, it's possible that my weight at 6 PM caught up with yesterday morning's shrinkage. It's also possible, though, that the "plateau busting" is beginning to work. Here's why:

In order to prepare for it, I bought a dozen glazed donuts from the store. Each donut is 190 calories. So, to fit the donuts into my calorie regimen, I had to eat five per day, or ten over two days. As a result, I had two left over, which I ate in place of a meal last evening. The rest of my ration was filled with a 120-calorie snack last night.

So, I dabbled in a mini-buster last night. Whether or not this mini-bust had an effect is debatable, but the loss I have to report today isn't. Since the full "plateau buster" takes two days, and tends to take two subsequent days for its full effect to be felt, I can't quite move it up from candidate technique to full one. It's moving closer, though.

I also should point out that the extra hunger, which for me kicks in about 6 hours after eating the big morning meal, is back too. In a sense, it's a good tiding, that my body needs more calories than before and is burning up more fat that it otherwise would. We'll see in a few days, though, whether or not the "plateau buster" will work as indicated.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 228 pounds.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Day 39: Third Day Stuck

I'm stuck on the 230-lb plateau again, this time for the third day in a row. The only direct cause for optimism I have is the fact that I'm wearing my belt at the seventh notch, one tighter than I've normally hitched up at when normally chubby. Even that point of hope is a somewhat "loose" one, because the belt is sometimes tight around my hips.

I do, however, have a more indirect cause for optimism. When I weighed myself this morning, right after getting up but also after evacuating my bladder, I weighed in at 226 lbs. in my socks and briefs. Had I gotten fully dressed at that point, I would have weighed the same as I did at 6 PM today, while naked.

This disconstancy through the day may be distressing to some, but it can be cause for optimism. If you weigh the same at your normal weighing time, but see your weight drop at odd times in the day, it's a sign that the drop may very well be making its way to your normal weighing time as long as you stick it through. At least, that's what common sense would say.

Regardless of such hope points, though, I am stuck for the third day on what is clearly a plateau. So, I'm going to try out the "plateau buster" technique once again, with clear sailing and deliberate intent. For the next two days, I'm limiting my menu to two meals per day: one big sugary breakfast and a small dinner, which will both take up the 1,250 calorie/day ration I've confined myself to.

I'll find out whether or not it works in the next few days.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 230 pounds flat.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Day 38: Down To Slow, But In The Right Direction

I suppose it couldn't have lasted, although fluid accumulation may be kicking in as well. After the first day of resuming the 1,250 calorie/day ration rated by my present weight, I've lost little, but I have lost a little.

One technique that might work in spotting fluid buildup is the use of a hand-caliper technique that I first saw in a late-1970s' Special K ad. Every now and then, I pinch my belly, after tightening my belt up, and measure the girth I've pinched with a measuring tape. Each side of the belly button gets one pinch. (If you're interested, the accompanying slogan of the ad was, "Pinch an Inch and You're Overweight." And yes, it was aimed at men - or their wives.)

Recently, I had pinched 2 3/4 inches on the left side of my belly button and 3 inches on the right side. Just now, I got a measure of 3 inches left, 3 1/4 inches right.

Since I've been losing weight as the measure has increasesd, the notion that I'm getting fatter isn't plausible, especially since I haven't eaten above 1,250 calories since last Saturday. (Three days - 1,000 calories/day; 1 day - 1,250.) Unless my body has figured out the trick of redistributing the fat in it, there has to be something else expanding my belly.

The most plausible guess is that it's water, a byproduct from using the glucose that a hungry body turns its fat into. (Interestingly enough, the other main byproduct of glucose consumption is CO2.) Unfortunately, my previous attempts to get any water out of my body haven't met with success, weight-wise. There is, however, one trick I haven't tried as of yet: sweatin' it out.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 229 1/2-230 pounds.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Day 37: Leaner and Hungrier

During the later stages of a serious diet, body vanity can do a bit of good, even if it's basically a distraction during the early stages of an extended diet. (After all, if you look good when fat, then why get thin? Apart from medical reasons, I don't know.)

I still have a reasonably thick layer of insulation under my skin, but I'm beginning to see subtle signs of genuine thinness emerge. With my shirt off and looking at myself in the mirror, I can see 'shadows' where my most protrubent lower ribs are. If I look closely, I can see hints of my floating right rib. I can almost tell where my rib cage ends through sight. I can't see my belt-buckle spot on my pants, but if I stand up straight I can see what colour my pants are, even below the belly-button level. With slouch all gone in profile, my stomach only protrudes out to the level of my breastbone. (Okay, my nipples.)

The candidate technique for plateau-busting is still working, but I've discovered a real side effect to it: a lot more hunger, once back to the same old calorie level for a couple of days. My hunger pangs had largely disappeared recently, but that's because I fell into a habit. The big-breakfast technique, especially when combined with temporarily going off the diet completely, does jolt out of habit to the point where the stifled hunger feelings come back full force. It was a bit of a chore for me today to stay with the calorie ration.

In retrospect, I should have reminded myself that the hunger travails were a good sign, that my body expects more food and thus hasn't gone into diet-hibernation mode. If all goes with expectation, my metabolism won't be in low/slow mode, which would facilitate the loss process.

The weight level I'm at now is the same one I bounced off a week ago. Given this round trip, I could brag about losing "thirty in thirty" or admit to losing thirty in thirty-seven. A three-time weighing at the top of the hour has confirmed that I'm at the 230 lb. level once again, so this current session of me using myself as my own experimental animal may continue tomorrow.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 230 pounds.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Day 36: Whipsawed

As it turns out, I wrote off the technique of big breakfast, relatively small dinner, and nothing in between, too early. Last night, I had to empty a full bladder three times, which meant that I was finally getting rid of the excess water that's been replacing my shrunken supply of fat.

This evening, I got a weighing that was three pounds below yesterday's. That's what I got, three times in succession.

In the financial-services industry, this whole experience is known as being "whipsawed." What it means is: you get a good idea; you put money down on it; things go wrong; you bail out of it; the loss turns out to be temporary; and you see that you were right all along, only you wound up with a loss instead of a gain because you had bailed out.

On Main Street, though, being "whipsawed" isn't that bad. All it means is that you're right on something, but you're not sufficiently sure of your footing as of yet to know that you're right. Outside of playing the market, a "whipsawing" is just a way of learning that you don't have enough experience yet to trust your own judgement. It's a typical journeyperson's mistake.

This learning experience has given me some good news to report. Eating a big breakfast that consumes most of your daily ration of calories, a dinner that takes up the rest, and nothing caloric in between, does get your weight dropping when shrinking fat is not met with shrinking weight. It's worked for me twice - and the second time it worked was right after I had given up on it. I can't say that it's a plateau-buster as of yet, because it hasn't been for me, but I'll try it out when the next one comes along. My social calendar is going to be minimal for some time now, so I can test it without any complications getting in the way. If it doesn't work specifically, I'll try other variations, such as the big-lunch option. (The big dinner option seems to have lesser potential.)


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 231 pounds.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Day 35: Luck Runs Out

After yesterday's social occasion and consumption of the superfluous food items, as well as today's continuation of an attempt to trick my body into a metabolism boost, I've found that I've gained two more pounds. My earlier luck is evidently running out.

With regard to the metabolism boosting, it looks like the body adjusts quickly to tricks of that sort. The same fake-out may only work once, or not work at all if I had been the beneficiary of a lucky coincidence the first time 'round. The only way to find out is to adjust the time of the "big meal," which I will try in subsequent days.

I also should make a note about encouragement or discouragement when dieting. Your desired weight is not always the same as a medically desirable weight, even when you're dieting, unless you're losing poundage for medically-compatible reasons. Your ideal weight in the eyes of others differs too, including from your own. As a result, it's not that abnormal for someone else to insist that you go on a diet when you're plainly obese, but to ply you with food when you're down to chubby. Such a person does not want you to lose weight until you're thin, but for you to take off enough to bring you down to slightly overweight - his or her opinion as to what your ideal weight is.

I can't venture any opinion about such a person, who may act that way because he or she doesn't take the lose-weight exhortations in our culture that seriously. "You're obese; lose X pounds or suffer the consequences" may translate into "oh, just lose a few pounds and go back to what you were." Such a person is likely to be easygoing; questioning their motive may result in finding a good one, though it be one that's at odds with your own. (Try comparing such a person with someone who complains about your obesity when you haven't reached the semi-anorexic level within two weeks.)

It would be nice if we could step into isolation booths while dieting, but we can't detach ourselves from our social matrix in real life - nor would most of us want to, because we need those others (as those others need us.) Exactly the same personality qualities of a supposed "diet destroyer" may be vital to us in other areas.

I can only think of two solutions to this kind of conundrum: either lower your weight-loss ambitions, or make yourself scarce during your diet and present everyone with a fait accompli.

Personal confession: at that social occasion I mentioned, I had a really fun time. And yeah, I did like eating the gifts of food I had gotten.


[Update: I actually reversed myself regarding the plateau buster technique in the next day's entry, "Whipsawed;" I also explained why.]


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: 234 pounds.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Day 34: Still Stuck

I don't quite know how to explain it. Despite me going back to the 1000 calories/day that my present weight rates, and despite me reaching into a fool-the-body trick that worked once before, my weight is still the same. Today's weighing is still two pounds above the one I reached two days ago.

This plateau I'm on is the first serious one I've encountered since starting the diet. I might even be reduced to reducing my calorie intake back to 850 calories/day. The ironic aspect to this plateau is that my sense of hunger has been reduced: this morning, my stomach was audibly growling for some minutes, but I didn't feel hungry while it was doing so. The most I felt was that I ought to be hungry. So, even though I'm not losing any weight right now, I'm still seeing a benefit from becoming used to dieting: the hunger you feel at the beginning of one does eventually go away. All it takes is endurance and perseverence, and the pangs become less noticeable once you've seen through about 3 weeks to a month's worth of diet; it does get easier as time goes on. The diet habit can get so strong that it's possible to "break diet," go back on it, and treat this break as no more momentous than the off-time between work weeks.

Two notes. First of all, the entry is up early because of another social occasion I'm going to. As is customary, I'm going to get rid of any gifts of food that I've gotten over the past week in an all-out off-the-diet evening. Secondly, a note about "plumbing." I've found that my #2s are much more watery than they used to be, though not at the level of personal embarassment.


Weight as of approx. 3 PM today: Still at 232 pounds.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Day 33: Stuck On The Yo-Yo

This is the second time I've yo-yo'ed around a weight that's got a zero at the end of it. Despite me not having any unusual eating habit or calorie level to attribute to it, I've gained two pounds since yesterday. The platueau I'm currently on has proven to be more intractable that the one I encountered at the 240 lb. level.

Once again, I have to confess that I'm at a loss as to why. It might be fluid gain, except for the fact that any such fluid is hard to get rid of, as I've found. The odds of it being caused by additional fat are much longer against, as I've seen evidence that my hips have shrunk beyond what is normal for me at this weight range.

So, I have to content myself with the thought that I've been wearing that old belt of mine (one that I've had for almost nineteen years) at the same notch that I wore it at when 220 lbs. or so, and at times can wear it at the same notch I used, back in the late-mid 1990s, when I was around, at or below 200 lbs. I can do so at the same time I'm weighing in at more than 230 lbs, once again. According to that table I've been using, this gain today means it's back down to 1,000 calories/day.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: Back up to 232 pounds.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Day 32: Looking Back

Despite some earlier hopes of mine, I can confirm that it has been harder to take it off than to put it on in terms of time. Weighing myself in the old way - clothes on - got a figure of 235 lbs., six pounds heavier than when I started off on the weight-gain track.

Of course, this point is easy to realize logically, because the most I can shrink my calorie intake is to zero/day (which of course is lunacy.) At that intake, given how much I've lost (and occasionally gained) on intakes ranging from 850 to 1,250 calories/day, I would have lost a little more than a pound a day. If my intake while fattening up had been sufficient to add, say, 2 lbs/day in that same amount, there's no way I could have taken it off in that same stretch of time.

In a way, I'm glad I began to get somewhat comfortable with being fat. Even now, I still look fat, and technically I'm on the heavy side of "obese." A serious diet takes so long, you have to acquire a liking for dieting as well as somewhat of a liking for the shape you show. Otherwise, the wait may begin to grate.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: Back to 230 pounds.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Day 31: Two Pounds Back

Evidently, the use of a snack food as a substitute for meals wasn't that good an idea. Despite me keeping the calorie count at 1,250 for yesterday, I weighed in at 232 pounds, two more pounds than yesterday. So, it's back to 1,000 calories/day for me, and back to the shelf for another plausible but (when tested) counterproductive idea. A little hunger throughout the day is preferable.


Weight as of approx. 6 PM today: As stated above, 232 pounds.