Dave's Not Here

Cheating Makes Plateaus

by on Apr.14, 2010, under Workout Logs

I’ve been bitching and moaning for some time now about my plateau:

F-ing PlateauBut, as alluded to in Confessions of a Cheeter, it’s not like I don’t know what’s going on.  And, though the honesty pains me, I have not followed my advice and gotten back on plan.  My workouts have been going well.  I’m still doing Stronglifts 5×5, and the weight is steadily going up.  Today I added two extra sets of deadlifts, and they really felt good.

I had one really bad day in Florida, while I was on vacation.  And, I enjoyed it.  I didn’t enjoy the feeling, but, it was good to take a break.  But, since getting back home, I have not had a single day completely on plan.  And, unlike my cheats of the past, where I stuck to proteins, I’ve been cheating with carbs.  So, I’m obviously out of ketosis Fat Burning Mode.  The only question is why?  Why am I undermining myself?

After the first cheat of a day, the others are much easier.  If I’ve already eaten carbs, why not go whole hog.  But, the really sad part is, I’m not even eating good stuff.  I’m eating empty carbs for no real reason.  For some reason, even though I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I seem to have lost a lot of motivation.

Maybe it’s because I’m so close.  Medium shirts fit me really well.  They are slightly tight in the chest / arms, and they don’t hit my little belly at all.  I’m wearing 32″ pants and shorts.  Someone even told me I look “sickly”.  (I’m not that thin — I think it was pretty funny to be called “sickly” by someone who weighs over 300lbs).  Looking at myself, as unbiased as I can, I still have about 20-25 lbs left to lose.  I still have a belly — no visible six pack yet.  And, I still have a half inch or so of fat all over my body.  I’m in that place where I first started gaining weight, but didn’t notice, because I was putting it on everywhere at the same time.

I think that may be the only reason.  I’m ready to be done.  I want to do real workouts.  I want to run.  I need to prepare for the Warrior Dash.  I’m hoping that, on my physical on April 27th, the doctor tells me to stop Medifast, and start upping the cardio for the end game.  Either way, I’ll have to do something to get prepared for the 3 mile run in the dash.  I REALLY want that hat!  I think that hope is also torpedo’ing my resolve.  I want to be done with my current diet and start something new.  Which, is about right, timing wise.  I can’t really stick to one plan for more than 3 months or so — I get bored.

So, what now?  I can’t continue this downward spiral.  I need to finish, so I can get on with a more normal life.  I’m looking forward to switching to a more normal meal plan:

    Medifast My Plan
    Breakfast 100 cal Breakfast 200 cal
    Morning Snack 100 cal Morning Snack 100 cal
    Lunch 100 cal Lunch 300-500 cal
    Afternoon Snack 100 cal Afternoon Snack 100 cal
    Dinner 300-500 cal Dinner 300-500 cal
    Evening Snack 100 cal Evening Snack 100 cal
    Total: 800-1000 cal Total: 1100-1500 cal

The basic differences are: Larger breakfast and lunch. I still want to eliminate carbs from the last two meals, and, obviously, keep them low-ish on the first 4. The snacks will likely be protein shakes or half a protein bar. . . or something like that. And, I will make it a point to have protein at every meal / snack.

But, I digress.  To get to that goal, I need to drop my fat.  And, the only way I can do that is to stop cheating, and finish already.  If I do things right, I should only have about 1-2 months left of dieting.  Wish me luck.


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