Part 1 of 3
I have talked before about my method of setting yearly goals, setting them on my birthday in February instead of on January 1. It’s mainly because I’m so opposed to clichés and the behaviors that go with them, and by the time my birthday arrives, many people have already abandoned their January 1 goals, especially if they were made because they perceive that the goal is what others expect of them. Then, in July, just about every blogger and business expert posts a “we’re halfway through the year, how are your goals going” post or article. I’m not much on that either, mainly because again, that’s what everyone else does. Curiously enough, we’re just a few days away from the halfway point of my “goals year,” and something just happened that forced me to stop, examine, and plan.
Last fall, I started donating plasma to get a little extra money. Part of that process is getting your vital signs checked and a blood sample screened. Part of the vital signs is getting weighed. It has become so routine I barely even notice, and sometimes I look at the weight but most of the time I don’t. For whatever reason, today I did pay attention and was alarmed.
I’ve also written extensively about my weight loss battle, which included weight loss surgery. It was a smashing success – eight months after the surgery, I was down 88 pounds. 
Then I hit a wall and was neither gaining nor losing. As my business has encountered some bumps in the road, we have had to be conservative with our money, and I started doing the plasma thing to cover as much as I could. One of the things I have had to put off is consultations with my weight loss surgeon (and believe me, she’s not happy with me about that). But I have basically stayed on that plateau for about a year now. Then today, when I donated plasma, I checked the scale reading during my vital signs check – 212 pounds.
Ugh.
When I first explored weight loss surgery, I was 287 pounds. That’s A LOT of weight for a guy that is only 5-foot-4.5 in height. I should be under 160. After the 6-month prep process, I was down to 266 on surgery day. That last follow-up with the surgeon in July last year I was 199, down 88 pounds. Then I hit the wall. And today I discover that I have gained 13 of the pounds back.
The good news is that I am still 65 pounds lighter than I was in May 2017. The bad news is obvious. It is clear that I lost focus on what I should be doing. The first step is to assess where I am.
What is the situation? I found this handy tool that calculates how many calories you should consume each day based on your gender, age, height and normal activity level. The calculator is based on the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation, a formula that has been shown to be an accurate way of estimating calorie needs in numerous studies. This calculator stated that I should have 2,085 calories a day to maintain weight, 1,668 to lose weight, and 1,251 to lose weight fast. Considering I have about 70% less stomach than the average person, I need to lop at lest 30% of that calorie count off, giving me numbers of 1,460, 1,168 and 875.
Now that I know what the excess intake is…
When did this happen? A pound of fat is 3,500 calories, so I have added 45,500 calories recently to gain 13 pounds. If we go conservative and say it has taken 2 months to add these 13 pounds, I have exceeded my calorie count by 758 calories per day. That means I’m consuming at least 2,200 calories a day – and it’s probably more, because it probably hasn’t taken 2 months to put these pounds back on. And like everyone else, when I over-indulge in food, it is never on anything good. Has anyone ever OD-ed on carrots? Are there any scientists studying widespread broccoli binges? Hardly.
This shows me I have not been tracking my food intake accurately, for one. Another thing is I’m not getting enough protein, a fact I already knew because once in May and once in July, the protein in my blood was too low to donate. You have to stay away for a week when that happens.
Why is this situation present? I have dealt with emotional eating in the past; it was a major factor that led me to need the surgery in the first place. My bariatric practice requires patients to spend at least 2 sessions with their therapist to ensure you are in a good place emotionally and mentally before the surgery. The surgery is not a magic pill; you will not lose weight if you simply have the surgery and keep living exactly the way you were living before. My practice also requires your surgery to be signed off on by the nutritionist, who helps you prepare for the eating habits you will need to be successful. The therapist makes sure you understand your previous overeating triggers and helps you set up for success in dealing with them. After surgery I was very successful, as is evident by my 88-pound loss. Since then I had lost focus. I believe emotional eating crept back in, and I channeled it by eating when I felt high stress levels – which has been a lot in the down times of running the business.
With the assessment of the situation complete, I now move on to the Assign and Act sections. Take a guess at what the next two posts are going to be called?
And of course, we can apply this to business. Is your business stuck, or not performing as you would like and expect? Do an assessment with the 3 W’s shown above, what, when and why.
I’ll give what one of the Act possibilities will be – hiring a Virtual Assistant. A good VA will take some things off your plate so you can get the business moving forward or faster as needed. Contact Us and let’s discuss how we can work together to make things happen.
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