Gained 20 Pounds in 2 Months Says the Doctor

I knew it was going to be a bad couple of months, but I didn't know it was going to be this bad.  The only time I ever check my weight is when I have a doctor's appointment, and yesterday I weighed in at 350 pounds, which was 20 pounds greater than the last time I was there 2 months prior.  Over the last two months, I have not cooked for myself at all.  Every single meal has been eaten at a restaurant or fast-food joint.  During those two months, I have enjoyed myself immensely since I was going out more and socializing more, but it has obviously taken its toll both on my weight gain and on my bank account.  The thing is, I could get depressed over the situation and beat myself up over it, but I will honestly tell you, that doing this has given me a lot of joy.  I am at a crossroads now, because I don't want to change my lifestyle even though my body is telling me I must.

Probably the biggest proponent of this weight gain has been my addiction to Energy Drinks and Sodas, as I wrote about yesterday in my blog post, followed by my sweet tooth and getting ice cream multiple times per week.  Heading to McDonalds and ordering pizza ever week has not done me any favors either.  If I truly do not wish to change my habits about eating out instead of cooking, at least for now, then what I can do is at least adjust what I purchase at these restaurants and perhaps cut out some of the fast-food establishments I go to for healthier options.  My plan to still enjoy life while losing weight needs to start with the following steps:

1).  No more energy drinks or Soda:  I need to cut out the caffeine anyways as it ultimately messes with my mental capacity to think clearly.

2).  Feed my sweet tooth fruits rather than ice cream:  Fruit is delicious and has the sugar that I crave, but in a much healthier package.  I will need to substitute my cravings for sweets with Fruit instead.

3).  Stop going to fast food restaurants:  Sorry McDonalds, I am just going to go to quality restaurants instead.  Yes, it will cost more to do so, but I would rather eat healthier and still enjoy going out than continually drown myself in unhealthy processed foods.

4).  Start walking or shooting hoops again:  I was on a good streak a couple of months ago by walking and shooting basketball at the park, but I quickly dropped that habit once I started streaming more.

5).  If you catch yourself doom scrolling, go to the gym or exercise instead:  It is such an epic waste of time scrolling on twitter and I find myself doing that for hours on end.  I even wrote a blog post about it.  To this end, if I see myself doom scrolling, I will just get up and start walking or going to a gym instead or even perform a home workout.

Again, the point of this post is not to completely change what brings me joy, which is going out and eating great and delicious food.  The point is, adjust what foods I am eating and what drinks I am drinking, while catching myself when I am doing useless activities like doom scrolling and switch those to positive ones like walking, home workouts, or going to the gym.  My streaming lately has been motivated by money again, and by doing so, has put me into a bad mood.  This also triggers my need to be put into a good mood, which triggers my need for food.  I will also work on my stream again to make it more enjoyable and less about the money and viewers and more about the connections with others and enjoying the journey again.  

For once, I am not going to get depressed about my situation and instead take action to combat the news I got of my weight gain.  My blood pressure also was not great, so I was prescribed another pill to help combat with that.  If I were to just lose some weight and exercise more during the moments that I need to, I know I would not need these pills at all to keep me healthy, which, as I really do wish to be without pills in general, would create a piece of mind within me that I would appreciate.  Eat healthier, stop doomscrolling and turn it into exercise, and I think that plan alone will make for some steady progress over the next 2 months until I see my doctor again and tip the scales, hopefully much lower.

Until next time,

Blackboa

P.S.  My Doctor offered if I wanted to go on Wegovy, but cautioned that these weight loss pills alone don't do much if you don't change your diet and exercise routine along with them.  For now, I decided to work on my diet and exercise routine instead of going on the pill, but if things don't change all that much over the next two months, I will consider going on it.