Checking In

Hmm..no posts in ten days. That does not really show a dedication to this blog, does it? Fortunately my dedication to the diet itself is still strong.When I last posted I was in the eighties; 398.6. As of yesterday I still am in the eighties: 386.2. Not much of a change after ten days, but it is a loss, and that is what is important.

There have been couple of rough times. I didn’t follow the plan exactly when I went out of town for the Historic Romance. I didn’t screw up to badly, but I didn’t follow the plan. Nor did I follow the plan on Thursday when I had lunch at Panda. That was a mistake. A serious mistake.

 

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Back in the Eighties again.

Hey Folks,

I had a thought that I would start thinking of my diet as a bit of a time machine. Each time I enter a new ten pound range, I’ll picture that as the corresponding decade; any weight in the 90’s (for instance 390-399) will be the nineties. Etc. Etc.  It might not make a lot of sense, but it works for me.

When I made the last post i was still in the 90’s: 390.6. I don’t really remember much of 1990. I know I was living in Little Rock. I know it was an unsettled time in my life. I had just left college. I had moved back in with my family, and it was tough on all of us.

As of today, I’m in the 80’s again: 389.2. Just barely in the eighties, but it is definitely the eighties. I remember even less of 1989 than I do of 1990. During at least half of that year I was in Starkville, the last year I was in College. Well, technically I was in college, but in reality I was in denial. I was in denial about my financial status. I was in denial about how deeply I was in debt. I was hiding from my parents, my creditors, and from myself. It was NOT a good year.

I honestly don’t remember what season of the year it was when I moved to Little Rock. I think it was in the spring. That feels right. The one good thing I remember is that I got a job fairly quickly. Little Rock was the first time I got a job working on the phone: I got a job working for Heritage Publishing, working as telemarketer. I wasn’t real good at it, but I was working. I worked as a telemarketer at one job or another the entire time I lived in Little Rock.

I think I’m going to enjoy this current trip through the late Eighties a lot more.

Sunday Thoughts

Super Bowel Sunday. Hard to believe, but it is true.

This has been a good week diet wise. I’ve managed to stay on purpose all week. I didn’t eat any food from restaurants, nor did I purchase any snacks from the vending machines at work. Most importantly, I didn’t even want to do either of those things.

The most important lesson of the week may have been simply that I can join my friends in social settings with out eating. More importantly, I learned that when I do that, nobody cares. For example when Turlaugh, Jakob and I went out to Perkins after the SCA meeting on Tuesday, neither of them cared that I only ordered water and a diet coke. Also, none of the Dragons gave a damn when I declined to join them for breakfast this morning. My friends understand what I’m trying to do. Not only do they understand it, they are very, very supportive.

The weigh in for the company Biggest Loser Contest on Thursday was particularly enjoyable. Yeah, I said enjoyable. That weigh in showed that I had lost 50 pounds since the start of the competition. I was on vacation Friday so I don’t know if that still leaves me in the lead or not, but it was, truly, an enjoyable experience. I can’t weight until the next one.

The coming week my main focus, other than sticking with the diet plan is to exercise more. I managed to use my pedometer to mark a minimum of 2500 steps a day, but this coming week I’m aiming for 3500, and at least three visits to the gym. It’s time I start using what I’m paying for.

Today’s weigh in: 390.6

 

Yeah, I’m Bragging a Bit….

Yeah, it’s bragging but so what. Deal.

We are having a biggest loser contest at work that started the first Wednesday of January. At that weigh in, the first weigh in, I logged a starting weight for the contest of 441 pounds.

You don’t know how much I hate admitting that, but it’s true.

The next weigh in for the contest was on January 19, 2011. At that weigh in I logged a weight of 407 pounds: a 34 pound loss in two weeks. It was solely due to dieting; to changing the amount of food I eat, the types of food I eat, and by drinking a lot of water. No pills, etc, or anything like that. Yeah, it was a large loss, but you know what? I’m a fat man, and I have a LOT of weight to lose. That kind of loss is not totally unheard of when a very fat person starts to diet. You could say I was pleased. It would be a bit of an understatement, but you could say it.

Today was another scheduled weigh in for the contest. I knew I wouldn’t experience the same high number, but I also knew I would show a loss. I emptied my pockets, took my shoes off, and stepped on the scale. The numbers flickered a bit but eventually stopped. ……

Wait for it…..

391.7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I honestly can’t remember the last time I was under 400 pounds. I just can’t.

For those that are doing the math, let me make it simple for you: 50 pounds.

Let me say that again: 50 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I know those kinds of numbers will not last forever. Yes, I know that I’ve still got a  very long way to go. Yes,   I know all that. I truly know that this is just the beginning of a long process.

You know what else I know? I know I’m excited. I know that I feel better than I have in a very long time. I know that I am eternally grateful for all of the support I have received from my girlfriend, my Mom, Sister, and Brother In Law, and from ALL of my friends and co-workers. I also know that I can’t wait for the next weigh in.

One Month In

So, it’s been what, a week since posted here? Yeah, I think that is about right. It feels right anyway.  It’s hard to believe, but it is already February. The first month of the new year has truly flown by.

I’ve been on this diet now for a month now and  I am, to steal a few words from one of my favorite songs, “I’m alive and feeling fine”.  Based on my previous dieting experience, an experience that stretches back at least 38 years, I am continually amazed  at just how “fine” I feel.  This plan that I’m following, the Eat Clean Diet, has been remarkably easy to follow. I’m not craving any kind of particular food. I don’t get hungry. The plain and simple fact is that I’m not eating as much as the diet, or the plan, allows me to eat. The plan calls for me to eat six small meals a day, and frankly I run out of day before I get all six meals in.

Now, I have to admit that there have been a couple of times when I went “off plan”. The weekend in Jackson, though that wasn’t to bad. The truly spectacular foul up was at the 3 Dragons party last Saturday. Now, I didn’t eat as much at the party as I would have a month and half ago, but I did eat more that single day than I had on any day since I started this project. Just to be clear, the fault was mine; nobody made me eat. I just lost focus for a few hours that afternoon and to a lesser extent at breakfast with the Dragons the next morning. So, that sucked, but the important thing, the thing to focus on is that I got right back on track. I didn’t give up. I did, however, accept the responsibility, and got back on track.

Last night was a bit of a personal breakthrough. After our SCA business meeting Gerald, Jim, and I went out to Perkins. Now, a month and half ago I would have ordered a meal even if I wasn’t particularly hungry. Last night I was hungry, but I didn’t order anything more than a glass of water and a diet coke. I even drank the damn water first. As I type this up it sounds like such a small thing, but for me it was a huge change.

You know, as I think about it, this past month has been the longest I’ve stayed on a diet in over 17 years. I’ve proven to myself I can do it. Now I just have to prove to myself that I can stick with it. My goals for February are to both continue with the same plan, indeed to embrace it even more fully, and to get more actively exercising. I’ve been only half assed in my attempts to exercise so far, but that has to change. It is GOING to change. I’m going to make it so.