165.6 - or how I lost 2.2 pounds in one day

I have no idea.   Now I’m worried that my new scale, despite its readout down to the tenth of a pound, may not be any more accurate than the old one.

But since Wednesday is official weigh-day, I pulled out the shiny new digital scale for the second straight day, recalibrated it, stepped on it, and thats what it said - 165.6.

I did eat really well yesterday - 3 servings of fruit and veggies by by the end of lunch, a somewhat high fat but low quantity supper, and light popcorn and a few Good and plenties for a nightime snack.  I treadmilled yesterday morning and this morning, and drank nothing yesterday but skim milk, black coffee and water.

 Next post - the exciting and surprising birthday gift, or how Patty pulled off a serious and well appreciated surprise.

167.8 - Notice the decimal point

No, I did not regain 3 pounds over the weekend.  But I did get a new scale from Mom and Dad - a cool digital scale that I hope will be more accurate than the one I have been using.  So going on the assumption that the new scale is more accurate - or at any rate that I will be using it as the benchmark, and that I have lost 6 pounds so far, I am now assuming that I started at 174 and will be working down from that number.  My goal is still to be at 150 by next Christmas, I have just added 4 more pounds to lose by then.

Kind of bad day yesterday - I got up and walked and ate a good breakfast, but went with some co-workers to Chinese buffet for lunch.  Had two helpings of mongolian beef plus an eggroll plus a touch of General TSO’s chicken plus a small amount of black pepper chicken.  I did eat half a plate of cantalope - s0 got my fruit.  Not a real healthy meal, but on the bright side it is at least one full plate less food than I would have eaten prior to starting this project.  But then I went nuts after the kids went to bed, eating half a bag of barbecue baked Lays and half a box of Good and Plentys and two glasses of V8.  So not too good.  But I am writing that off and moving forward - I never thought I would do this without any lapses.  Ate a great breakfast this morning and packed a healthy lunch, so just have to watch out after work.  Did my 30 minutes on the treadmill while watching part of The Day the Earth Stood Still this morning.  And as Scarlett O’Hara said “Today is another day!”

Better Late …

Ok, ok.  I missed posting after my last weigh-in.  Shoot me.  Actaully, with the head cold I’ve had for the last week I was really wishing that somebody would shoot me.  Anyway, that’s my excuse.  I’ve been sick.

I haven’t really done much in the way of exercise as I haven’t been feeling up to it.  The last time I watched Battlestar Galactica was Tuesday.  On Thursday I did go rock climbing … my first time back in about 9 years.  That was fun, but probably ended up prolonging my cold.  Oh well.   I would like to get back into climbing, and there is a new gym that opened up near to where we live.

Anyway, I am starting to feel better and will be getting back on the elipticial trainer as soon as I am done here.  A new disk of Galactica awaits!

Oh yeah.  The scale read 204.5 on Thursday, down 2.5 pounds.

165

Down one pound from last week, six pounds total.

Had a couple bad days getting back into my pig-out mode again.  Still walking on the treadmill at least 4 times/week, although I haven’t settled on how intense to make that workout.

Overall, still doing OK, but need to keep working on the eating habits.  Pretty much hopped right out of bed this morning to work out, which is a good sign.

I fell asleep watching John Wayne in The Comancheros last night.  Anyone know how it ends?

Even Patty is helping me out.  This morning, instead of getting me a delicious but unhealthy pumpkin spice cappucino, she got me a delicious cup of dark roast coffee instead.  Thanks Patty!

An important Week

I think in a lot of ways, this week is going to be make or break for me in terms of my new healthier lifestyle.

I’m starting to experience a lot more temptation to pig out, and offering myself a lot more rationalizations.  This morning it was all I could do to drag myself out of bed to hit the treadmill, despite going to bed early.  I had a big lunch today - I ate a bunchof carrots first, and drank some water to take the edge off of the hunger, but still ate half of a pretty big frozen pizza.  (Not quite as much as I would have last year, but I ate four pieces when 2 or 3 would have been plenty.)

So I’m heading into work late today (not related to the above) and taking only healthy food with me.  In theory, tomorrow should be the day where I have established a new habit (three weeks of walking on treadmill every work day) but it doesn’t feel habitual yet.

Stay tuned for further updates…

John

The Attack of the Evil M&M’s

I had a somewhat rough day yesterday foodwise.  Patty left an open bag of peanut M&M’s in the cabinet where we hang our keys, so I had to be tempted several times.  Each time, I succumbed, although the portions were small all but one time.

We also had Papa Murphy’s pizza for supper, and I had 5 slices instead of the 3 that would have been ample.  At one point during dinner, I noticed that I was feeling something just a little unusual - but good.  I then realized that this was the first time I had really chowed on high-fat food for a week.  I think my body had missed it.

I’m counting this as a brief lapse, and the kind of thing portion-size wise that I am working to eliminate.  I did good at my other two meals yesterday, though, and this morning, so I am not going to beat myself up.  I’m looking for health progress, not health perfection.  And next time we have good pizza, I will drink some water and eat some veggies before hand to fill up a bit and hopefully reduce the tempation.  Oh, also, put the bag on top of the fridge so I don’t have to look at it.

207

Yep.  That’s what the scale told me today.  I have reached my goal for the week by losing two pounds.  Exactly two pounds.  I thought it might be a little bit more, but I can’t say that I am unhappy.

 I ate pretty well during the week, had one hike and 3 episodes of Battlestar Galactica …. while sweating on the eliptical trainer, of course.

 The early pounds come off the easiest and this thing is going to get harder as time passes, so I am glad to keep 1.5 pounds ahead of the curve.  Can’t be giving any of that back though!

 “Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian.” - Robert Orben

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Wednesday is supposed to be my official weigh day, so I weighed this morning.  And the survey says! “166.”   An additional drop of two pounds, for a total loss of five since Jan. 2nd.  (Again, scale isn’t real dependable so perhaps not exact, but the most accurate reading I could get.)

This is very affirming, especially since I broke my “smaller portions” commitment at lunch yesterday.  It is starting to feel possible that I could really see the 150’s again, still heavier than I should be but it has been a long time since I’ve been below 160.

What feels especially good is that I am actually doing it the way I envisioned.  My goals were:

1. Eat smaller portions - This can be tough, but I have done it at nearly 100% of the meals I have eaten since the 2nd.

2. Gradually add fruit and veggies to the diet - This has been easier than expected.   You just have to do it, and make sure that you have plenty of fruit available in a house where the kids love to eat fruit.  If you really count V8 as two servings of veggies (as it says on the can) then I have had days with 5 servings of fruits and vegetables!  Most days I am at three, which is 2-3 more than the past.

3. Exercise at least 4 time per week.  Again, I have surpassed my goal.  This is the one that I need accountability on - but the schedule of treadmilling before work every A.M.  is working so far.

I probably need a fourth goal of eliminating after-supper snacks, and probably will, but at least for now those snacks have been healthier.

So here’s to me - (Raises a cup of coffee and toasts himself.)  And here’s to Colin, for helping me stay on track and for making cool charts on our blog! (more coffee)  And here’s to Newt Gingrich, who has a very odd-shaped head!

Reading on the treadmill - a book review

As our faithful readers (I’m assuming this is only Colin, Beth and I) know, I have been reading on the treadmill each morning.  This morning I finished my first book - Marley & Me by some guy.

I’ve been reading using Playaways - essentially books on tape preloaded on a dedicated mp3 player.  I got one of the playaways I’ve been using from the local talking books center where I work, the other from the public library.

Marley & Me is the story of a FL newspaper writer who, with his wife, adopts a big, goofy, neurotic labrador retriever.  The book is a fast read - and enjoyable.  You get the sense the author is not a particularly responsible dog owner, but he does love his dog and vice versa.  The book seems to foreshadow some terrible tragedy, and I dreaded reading about it the whole time, but in the end the only tragedy is the same one that faces all humans who love a dog whose life span is not as long as their.  I admit I got pretty verklempt as Marley grew older and reached the end of his life.

The book is popular, and you can see why, although I thought the author stretched out the ending of Marley’s life a bit long.  But overall it was a good read.

I’ll now go back to and finish “A River Runs Through It” by Norman McLean.  I had switched books because, believe it or not, I think the movie by the same name worked better than the book on tape.  The book was wonderful to read in print - but it moves pretty slowly in narration.

Meanwhile, tomorrow it will be two weeks of consistent treadmill use.  One more week and I hope it will become a habit…  BTW - weigh in is tomorrow so we will see what we shall see.

Rewards on the Weekend?

On Friday night I met Elizabeth after work and we went to a gallery opening that she was covering for “All Green” magazine.  We decided to have a bite to eat before we went, and I had the Fish ‘n Chips which is clearly not “diet” food.  It was, however, delicious.

I have been trying to limit myself to the weekend for “reward” food, like Fish ‘n Chips, other salty snacks and alcohol consumption.  I had some potato chips while watching a football game on Saturday and I had a glass of wine with dinner on Sunday.

I think I’m still doing pretty well and I’m not stressing about deviating from the diet on the weekend.  It’s all part of the plan. 

 My question is this: Since sustainable weight loss is about lifestyle change rather than dieting, how does rewarding yourself with “bad” foods fit into the lifestyle change picture?  Is moderation a lifestyle change?