Weigh in 2:31

I am really picking up some bad habits in the past few weeks.  I am ok with just about anything I do as long as it is a choice.  I feel like I am slipping into things that are not good habits to have and I am not giving them their proper thought.  Tomorrow I need to start fresh.  It will not be easy with work and the show, but I have done it before, and I know I can do better than this.  My goal for september is 10-15 pounds.  I want to get back below 280 and I know I can do it if I buckle down and do the work.  I have backtracked too far now.  It is time to get to work.

Current Weight: 290.6 lbs
Starting Weight: 440.2 lbs
Weight Loss This Week: -2lbs
Weight Loss in Year 2: -3.4 lbs
Weight Loss Total: 149.6 lbs

Weigh in 2:30

Getting back into the swing of things.  Adjusting to a very full schedule after a few slower weeks has been a bit trying.   I think I allowed the added stress on my time to affect my choices.  I did not plan well enough and made some poor choices. With the job and a show it is part of the deal, but I know I can do better.


Current Weight: 288.6 lbs
Starting Weight: 440.2 lbs
Weight Loss This Week: -2lbs
Weight Loss in Year 2: -3.4 lbs
Weight Loss Total: 151.6 lbs

Weigh in 2:29

I probably should have learned by now that the rational component of this journey is vastly overrated.  There are so many variables that the minute I think I have a grasp on a pattern, the minute I think I have it all figured out, is the day I am proved to be wrong.  Sometimes this is frustrating.  Sometimes it is great.  Today I was more than happy to be proved wrong.  I was expecting a big jump in my weight.  I was not particularly good over my vacation.  I ate what I felt like, I went out carousing, and I did not get in much exercise. What I did do was have a fantastic, relaxing, rejuvenating week.  When I got back to Chicago I made a concerted effort to get back into a good pattern.  I ate nothing but salad with grilled chicken for lunch and dinner for two days, and after barbecue, cake, and beer for a week this was nicely cleansing.  In my internal algebra I thought that a week of hedonism would outweight 4 days of austerity.  I was gloriously wrong.  Here are the numbers:

Current Weight: 286.6 lbs
Starting Weight: 440.2 lbs
Weight Loss This Week: 0.4lbs
Weight Loss in Year 2: -1.4 lbs
Weight Loss Total: 153.6 lbs

Is it a big weight loss? No.  am I OK with that.  Absolutely!  I think what I have failed to equate, and what is impossible to quantify, is happiness.  I had been counting on good results to act as reinforcement.  The converse was that when I had less than ideal results I was a bit down, and that fed on itself.  By doing things to just have fun and not really thinking about it I reduced my stress, enjoyed my life a lot more, and still got good results, which has only served to reinforce the effects pf a good vacation.  How do I hold on to this?  I have no idea, and I think worrying about it too much is counterproductive.  What I will take from this is to stop trying so hard to be perfect, to give myself a little more of what I need psychologically, and enjoy things as they come along.  If I get back to focusing on doing the best I can in the moment I think I will enjoy this journey a lot more.  It doesn't hurt that I have had several people think I was 20-30 pounds lighter than I am this week.  I'll take that any day.

(Note that week 28 was skipped because of vacation)

Weigh in 2:27

I am officially more than half way through the year and I wish I could say I was happier with the results, but as I was reminded I have not backtracked significantly, and that is an accomplishment in and of itself.  Starting tomorrow I go on vacation.  It may prove a bit stressful since I will be staying at my parent's house and my sister is getting married, but getting to step away for a good while should be very nice.  I will not be taking my scale with me, so week 29 will be my next weigh in.  Catch you on the flip side.

Current Weight: 287 lbs
Starting Weight: 440.2 lbs
Weight Loss This Week: -1lbs
Weight Loss in Year 2: -1.8 lbs
Weight Loss Total: 153.2 lbs

Weigh in 2:26

Ok, so Im a bit late.  I weighed Friday morning, I just haven't recorded it until now.  I am crazy busy trying to get everything possible done in the remaining days I have before going to Texas for a full week.  Here are the numbers:

Current Weight: 286 lbs
Starting Weight: 440.2 lbs
Weight Loss This Week: -0.6 lbs
Weight Loss in Year 2: -0.8 lbs
Weight Loss Total: 154.2 lbs

Weigh in 2:25

Well, I am not moving in the right direction.  In discussing some things with a friend this week I came to a realization.  I have found life frustrating recently.  I have no doubt that this frustration has been evident to those around me.  By all rights I really should be pretty happy.  I am in the best health I have ever been.  I have a job that I am pretty good at.  What it comes down to is a lack of balance.  I am good at my job, and the degree of autonomy I have fosters a nice sense of personal responsibility, and the fact that in general the harder I work the more I make is lovely.  I also get to drive all over this great city.  But I frequently put in several hours of work on my "off" days, and on days I work I can get stuck going so hard that I don't get lunch until 3 or 4 o'clock.  The relative mindlessness that made my last job barely tolerable was exactly the sort of thing that allowed me to be successful in my weight loss journey.  I could plan meals almost to the minute, and since I was in a supervisory position I could take my lunch practically the second I was hungry for it.  I never got into the kind of situation that I have regularly now: I am so late on a meal that I binge eat.  It is not purposeful, but I grab something quick and eat it too fast.  I am not eating bad stuff, but I am not setting myself up for success.  And I haven't figured out how to make that work with my current responsibilities.  I spend so much time on work that not only do I fall short on my health, but I do not have time to work on the tertiary things I want for myself.  It is going to take some serious discipline, and that has been in short supply recently.  Summer is too much fun, and I have not made the best choices. Here are the numbers:

Current Weight: 285.4 lbs
Starting Weight: 440.2 lbs
Weight Loss This Week: -1lbs
Weight Loss in Year 2: -0.2 lbs
Weight Loss Total: 154.8 lbs

Weigh in 2:24

Holiday weeks are hard.  They are like a minefield of delicious barbecue, beer, and deserts.  I feel I did pretty well this week, and considering I hit the weights a bit more than I had previously I do not mind maintaining.  I have gotten a few comments that I look a bit slimmer, so I will take that to mean that though the scale isn't changing, my body composition is.  That too is a step in the right direction.  Here are the numbers:

Current Weight: 284.4 lbs
Starting Weight: 440.2 lbs
Weight Loss This Week: -0.2 lbs
Weight Loss in Year 2: .8 lbs
Weight Loss Total: 155.8 lbs