Sideways

Hey folks. I’m back. Sorry for the loss of momentum with the blogging. I’m not going to attribute it to anything in particular, other than I didn’t have anything tremendously compelling to write. I’m tempted to say that I fell off the program, but that’s not really the case. I’ve been righteous with my exercise and weigh-ins, but I’ve been eating too much. Simple as that. Part of that was a function of traveling to Chicago for my mother-in law’s second memorial celebration. There’s some really good food in Chicago. The truth is, I just felt the need to eat more. I don’t know what that was all about. I wasn’t pigging out on ice cream or cookies or anything like that, but I wasn’t tracking the calories closely, so I was over my daily target number every day for about three weeks. I’ve been back on the path for the last week or so, and the weight loss has resumed.

One thing I’m very clear about now is the redemptive power of exercise. In the past, if I lost track of my eating for three weeks, it would have caused a big weight gain. This didn’t. I just went violently sideways, as you can see in the graph.

4/7/13

New low this morning. I continue to feel great, and am looking forward to moving (some of) the exercise program outdoors as the weather improves. I think I need to find some new things to eat. Part of my recent struggle keeping the calories down was probably boredom with what I’d been eating.

Other news includes the fact that I’ve been impaneled on a jury for a civil trial in Massachusetts Superior Court. They’re saying it could go two weeks or more. I’ll write more about the experience if and when the judge says it’s OK to do that. He specifically said that we couldn’t blog about it. If you’re reading this, Your Honor, please note that I did not say anything substantive. Got any healthy recipes?

Jennifer, Beefy, Pablo, and I saw Green Day at the Mohegan Sun arena last night. Great room to see a show, even if you have to slog through the first level of Hell to get into it. Casinos give me the creeps. So much desperation and bad math. Anyway, Billie’s been out of rehab for a month, now, and he was rocking with a vengeance. I know it’s cool to bag on Green Day for being sellouts to the bullshit indiepunk cred thing, but the simple fact is that they put on as good a rock show as just about anyone. Ever. Billie Joe is 100% entertaining. Like Fred Astaire for the new millenium or something.

Day 117. (The F-117 Nighthawk was the first operational stealth aircraft.)
Weight: 274.3
Lost: 63.0 lbs.
Progress to goal weight: 53.7%
The Committee awards a Quarter mini goal for getting under 275. Also got a Fiver yesterday for losing more than 60 pounds total.

Fiddy

As in “fiddy percent of the way there.” I started at 337.2 pounds. My goal is 220, so that’s 117.2 pounds to lose. As of today, I’m down 58.9, which is a smidge more than half way. I’m in the 270s for the first time in years. How many years? No idea. I found an old version of the Shrink or Die! spreadsheet from 2008, where I went from 319 to 308. So at least five years. Probably more like ten. It’s been a while.

That’s all I’ve got for you today. In upcoming posts, I’ll share more about my meal planning, and my newly-christened philosophical outlook, which I call The Cod. (It’s an acronym. Don’t really eat much cod.)

Day 94. (Justin Bieber was born in 1994.)
Weight: 278.4
Lost: 58.9 lbs.
Progress to goal weight: 50.2%
Committee in My Head awards PTG mini goal for 50% progress to goal, Decade for dropping out of the 280s.

One Page Fitness Manual

When people notice that I’m 83.1 percent of the man I used to be, they often ask how I’m doing it. I’ll say something vague like “diet and exercise,” and then they often want to know what diet or exercise book I’m working from. They sometimes seem a little disappointed to learn that I’m not wedded to any particular book.

I hate disappointing people, so I’ve written my own fitness manual. Here it is, presented in its entirety:

Major Upgrade: Principles and Practices

The first edition is available on a 3X5 card. If this version does well, maybe I’ll do a second printing on business card stock. Then a Kindle version. I’d like Philip Seymour Hoffman to read it for the audio book. And let’s not forget the movie rights. I’m not sure it makes sense to do a cookbook. Maybe just an addendum to every other cookbook, saying “Don’t eat too much of any of this, and shouldn’t you be working out?” That’ll be $19.95. Next!

(You might be asking if the eight calorie rule works for everyone. Nope, just 48 year old, moderately active six-two men who want to lose three pounds a week. If you want to calculate your own number, you’re welcome to do so with my handy-dandy spreadsheet.)

Day 92. (You were probably taught that there are 92 naturally-occurring elements on Earth.)¹
Weight: 280.3
Lost: 57.0 lbs.
Progress to initial goal weight: 48.6%

¹ …more or less. Four of the 92 exist in such ultra-tiny quantities that you could search for them forever and never find them in the wild. And elements 93 and 94 also occur naturally, but again, in infinitesimally small amounts.

Three Months

Today is the three month anniversary of starting this project. Good time for a status check. If you told me in December that I’d lose 55 pounds in three months, I’d have been ecstatic. The number, by itself, doesn’t really mean much. I care more about how I feel, which is great. I’m more mobile, more energetic, and more comfortable. I’m feeling what I’ll call “exercise momentum:” Working out doesn’t feel like a chore. It adds energy to my day. I’m planning new activities and sports I want to add in the future. The nice weather is coming, and I can’t wait to get out of the gym and onto the bike path, the track, and who knows where else. Maybe even the volleyball court. (Settle down, ankles, I’ll wait till I’ve got another 30 or 40 pounds off to start jumping around…)

I’ve shrunk into a bunch of clothes that haven’t fit in years. I’ve also separated out a bunch more into a box marked “250.” Can’t wait to get into those, too. It might be time to try on some old suits. If they don’t fit, I might have to get the Stop Making Sense suits I bought last Spring cut down.

My legs are good. The shin splints and knee pain have disappeared now that I’m almost 100% on the elliptical and bike, and not the treadmill. I’ll need to remember to ease carefully into running when the time comes. So much of this project depends on my legs to be the engine…it would suck if they didn’t hold up. One nice side effect of the exercise and reduced salt intake is that I’ve lost the water I’d been carrying in my legs. The cankles are pretty much gone.

If you take a look at my updated weight graph, you’ll see my current challenge, indicated by a marked rightward turn of the little line. I’d love to be able to say that this is what happens when you either eat too much or skip workouts, but I’m doing exactly what I’ve been doing all along. Working out hard every day, and staying righteous with food. It seems that the dreaded homeostasis is rearing its ugly momentum-busting head. Not unexpected, but certainly unwanted. One thought that’s occurred to me is that I’ve never lost this much weight before. I’ve lost 40-50 pounds a couple times, but then gave up or forgot to keep going or something. So maybe this is my body’s way of acknowledging that something profound has happened.

Where I go from here is to figure out what’s going on and bust through this plateau. First, I’ll be getting all rigorous and scientifical with the calorie counting. The easiest and most comforting answer would be that I’m just eating too much. If that’s it, I’ll get it back in line and see what happens. If that doesn’t do the trick, then I’ll look at my exercise. It might be time to add more lifting, or even the dreaded double cardio. What I won’t do is take my eye off the ball. There’s no rush.

Day 91. (There are 91 federal district courts in the US.)
Weight: 282.4
Lost: 54.9 lbs.
Progress to initial goal weight: 46.8%