7/19/2020 Weighing In

217.5 today. No change from yesterday.

That's no surprise; I ate well yesterday. A friend took me out to eat; that was the first time I've eaten anywhere but home since the COVID19 lockdown started on 12 March. The lunch was DELICIOUS; I had a chicken salad (5 ox breast meat and salad greens) with this scrumptious house dressing ... pesto, lemon juice, olive oil. Gotta try that one since I can have salad dressings with Optavia.

That was midday. I generally have my lean&green in the evening. It did not work well to have it at midday; I was hungry and ended up eating an extra fueling. And that was after stopping, challenging and choosing. So I will today have my lean&green at 6:30 pm like I'm supposed to do.

1/5/2020 Weigh In

218.5, up 8 lb from 12/14/2019's 210.5.

I clearly relaxed the regimen during the holidays. The holidays are now OVER. It is time to restart the regimen. I shall tow the line.

Christmas is the death of the diet. It was last year, too. I didn't regain as much this year as I allowed myself to regain last year, but 8 lb in less than one month ... yeah, not good. I know what did it, of course. All that butter. All those biscuits and pie dough chunks. All that cream. Christmas is the Season of Fat.

Well, here we are, with those eight hard-lost pounds easily regained. It was not a problem at all to regain that weight. 

I was reading about a weight-loss theory that involves confusing one's metabolism. I am well aware that weight loss involves slowing down the metabolism; that's why losing the tonnage is so miserably difficult. But this idea sort of makes sense. Diet strictly for x days, then on Day y eat more fats. Then diet again strictly for x days and eat more fats on Day y. Then diet strictly for x days and eat more fat on the Day Y. Basically, don't let the metabolism reset itself into starvation mode.

But I'm not likely to try it. The Diet Center has served me well for all these years; I'll just keep going with that.

I got myself a set of TRX straps for Christmas and I've actually been using them. They help with my hip pain, and they're good for strengthening muscles.

Today's Plan

11:00 Vitamins, water

1:30 Friendly's for brunch (I'll have a grilled cheese and soup, which is actually not unfriendly to the Diet), water

3:30 Wasa, water

4:30 Apple, water

5:30 Wasa, water

6:30 Chicken, spinach salad, water

8:00 Fruit, water

9:30 Yogurt, water

12/9/2019 Weigh In

213.0, up one pound from 11/22/2019's 212.0.

I'm actually quite pleased with that. Thanksgiving ... Hog-Out Holiday ... happened in the interim, as did a week-long trip to London, which is the Land of Scones and Clotted Cream. I gained only a pound over the two weeks, despite all that. I could have lost weight (I certainly did enough walking in London), but I didn't. No excuses. And yes, I enjoyed myself.

I shall be back on the straight and narrow today. I have some grocery shopping to do for salad stuff (mine wilted) and eggs, but that will be an easy thing to do.

Today's Plan:

Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: Chicken thigh (air fried), water
11 am: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
Lunch: Chicken/Fish, salad, water
2 pm: Wasa, water
4 pm: Wasa, water
5 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
Dinner: Bran pancake, strawberries, water
7 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
7:30 pm: Apple, water
9:30 pm: Yogurt

11/22/2019 Weigh In

212.0. No change since 11/17; that was Sunday and today is Friday. I stepped on the scales yesterday, but did not have time to make the blog entry.

It's been five days without change. I hate ... HATE ... plateaus. They are frustrating as all get out. If this one does not break tomorrow, I will do an egg-grapefruit day tomorrow to kick it into gear.

Next week is Thanksgiving. I'm off to the Boston area to visit my daughter; we plan to do sushi on the holiday itself (no one in my family, including me, likes turkey). I'm staying in a friend's condo in Gloucester, MA, about two blocks from the beach ... to which I will go and walk. I can walk a beach for miles and miles. The ocean air, even in late November, does something for me.

Jim wanted to be scattered at sea. I will fill four small urns with his ashes, one each for his three sons and one for me, and keep those, and I have part of his ashes (and his eyeglasses) in a lovely rosewood box urn on my dining-room mantel. That box urn I will eventually cause to be interred in a national cemetery (he was a veteran, and I will have my ashes interred with his when the time comes), but I will do as he wished and scatter the rest of his ashes on the Gloucester shore this Thanksgiving. It's been five years as of 12/7; it's time to follow his wishes.

Today's Plan:

Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: Bran pancake, strawberries, water
11 am: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
Lunch: Chicken/Fish, salad, water
2 pm: Wasa, water
4 pm: Wasa, water
5 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
Dinner: Chicken/Fish, salad, water
7 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
7:30 pm: Apple, water
9:30 pm: Yogurt

10/24/2019 Weigh In

219.25. No change from yesterday.

That's not a huge surprise, given that I ate sushi last night. It was good sushi, too, but it's not on the Approved Foods List at all (well, the fish is, but rice? Not!!). At least I didn't gain.

So. Today's Plan

Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: Bran pancake, water
10 am: Strawberries, water
Lunch: Chicken, salad, water
2 pm: Wasa, water
4 pm: Wasa, water
Dinner: Fish, salad, water
7:30 pm: Apple, water

I'll skip the yogurt tonight unless I'm really hungry at 9:30 pm.

I go to the gym for a personal training session today. That's a Good Thing.

10/23/2019 Weigh In

219.25, down 0.75 from yesterday's 220.

Gotta love an egg-grapefruit day! It's not even all that difficult to do; I got munchie/hungry last night at bedtime, but that's really the only time I was hungry all day, and I did manage to survive that. However, it is only for ONE DAY; more than that and I lose all those phytochemicals in the veggies and I would build up my already high bad cholesterol from all those egg yolks. I try to limit egg-grapefruit days to only one per month.

Today is a different kettle of fish. I have a dinner planned with my friends at a sushi restaurant. An all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant. While fun, I shall keep a tight eye on what, exactly, I'm eating. And no tea/lemonade mix; just water tonight.

Today's Plan
Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: Bran pancake, water
10 a.m.: Pear, water
Lunch: Chicken, salad, water
2 pm: Wasa, water
4 pm: Wasa, water
5:30 pm: Salad, water
Dinner: Sushi, water
7:30 pm: Apple
9:30 pm: Yogurt

Weighing In 10/1/2018

209.25, down from 9/29's 210.

Since I started on 9/1/2018 at 218 lb, I've lost 8.75 lb. That's not too shabby. It's had its ups and downs, and I traveled some in September (always a Problem for weight loss), but I show a net loss, which I'm happy about.

The stuff I'm doing at the gym doesn't hurt. That challenge has me doing Callanetics four days this week (today will be the fourth) and has me feeling pretty good. I still can't do a squat-thrust, but I'll get there; it's a 10-week challenge with Darryl (my personal trainer, who is magnificent at kicking butt) and that can't help but get me closer to where I want to be!

Here are today's measurements. I didn't measure last month until 9/9, so it's only 21 days' worth of loss this month. That problem is remedied; today's the first of the month, and I measure on the first of the month.

Since starting on 3/14/2017, I have lost a total of 78.125 inches and 46.75 lb!! No wonder my clothes are falling off of me!! Percentage-wise, I've lost 18.06% of my body mass since 3/14/2017, and 3.78% of my body mass since 1 September (when I weighed in at 218). 

This past month, I lost a total of 3.875 inches, which also isn't too shabby. I've lost, percentage-wise, 15.18% (!!!) of my body measurement since 3/14/2017 and 4.0% of my body measurement since 9/9/2018.

I'm stoked!!

	3/14/17	9-Sep	1-Oct	Month's Difference	TOTAL Difference
Weight	256	210.5	209.25	-1.25	46.75
Bust	49.5	45	44	-1	5.5
Waist	51	45	45	0	6
Hips	48	43	43.5	0.5	4.5
Upper Arm L	15	13	13	0	2
Upper Arm R	15	13.125	13.125	0	1.875
Mid-Thigh L	23	20	19.5	-0.5	3.5
Mid-Thigh R	25	20.5	19.5	-1	5.5
Calf L	16	15.125	14.75	-0.375	1.25
Calf R	16	15	14.75	-0.25	1.25
Inches Lost	514.5	440.25	436.375	3.875	78.125

Weighing In 9/23/2018

209.0. Still no change from yesterday's 209.0. I'm on a plateau, and that's ok.

I ate badly last night. I took my daughter to Friendly's for dinner; that was not great, but it was ok. I had about 560 calories' worth of food (a grilled cheese and tomato-basil soup). But then we went to Stewart's for dessert. That was mint cookie crumble ice cream. That ice cream is wonderful, and I had two scoops.

Well, back to the straight and narrow today. Chicken 'n' fish, chicken 'n' fish, chicken 'n' fish. And lotsa lotsa water. I should be drinking 110 oz ounces per day; lately, I've been drinking maybe 32. And I'll get some exercise. I hate the process there, but I always feel so much better having done it. If that number stays where it is til Wednesday, I'll do another egg-grapefruit day and kick it back into gear.

Weighing In 9/13/2018

209.75. No change from yesterday.

I actually broke the diet regimen last night for dinner. I had Mick's maple salmon. The salmon is fine; the maple has SUGAR. Sugar is a total no-no on this regimen. Well, it's back to the straight and narrow today. Tomorrow I take my daughter and her boyfriend to Sushi X for lunch, then go to Concord for my law-school class reunion over the weekend. That, too, will break the regimen (though I will, of course, be sensible). So I'll do an egg-grapefruit day on Monday to get things back on track.

Going to the gym this morning to let Darryl beat me up and put me through the baseline exercise routine for the challenge. That will wear me out for the rest of the day.... I did the weigh-in on Tuesday, and that measures all kinds of things besides weight. It seems that I'm a bit dehydrated; I don't drink enough water. Divide your weight in half and that's the number of ounces of water you should drink per day. I'll NEVER get 105 ounces of water down my gullet in a day...that's another reason to lose the weight!

Toastmasters tonight! I'm talking, giving my icebreaker speech. And I'm Grammarian. I'm more nervous about the grammarian function than I am about the speech.

Weighing In 9/9/2018

210.5, down from yesterday's 211.

Fat is now coming off (well, water too). I'm feeling well, since the Diet Center diet provides for eating really good food; chicken 'n' fish...chicken 'n' fish...chicken 'n' fish..., lots of veggies, fresh fruit, and my ever-present bran muffin that keeps my eyes bright, my tail bushy and my bowels moving.

Also, it's FINALLY cooled down outside. This encourages long walks by the river (I'll take one today) as well as coming home to curl up by the fire with a cuppa tea. Not hot chocolate this year (😢), but I have a tea that tastes like minted hot chocolate, which will substitute well. Keeping body heat going in cool weather also takes a bit more energy ... calories ... just to maintain, which helps!

The holidays are fast approaching, too. Halloween is easy: just don't buy the candy, or buy candy with coconut that I will NEVER eat. Thanksgiving. Hmmm. Maybe I'll treat myself to my former gentleman caller's maple-marinated salmon. One day of maple won't kill me. And Tess and Kraig are coming for Christmas; perhaps rock cornish game hens, salad, broccoli (which Tess loves and Kraig hates 😈) and tofu apple dessert for Christmas dinner? I'll figure it out.

Damn ... I didn't post measurements as promised. Well, here they are, as of today, compared to the last set of measurements I took, in July 2017. As you see, I haven't changed much. They'll be up on the first of each month from now on.

	9/9/18	7/1/17	Difference	Total Difference
Weight	210.5	221.25	-10.75	-10.75
Bust	45	45	0	0
Waist	45	45	0	0
Hips	43	43.5	-0.5	-0.5
Upper Arm L	13	12.75	0.25	0.25
Upper Arm R	13.125	13	0.125	0.125
Mid-Thigh L	20	20.5	-0.5	-0.5
Mid-Thigh R	20.5	21.5	-1	-1
Calf L	15.125	15	0.125	0.125
Calf R	15	15	0	0
Inches Lost	1.5	0	1.5	1.5

Weighing In 9/5/2018

212.0, down from yesterday's 212.75.

The water weight is clearly almost all off and the weight loss will slow down to a crawl as I lose fat rather than water.

Yesterday was a scheduling disaster. Breakfast and lunch were fine, and water intake was fine. But I ended up working in my office until 9:15, which put me home at 9:45, which gave me dinner at 10 pm. I can't do that again; I ended up being hungry by 8 pm. I need to get food for the office that I can eat for dinner in such times. Some canned shrimp will be good, and I can get veggies as I need them from the Price Chopper or Walmart that are nearby.

Dinner last night was delicious, though. Chicken and summer squash from the garden, stir fried with apple chunks and rosemary leaves. I did not eat a salad last night; had one of those for lunch. A bran muffin was dessert. So NICE to eat food I grew myself!!

Gotta get a shower before I start eating and drinking today.

Weighing In 6/27/2017

223.25, down 1.25 from yesterday's 224.5.

At least the travel weight is coming off quickly. I was at 222.75 when I started my travels, and I'm almost back to that level, and in far less than a week. That timing says the gain was mostly bloat from restaurant salt. That makes me feel better ... not good, but better. I've ordered a carrying case for my NutriBullet and it shall accompany me on all future travels!

Weighing In 6/14/2017

222.75, down 0.75 from yesterday's 223.5.

And the plateau breaks, just as I threaten an egg-grapefruit day. Well, that's good ... no egg-grapefruit day needed.

It's been exactly three months since I started this journey. Back on 14 March, I weighed 256 lb. That's 33.25 lb gone in that short time, which is 13% of my original body weight. Major pat-on-the-back time for me! Of course, I still have more to go, and the weight loss rate is slower than I would like it to be so I'm starting to walk more (ohhh, my aching hips...) and I will find a swimming hole this summer (Mick's lake...? I need a more local hole than that) since I left the Y in a huff over their timing of increasing fees in February. And there is the NordicTrack, sitting unused behind my table; I need to pull that out of mothballs. Revving up the exercise will rev up the metabolism which will rev up the loss rate.

Tomorrow I start my travels ... for a week, I will be without my scales. But I will be eating well, blogging my food, and walking a LOT (as much as I can on beaches). I hope to see a goodly drop in the numbers on 23 June!

Weighing In 6/12/2017

223.5; no change.

Hmph. Another plateau. Although I know that this, too, shall pass, plateaus are FRUSTRATING.

I'm having a friend over for dinner tomorrow night. The chicken is marinating, she's bringing the salad, and I'll make the tofu/berry dessert. Looking forward to it!

On Thursday, my kidlet and I are leaving for the beach!!!! I will be away from my scales from 16-22 June, so the next weight entry after Thursday will be on 6/23 (my birthday). With any luck, we will see a precipitous drop. Meanwhile, I'll keep this going with food diary and thoughts on eating out while traveling. I'll take my NutriBullet and smoothie ingredients; I cannot see eating a pastry-laden breakfast just because I don't have good nutrition with me!!

Weighing In 5/18/2017

229.75; no change from yesterday's 229.75. I hate plateaus.

Today is a Big Day; Tess finally graduates with her associate's degree!!! I will have a college graduate for a daughter!!!!

I'm taking Tess and her boyfriend, Kraig, out to dinner at Akoname tonight to celebrate. Well, there is nothing wrong with their prix fixe menu that includes miso soup, spicy salmon sushi roll, sashimi deluxe and I give the ice cream to the graduate.

Before that, though, I have a hearing at the NYNB for a client. They're lifting the automatic stay so the creditor can get the client's car. We have no objection to lifting the stay (getting rid of the car is one of the reasons for filing bankruptcy), but we will ask that my clients be allowed to deliver the car in at least 1.5 weeks to give them full opportunity to get a new car.

Weighing In 5/16/2017

Hmph. 231.5, up from yesterday's 229.25

That's 2.25 pounds in the wrong direction.

Yes, I ate foods that are not on the Diet Center plan yesterday; my daughter took me out for a Mother's Day lunch at Sushi X and I had lots (and lots) of sushi, including two X-rolls.

There may also be a water deficiency; I haven't been drinking as I should, so I may be retaining water (I hope). I shall fix that issue today, and I shall fix the eating issue today. Smoothies all the way ... at least until dinner, when I'm going out with daughter and a couple friends to another Japanese restaurant! I'll be at work until at least 1 pm today, so food shouldn't be an issue.

So ... my plan for today is to drink LOTS of water, eat a smoothie for lunch (I already had one for breakfast), and tame the raging beast within with a couple of pre-dinner Wasa crackers. Oh, and walk.

Weighing In 5/8/2017

232.25; no change from yesterday.

Well, at least it didn't go up.

I sometimes secret shop, just for fun. Today I have an assignment at a restaurant, so no egg/grapefruit day today. Tomorrow, though, yes; I can use the shock to my system.

Weighing In 5/3/2017

233.75 up from 233.5 two days ago.

Yup. No surprises there. I had a hotel restaurant's version of mass-produced chicken bruschetta for lunch yesterday (complete with mashed potatoes), then a huge ribeye steak for dinner last night. Well, it's back to chicken'n'fish, chicken'n'fish, chicken'n'fish. Not a bad routine.

If the weight gain continues tomorrow, tomorrow I'll do an egg/grapefruit day.

Not Weighing In 5/2/2017

No weighing in this morning; Have company and standing on the scales would not have been appropriate.

Today is the day that I've planned to be thoroughly off the diet. Canned restaurant food for lunch and a marinated ribeye steak for dinner ... not exactly conducive to losing weight. But my friend and I went for a nice long walk down by the river yesterday and if the weather clears up we'll do something akin to that today, too. If I lose weight over the next day, that's fine; if not, that's fine too. I won' stray mightily from the wonted path. There will be no sugar today ... no dessert, which is fine; I have PILES of strawberries and a box each of blueberries and blackberries that I can mix together and make a fine dessert at home.

Weighing In 5/1/2017

233.5, no change from yesterday's 233.5, and that's fine.

I'm having company for the next two days; my gentleman caller is coming down from Malone to visit and watch me get my SBA Small Business Excellence award tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to his visit! We'll do many fun things ... including going out to eat. Well, I've got my food all planned out. If we go to the Van Dyck, I shall have a Caesar salad with shrimp, dressing on the side. That one's easy. If we go to the Thai Thai, I shall have sashimi deluxe (which comes with miso soup). Anywhere else, I shall look up their menus online and make the appropriate decision before going.

Tomorrow, though, I'm planning to eat badly. First comes the luncheon; I have no idea what is being served, but I shall avoid dessert. Then for tomorrow evening I have ribeye steaks marinating in the fridge. Those are absolutely NOT on this lifestyle, especially not with that salty (soy sauce) marinade they're in, and I might put on a pound or two. But on Wednesday, I'll get right back on the wagon. Planning Is Everything.

Oh! I nearly forgot. It's picture and measurement day.

Measurements. I lost 20.25 inches this month, and 37.75 inches overall ... that's not half bad!!

	14-Mar	1-Apr	1-May	Month Difference	Total Difference
Weight	256	243.25	233.5	9.75	22.5
Bust	49.5	48.5	47.75	0.75	1.75
Waist	51	50	48.25	1.75	2.75
Hips	48	47.5	45	2.5	3
Upper Arm L	15	14	13	1	2
Upper Arm R	15	14.5	13.5	1	1.5
Mid-Thigh L	23	23.25	22.25	1	0.75
Mid-Thigh R	25	24	22.25	1.75	2.75
Calf L	16	16	15.25	0.75	0.75
Calf R	16	16	16	0	0
Inches Lost	0			20.25	37.75

Pictures. I'm still a candied apple on two sticks, but at least it's shrinking ... it's shrinking ....