8/4/2020 Weighing In

Well, I'm down to 213.25 today (and yesterday ... the day before yesterday I was at 213.5, and the day before that I was at 213.75). It's going down ... far more slowly than I'd like it to.

Gotta love what the weight loss is doing to my BMI, though; I started at 33.6; I'm down to 31.5. That's still "obese," but "overweight" (the next category downward) starts at a BMI of 29.9, so I'm getting out of the "obese" category, which is great, Great, GREAT!!!!!

Some of the plateau, of course, has to do with the "cheating" I've done. Yesterday was my first non-cheat day since Friday (today's Tuesday). I desperately need to get OUT of the house in the afternoon, and I desperately need to stop munching at bedtime. Those are my downfall times. And it's just habit. I am, however, drinking far, far more water than I ever did. It helps to make a pot of mint tea and use that as water flavoring ... then drink through a straw!

I can't garden today; it's raining. So maybe I'll just go for a car ride to a mall and walk the halls for an hour or so this afternoon. I'll also use my TRX straps and my NordicTrack. Hey ... I have them; I need to use them.

Onward!

7/10/2020 Weighing In

On 7/7, I was at 222.25. Today, I'm at 222.25.

Gotta get ahold of my health coach on this one. That's too long without weight loss. And I'm following the program to the letter.

At least I'm not gaining....

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

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

11/20/2019 Weigh In

212.0. No change. For several days now, no change.

Well, that's frustrating. I HATE plateaus like this. I followed my Plan to a T yesterday. If I do that again today and tomorrow and still lose nothing, I'm kickstarting this process with an egg-grapefruit day on Friday.

Today's Plan:

Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: Bran pancake, strawberries, water
11 am: Climb the State St. hill
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

11/19/2019 Weigh In

212.0. No change. Again. Sigh. Well, that's what I get for not following yesteday's Plan well. I had two bowls of yogurt last night, and I put butter on my Wasa bread. On the other hand, I drank all the water I was supposed to drink yesterday.

Exercise becomes a necessity today; it's snowing enough to require me to shovel the sidewalk. So ... I shall shovel the sidewalk after I get home from the 341a meeting I must attend with a client. And I get to test out how my CR-V does in the snow!

Today's Plan

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

10/29/2019 Weigh In

218.5, down 0.5 from yesterday's 219! Hurray!! I'm working on the next 10 pounds!! 9.5 pounds to go .... It's so much easier for me to put it on than it is to take it off, so I'm really quite proud of myself for losing the 10 pounds in three weeks; it will probably take a bit longer than that to lose the next 10, though; it's coming off in fits and starts, little bit by little bit. Well, 2 lb per week is a healthy rate. Frustrating, but healthy.

The Plan with the NordicTrack ... yeah, that didn't work out. I did 5 minutes on the machine yesterday. But I ate right and will work up my time on the machine. So let's be a bit more realistic today.

My Reward comes today; I ordered these red yoga pants from Amazon. They should really be quite stunning! And they give me something other than shorts and the black yoga pants to wear to the gym ... which is good!

I have to modify the Plan today; I have a dentist's appointment at 11 (for fillings; I hope to God he uses his laser drill and not novocaine) and a client coming in at 2. But it still works!

Today's Plan

Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: Bran pancake, strawberries, water
9:30 am: 5 minutes on NordicTrack, water
11 am: dentist
Lunch: Chicken, salad, water
1:45 pm: Wasa, water
4 pm: Wasa, water
5 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
Dinner: Fish, salad, water
7 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
7:30 pm: Apple, water
9:30 pm: Yogurt

10/26/2019 Weigh In

219.25. Still no change. But 9.75 pounds gone from the day I restarted, so that's good. Only 0.75 pounds of it were this week, though; that's bad.

This is one tough plateau. It will break eventually, but "eventually" is taking its own sweet time coming, I must say! Talk about frustrating....

Yesterday did not go as planned at all. I ended up actually eating less than planned; I skipped out on breakfast and lunch. I had an extra piece of fruit, dinner, both bread servings and the yogurt. But I can't really do that every day; I was hungry by the time I finally ate, and I'm sure I didn't get all the nutrition my body requires on a daily basis. And I didn't drink nearly enough; I think I got in only half of the water requirement. Well, I'll do better today.

Gotta go grocery shopping today with the $67 left in my checking account after paying the massive bills this month. But I only need lettuce and chicken; those are cheap. And payday is on Friday, so we're good.

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
9:30 pm: Yogurt

10/22/2019 Weigh In

220. No change. Again. No change since Saturday, and today is Tuesday.

Hmmm.

Egg-grapefruit day today.

You know, the funny thing about an egg-grapefruit day is that you really are not hungry. It's rigorous and it's nothing to do every day, but I don't get hungry on it. And it actually works. I expect to see SOME change tomorrow after having completed it.

Today's Plan
Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: 1 egg, 1/2 grapefruit, water
10 am: 1 egg, 1/2 grapefruit, water
Lunch: 1 egg, 1/2 grapefruit, water
2 pm: 1 egg, 1/2 grapefruit, water
4 pm: 1 egg, 1/2 grapefruit, water
Dinner: 1 egg, 1/2 grapefruit, water
7:30 pm: 1 egg, 1/2 grapefruit, water
9:30 pm: 1 egg, 1/2 grapefruit, water

Of course, it would help to hop up on the Nordic Track for half an hour. I haven't done that, and I do need to start. Gotta get in shape for the Great Western Trek next summer (or the summer after; depends on money)!

Oh, hey ... it's Derek Jacobi's birthday today! Happy Birthday, Sir Derek!

10/20/2019 Weigh In

220.0. No change. Again.

This is called a plateau. Frustration reigns since I've been following my Plan and am seeing no immediate results. As a member of the first TV generation, I'm used to instant gratification; I want it NOW. Well, I guess I'm paying for that one-pound precipitous drop a few days ago.

Nine pounds gone from Day 1 of this weight-loss session. That's a win.

Today’s Plan
Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: Bran pancake, water (1/4 C egg whites, 2 Tbsp unprocessed wheat bran, cinnamon, stevia)
10 a.m.: Apple, water
Lunch: Fish, salad, water
2 p.m.: Wasa, water
4 p.m.: Wasa, water
Dinner: Chicken, salad, water
7:30 p.m.: Strawberries, water
9:30 p.m.: Yogurt (with 1 Tbsp dark chocolate powder, 1 tsp stevia, a few drops almond extract ... yum)

10/6/2019 Weigh In

229.0. Grumble.

When last I weighed myself, 11 months ago, I was 200.75. Clearly, I've slipped. My excuse (and that is EXACTLY what this is): Christmas happened. With eggnog cheesecake. Then I didn't go back onto the Plan. While Christmas will happen again, eggnog cheesecake won't.

It's time to get it back in gear and get this show on the road.

I started the Diet Center conditioning diet yesterday, and have one more day to go with that. Then it's chicken-and-fish, chicken-and-fish, chicken-and-fish forevermore.

I have a goal. I have Big Plans for next summer: I'm going to camp my way through the western National Parks. I'll start at probably the southern end with Grand Canyon, then drive up through the Rockies, hitting national parks along the way. I've gotten lots of recommendations for which parks to see; the Big Four on my list are Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain and Glacier. To do this effectively, I need to be at least 50 lb ... preferably 70 lb ... lighter than I am right now by the time my birthday rolls around in late June.

I Can Do This.

MEASUREMENTS

Neck 16.5"
Chest 46.5"/43.25"
Waist 47"
Hips 46.5"
Upper L arm 13.25"
Upper R arm 14"
L thigh 22.5"
R thigh 23"
L calf 15"
R calf 15.5"

Weighing In 11/8/2018

201.5. No change.

Hmph. I did the egg-grapefruit day yesterday. Well, last time I did an egg-grapefruit day, it took a day to kick in. Let's see what tomorrow's scales say.

Weighing In 11/7/2018

201.5. I've weighed 201.5 for a week now. No change.

It's time for an egg-grapefruit day to knock the weight loss back into gear.

Today.

Weighing In 9/28/2018

211.0, up 3.5 lb from Wednesday's 207.5

That's the wrong direction. And that is frustrating. Time for an egg-grapefruit day. But I don't have any grapefruit. I will buy a bag and do an egg-grapefruit day tomorrow.

However, there is reason. I am exercising significantly more, so am building muscle. That's a good thing. But 211.0 ... no. Also, I went to Friendly's after Toastmasters last night for dinner. I did not go hog-wild, but I did have a Happy Ending™ sundae after my grilled cheese sandwich and tomato basil soup.

Well, back to the boards, as they say. No Darryl workout today, so today I do Callanetics. This is the first time I've done that routine in eons. That'll tighten up my gut in no time flat.

Weighing In 9/18/2018

211.25, down 0.25 from yesterday.

That's ... frustrating. I did the egg-grapefruit day, too. Well, at least it didn't go the wrong way.