Monthly Archives: April 2011

Weekly Weigh-In … Week 20

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This is just a quickie to keep me up-to-date on this stuff.

Week 19 – 282.6 lbs
Week 20 –  282.0 lbs
Decrease – .6 lb
Year to date decrease – ~20.4 lbs or ~1 lb/week

I’m not really sure how I was able to drop 6/10th of a pounnd considering I didn’t really exercise that much and I “went off the wagon” more than one.  But, I’ll take it. Of course, the reduced amount of weight loss is bringing my weekly average down.  That’s something I need to address.  I really need to get back into the habit of going to the gym and doing the tredmil thing.

The Scale

In this case, I mean the actual, physical scale.  Not the metaphor.

I don’t know whether it’s me or what but the volatility of my weight is a little nerve racking.  I know daily weigh-ins are not suppose to be accurate and I know there are all kinds of factors that lead to my weight going up and down.  But, the scale I’m using really moves all over the amp.  One day I’m 282 lbs, the next I’m 283.6…and I haven’t really done anything to pack on that much weight.

I’ve also gotten on the scale and had it read out a nice low (for me) number and then about an hour later, after a shower and my, er, morning constitutional, I’ll actually weigh more.  Weird and nuts.

Anyway, that’s it for this week’s weigh-in.  I did actually weigh myself yesterday (Thursday) and this is Thursday’s weight.  I just didn’t get around to posting it until today.

Stress, Anger and Food

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It’s been one of those weeks.

It started off innocently enough with Easter.  Of course, the Missus and I don’t do very much for Easter.  No kids and no family nearby.  The Missus does some volunteer church work but, really, that’s about it.  No dinner out or big hoo ha.  Probably just as well.

Monday

Monday was OK, too, except that I needed to run a bunch of errands which really meant a bunch of driving around.  I had a listing to visit (being a real estate guy), get a haircut (to appear well groomed for the high dollar client coming in tomorrow), drop off the dry cleaning,  go by my office to check on some stuff (my “office” office vs my home office where I do most of my work) get some food for the house.

Oh yeah. Food.

Since neither the Missus nor I cook it really means getting “prepared” meals.  And since my wife has been having some dental issues it has meant getting soft prepared meals.  I’m hear to tell you all of it is high fat, high salt, high calorie.

Tuesday

Tuesday was more running around.  Again, it started off innocently enough. I thought I would attend a webinar that my company was sponsoring that was supposed to be the road to fame and fortune (everything is) and I set aside the time, was in front of my computer at the appointed time and realized five minutes into the thing that it was the same exact webinar I had attended in a live class at my office just a couple of weeks ago.  They had just put a cool, enticing webinar title on the damn thing.

Can you say “Waste of time?”

Then it’s talk to an internet marketing guy for a quick 20 minutes and off to Annapolis (about 30 minutes away) to meet with my Rotary buddies as we prepare for a huge two day event in the middle of May.  This meeting (with our provider of tents, tables, chairs, etc.) was out in an open field with the sun beating down while we tried to decided what size went where and yadda, yadda, yadda and, by the way, don’t you like beagles but they’re susceptible to Cushing’s Disease and ACL problems and, oh yeah, we were talking about tents.

Side note:  I’m really not a “process” person. I don’t know how I get sucked into meetings but I do and I almost always regret it. Plus, I got a nice sunburn on my face for the pleasure.

Anyway, by this time, I’m starved (never go hungry on diet or “lifestyle change”) so I stop by Panera Bread and, lucky for me, I guess, their A/C isn’t working so I don’t go back for the cookie after my tuna sandwich and baguette side with a lemonade (740 Calories).

Wednesday

Which brings us to today.

The Missus drove into work.  She had the follow up dental appointment for her crown (did I mention that the dental work for my wife is costing serious bucks?  Consider it mentioned forthwith) and I had a long-ish meeting in the heart of downtown DC for some volunteer stuff I do for my local Realtor Association.

All was going well.  I take the subway (Metro) into the meeting and that goes for 3½ hours and they, of course, served lunch.  Nice, thick lasagna with ricotta cheese and sauce, a decent salad (with the requisite balsamic vinegarette or ranch), bread and COOKIES and BROWNIES.  Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

Calories unknown.

The Icing on the Cake

I et back home just about in time to swallow some water, go to the bathroom and pick up the phone to call my coach (hi, Amy!) when I get the desperate phone call from the Missus that here car has broken down (“just stopped dead”) at a very busy intersection in the middle of rush hour.

She gathered her thoughts and called Triple A and got a tow into a local repair shop. I run down to meet her but she’s still a bundle of nerves and wants a drink….and dinner.

I’m in jeans and a golf shirt so we stop at a Mexican place I used to go to a long time ago. She orders the Martguerita and we order some food.  Mexican restaurants is not know for low-cal offerings.  I didn’t even pretend to try and count.

While at dinner we start talking about how much is too much to sink into repairs for this 1998 Ford Escort.  If the repairs are too much, do we pay for repairs or get another car (used, of course)?  What kind of car? From where? Where is the money coming from? What does my wife do to get around in the mean time?

Can you see there’s a little stress building here?

The Cure for Stress and Anger is Almost Always Food

They call it “comfort food” for a reason. Whether it’s meatloaf and mashed potatoes or Mexican or ice cream. It doesn’t matter.  As long as there is enough fat and salt and sugar it will calm you down and make everything alright even if it’s just for a little while.  That’s the sad part.  Usually, it’s just for a little while and the long term effect of packing on the calories and other unhealthy things like cholesterol are much worse.

But, it doesn’t matter at the time.

Money

Another part of this, for me, is that it seems that every time  I get a little stash of money in the bank something comes along to snatch it away.  It’s almost eerie.  This time it’s the combination of dental work and car repair. Not too long ago, my wife lost her wedding band while gardening (someone will find it someday) so money got spent replacing two wedding bands so they would match.

I could go on with the type of stuff that just seems to happen. Almost like the universe knows that I’m on the verge of surplus.  Forget the abundance crap. I’m just talking about a little more so that I’m not so worried about living in a refrigerator box under a bridge in ten years.

But….Enough

I obviously have gone on way to long with this meandering ramble.  The one thing I will pat myself on the back for is staying away from the Ben and Jerry’s or Haagen Dazs.

Pat. Pat.

Feed A Fever…Starve A Cold

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…or is it the other way around.

Who knows?  I wish I had known the old wife who started that tale because I have a hoorible cold that I’m going to blame on the worst train trip I’ve had in my life – 12 hours, one way, to Savannah, GA and 12 hours back.

Train travel, like air travel, puts you in contact with a lot of people you don’t know who may be carrying all kinds of ailments on their body.  The TSA doesn’t screen for that stuff.  To make matters worse, the air on a plane or a train is of the recycled variety.  In other words it’s the same air recirculating again and again through out the train or plane.  If someone has someone has a cold or the flu it’ll be floating around.

But, I digress.

The fact is I feel pretty bad.  I can barely breathe through my nose, I’m coughing and wheezing and the NyQuil makes me drowsier than I like.

What to do?  The thing about mega doses of Vitamin C is controversial and I don’t have any in the house anyway. I have some Vitamin D I’m taking but I’m not sure that addresses the cold.  Should I feed the cold with lots of chicken soup or whatever else I can lay my hands on or is it “starve” a cold and stay away from everything.

The only good thing is that I really don’t feel like eating much.  Maybe the cold will help me lose some of the unwanted pounds I packed on last week. Who knows?

Weekly Weigh-in … Week 19

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OK.  I’m up, again.  Not by a lot but up.

Week 18 – 281.2 lbs
Week 19 – 282.6 lbs
Increase – 1.4 lbs
Year to date decrease – ~20 lbs or 1.052 lbs/week

The challenge with not decreasing my weight or bouncing up and down is that my weekly average decreases which means it will take that much longer to get to my goal weight.

Part of this is bad eating habits on my part.  I went to a conference last week and ate.  I took a 12 hour train trip (24 hours both ways) and ate the crap train food and I haven’t been back to the gym.  All good reasons to go up instead of down.

I have a “function” tonight that will involve dinner.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to control the urge to graze at the hors d’œuvre table.

Anyway.  That’s it.  My accountability check-in for the week.

Eating At Meetings

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One of the major pitfalls of meetings, other than being bored to death, is that a lot of them have little nibble trays of food on a side table.  Sometimes it has some fruit.  Most of the time it has all the sweet stuff — muffins, donuts, bagels, cookies — that are delicious but really pack on the calories.

The discipline to “Just Say No” is hard to come by, especially when the person sitting next to you with the 38″ waistline (this is for the guys) is chowing down on the bagel and cream cheese with a donut and cup of coffee on the side.

The hard part for me is not so much the envy of skinny people pigging out. Although, that’s a good part of it.  It’s the free aspect of it.  The person who called the meeting is placating the attendees by providing some sugar and caffeine to keep them awake. At least through the first half hour. Free is free and it’s hard to pass up a “deal” even when the “deal” means shoving empty calories into my mouth knowing full well that it’s not helping me reach my goal weight.

So.  What to do?

I’m kinda at a loss about this.  I know, rationally and intellectually, that I should just pass by the food table and go to my appointed place to sit through the meeting.  But, the devil on my left shoulder keeps whispering “free….sweet….good…eat”.

Eating on a Train

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I recently took a 12-hour train ride to a conference in Savannah, GA from my “home station” – Union Station in Washington, DC.  The train ride was an experience in itself. One I’ll never repeat but the biggest challenge with the train was the food.

12 hours is a long time and most people would eat at least two meals during that time, if not more.  During “life” one might have a snack or something as well as the full blown meals.

On a train it’s a little different.  The food that’s available has all been pre-packaged so it’s really like the food you might get out of a vending machine in an office or somewhere. They pop it in a microwave and then serve it to you in a cardboard box.

It’s expensive, of course, but the real deal is that none of it is very healthful.  It’s high salt, high fat, high sugar, high calorie stuff. Worse, is that you’re a captive audience and you really don’t have a choice unless you bought your own food. Something I heartily recommend  if you plan to take a long train ride.

It’s something to eat, though. and unless I’m careful and pay attention, it’s easy to load up on the snacks and other things they offer that have no redeeming value whatsoever.

It’s kind of sad, in a way, but I realize there is limited space and Amtrak is really hurting nowadays for money so they can’t really afford to provide decent food.

It is what it is and I just need to be aware that grazing on a train is not the ideal weight loss solution.

Eating At A Conference

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I attend a good many conferences throughout the year. Probably too many.

It gives me a chance to network with other people in my profession, learn new things and visit areas of the country I’ve never seen.  It is also an opportunity to eat more than I should and to eat all the foods I know I should avoid.

Most of the time, the hotels have nice fitness centers – places that, at least, have a treadmill or two.  Normally I would pack some exercise clothes – sneakers and such – but the more I go to these conferences the more I realize that getting to the fitness center means waking up really early and hoping no one sees me with my bed head hair.

So, I’ve stopped exercising on the road.  Instead, I try to be conscious of what I’m eating.  That’s pretty hard sometimes.  A lot of conferences will provide food.  It might be the continental breakfast or a nice lunch.  There is always the requisite dinner (or dinners, plural) with my colleagues.  That usually means a lot of late night eating.

Still, other people manage to do it and stay nice and slim and fit.

I just haven’t figured out the secret, yet.

Weekly Weigh-In … Week 18

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I am constantly amazed about how my weight seems to bounce around.  Up one week, down the next.  Up, dramatically, one day and then back down. It’s scarier than the stock market.

I haven’t quite figured out why this is. My eating and exercise routine does not change that dramatically from one day to the next.  Sure.  I might not eat as much one day or I might not eat after, say, 6:30 in the evening or maybe just have a very light meal.  Still.

Anyway, I’m down this week. Yay! Not only am I down but I made up for the weight I gained last week (Week 17) and then some.  Always a good sign.

Week 18 – 281.2 lbs
Week 17 – 284.2 lbs
Decrease – 3 lbs
Year to date decrease – ~21 lbs or 1.16 lbs per week

The idea, of course is to keep going down, down, down toward my ultimate goal weight and to bump up the average decrease per week.

I’m at a conference for the weekend so it’ll be interesting to see how I do with that.  I’ll be back home by Monday, though, and have some time to get back to the gym and do some exercising.

Daily Weight Variations

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Last Thursday, I logged in at 2 lbs heavier than I was the week before.  While this is not the optimal outcome, it is understandable. Too much eating and too little exercise over a period of a week can lead to weight gain.

Day-to-day, though, is another story.

After last weeks weigh-in, I actually started to drop weight. I thought, “Great. Maybe Thursday was the anomaly and I’m back on track.” However, I weighed myself today and compared it to yesterday – a mere 24 hours – and the scale told me I had gained 3.5 lbs.  That’s a lot for one day.  I didn’t really change my eating habits that much. I did have a kinda heavy dinner. Yes. I had two small cookies.  I also ate a huge Gala apple and just a few slices of ham between two pieces of bread for lunch (no condiments) and some cinnamon grahams for snacking.  Nothing totally out of the ordinary. Except, maybe, the dinner.

Still this should not account for a gain of 3.5 lbs.  There is something else at work.  Either a screwed up scale or I need to go in for colon cleansing or something.

Maybe I should just stop weighing myself day-to-day.

Old Habits

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I’ve been trying to count calories and lose weight and exercise regularly since the beginning of the year.  Let me take that back.  I’ve been trying for decades but I’ve been serious since the beginning of the year. Yet, here I find myself, slowly but surely, getting frustrated with the glacial pace of weight loss.  It seems that unless I can force myself to fast or exercise 3 hours a day or both that the weight just drops off one slow tenth after the other.

If that.

Then there is the stuff that gets in the way. Erratic work schedules, erratic eating habits, inertia, lack of motivation….

Wait!  Lack of motivation?  I should be gung ho, right?

The sad fact is that without serious progress my motivation wanes.  I don’t know what it is, to be honest.  Motivation about the weight loss thing (I used to try to call it weight reduction since I didn’t want to find my lost weight ever again) is only part of the whole picture. My motivation about a lot of stuff is at a low ebb and, try as I might, I can’t seem to get enthusiastic.  Maybe it’s this gloomy weather and the fact that even though it’s supposed to be warm it’s still cold (to me).

Old habits are hard to break…and that rule about doing something for 21 days or 30 days or however many days to internalize the new behavior?  Doesn’t seem to be working.