Week 34 -1.2

I'm going for it. I'm going to try to make weight by next week's weigh-in. I'm off to a lousy start as I sorta celebrated last night, but the damage is not too bad.

Next stop --> 177.0

Weight: 180.2
Net Pounds Lost: -31.0
Pounds till goal: 3.2

Smelling the Barn

As I rounded the 2/3rds mark today on my daily run this AM, I caught the faintest whiff of the barn. Metaphorically, that is. As that run is complete, I have only 2 more this week until I will have 4 weeks complete and two to go in the Lenten Fitness Program. Well, strictly speakin, I'll still have another two days after that, but I'll be so close then that it will be easy. I did say I caught a "faint whiff" of the barn, not a big noseful.

And another thing
My ass hurts. At first I thought it was a bruise thingy on my hip from falling while playing soccer, but that was 10 days ago. I think I must have changed my stride or something because it's achy. Used to be that I would feel it in my quads when I'd run, now it's me haunches.

Week 33 -4.2

Bam!
Pow!
Put it on the good foot.
Ow!

This is my second largest weekly loss. The only bigger one was the first week on the diet.

Things came together this week. Body adapted to running, and I stuck to the diet pretty closely. Missed 30 pound marker by a hair. Almost halfway to goal weight. Think it is unlikely that I'll have such a big loss next week, but two weeks looks very possible.

Not surprisingly, the running is steady, but my times are not improving. Bit of a tradeoff. Although I was eating more crap before, there was also more fuel for muscle rebuild. This is also combined with the fact that my body never really fully recovered from the shock of Saturday's soccer game until my day off yesterday.


Weight: 181.4
Net Pounds Lost: -29.8
Pounds till goal: 4.4

V-BP Day

What to wear ... what to wear.

Keep walking, cheese-ass. You'll never fit in here.

Everything's a little big. Maybe I shold try those new black pants.

Maybe you should try pole-vaulting with a broomstick. 'Bout as likely to be successful.

Don't even try it.

Don't ... oh, give me a break. Will you never give up, bubble-butt.

There, that's not so bad. They feel pretty good. Not tight at all.

Wait 'till you sit down. We're gonna grab yor waist like tango dancer. By 2 PM, you'll be trying to figure out how to unbutton your pants at work without looking like a perv.

I think these might not even be tight after lunch.

Monkey's may fly out your ass too, but I wouldn't count on it.

Wow, that's great. I've been waiting for a month to get into these comfortably.

You're a such putz.

One small step for this fat guy ...

one giant leap for fatguykind.

The step was from my bed to the floor. It was not unusual even at 4:30 AM. But I was not going to the bathroom; I was going running.

My highest ambition in my running programs is to go running first thing in the morning. There are three major obstacles to this. First, I am not really a morning person. Anyone who knew me before the age of 25 is now blowing coffee out of his or her nose at this heinous understatement. Even though it no longer requires a cannon to wake me, I am still not an early riser. Second, in the morning division of labor, I have choosen the role of making breakfast -- a task that begins at 6:30 AM. So, in order to run an hour and return in time to be Chef Chubalot, I have to hit the road at approx. 5:20 AM. Third, (and this is the killer), my wife is a light sleeper and once woken cannot get back to sleep. As such, in order to go running at 5:20 AM and preserve marital harmony, I have to wake up without the benefit of an alarm clock.

In my thirty-nine and half years of life, I have accomplished this task -- once. I acutally got up at 4:30 because I kept waking up to look at my watch. I dreamt all night that I was in a train station asking people what time it was. I was finally pretty confident that it was 1 AM when I realized that people in my dream world probably had no idea what time it really was.

I'd like to report that I feel like a new person, but the truth is that I feel like a ten pound bag of cow turds. Played soccer Saturday and ran long on Sunday. Still recovering.

Diet Update
Back to fundamentals is hard. Hadn't realized how much I was sluffin off to "Well, I'm running an hour a day". I do get some extra allowances for the exercise, but I was taking more. Even so, my diet allows me to eat as much as I need to feel "satisfied" of certain healthly foods. It's worked great until this juncture, but I may have to start doing the version where I count everything I eat.

Milestones
I almost forgot. Today is the one year anniversary of my weight loss effort. In my orignial entry I was going to try to lose weight without dieting and only running. That petered out after 10 weeks and I went back to 200+. Second effort started in August and is still going. I noted that I have passed all of the milestones I set for myself back at the beginning of the first effort but have achieved none of the goals. I am close on blood pressure (123-5/78) and resting pulse (54). I didn't even scare 100 days of consecutive running, and I am no longer shooting for 170 as a target weight. Actually, in weight watcher weight, that goal would be to shoot for 175. You have to add 5 pounds to all these weight related goals since they were based on my home scale weight.

I also passed 1000 minutes of running during Lent. This Thursday will be the halfway point.

Week 32 + 0.7

*Sigh*

The second week of essentially unchanged. It is more than just Tim who suggests that I might should consider a different goal. The group leader at Weight Watchers suggested that I should get a doctor's note to raise my goal weight above 177 pounds. After all, the BMI charts are for both sexes, and men typically have more muscle weight than women. I might be working against myself by building up heavier leg muscles through running. I've slimed down quite a bit and should consider whether I might be at a weight that I'm comfortable at.

All very reasonable.

My response is --> Read my lips, 1 - 7 - 7.

Not 180, Not 178. Not 177.2.

I don't care if I run a marathon everyday from now until Easter and don't lose a pound. The number is 177. I don't care if Jack Lalane shows up at my doorstep and crowns me "King Healthy" for 2006. 177. I don't care if super models start sending me letters asking for tips on how they can look skinnier. One Seven Seven. I don't care if Sherilyn Fenn offers to have wild sex with me a fortnight if only I'll raise my goal weight. The number is ... well ... maybe, I'd go 179 for that.

Except for that, it's

1
7
7
.
0

Weight: 185.6
Net Pounds Lost: -25.6
Pounds till goal: 8.6

Back to Fundamentals

So running is going well. I'm a bit shagged, but this is not entirely unexpected. I really have never recovered from this Friday.

What did I do on Friday? Interval training? an extra hour of running? Soccer?

No, Hold'em. I played poker until the wee hours of the morning (Finished second!). Since I am single parenting these last two weeks, there was no rest for the wicked come Sat morning. I have noticed that I have not felt fully recouped since then. Rest day coming up on Thurs though, and wife returning Friday.

Fundamentals, dammit
I'm a quarter of the way through the Lenten Running Program. I think I've gotten over the initial physical shock, so it is time to return to the dieting fundamentals. I have been being restrained but not doing strict tracking. As of today, I am back to the core Weight Watchers program.

Week 31 -0.5

This is unofficial as I haven't had time to go to weight watchers. I'm playing Mr. Mom this week, so it's all I can do to keep up with the hour of exercise a day. The exercise is going great. The first couple of days my knees hurt, but that has slacked off. Did a little cross training and things are much better. Running a little over 5 miles a day for 8 straight days, one would think would take off a little more 40 FUCKING MILES IN EIGHT DAYS AND ALL I LOST IS A HALF A GODDDAMM POUND. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME. I COULD HAVE SAT ON MY BIG FAT ASS FOR 8 DAYS, SKIPPED AN APPLE AND LOST HALF A SHAGGING POUND. THE NEXT PERSON WHO TELLS ME THAT MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN FAT IS GETTING THEIR GODDAMM HEAD SHOVED UP THEIR ASS weight, but hey that's the breaks.

I'm in it for the long haul and in no hurry. Can't wait till next week!

Blog of Will

Comments on my last post have been rather colorful. It has made me want to put down a few things about me and what I'm trying to do here. I think the misunderstandings in the comments have worked themselves out, but it does seem like the process has tired out The Exercise Oracle. I hope he returns soon, but I understand. He did just start a new job last week.

So What Am I Doing Anyway?
Yes, this blog is about losing weight, and that is my main focus right now. Last year, I was blogging about improving at chess. They are really the same thing. (Stick with me. I will all come together, I promise). There are thousands of people worldwide today who want to improve their chess game. (Don't believe me? Go do a search on amazon.com on the word "chess".) Appearances to the contrary, the process of improving at chess is relatively simple for the amateur. It requires drilling of chess "patterns", a process akin to learning your multiplication tables. So I did. I followed a program to do this, and in about 6 months I had learned the requisite information. During that time, my chess rating (i.e. a number calculated based on your tournament results) improved more than it had in the prior 20 years of playing chess. It was very successful.

Same thing is true of weight loss. There are millions of people worldwide who want to lose weight. Everyone knows what needs to be done more or less -- eat less, exercise more. There are exceptions and refinements for every situation, but most weight loss (and chess improvement) plans fail right in the starting blocks. We just don't do them. We lack the will.

ultimately, for both blogs, I have been trying to develop my will power. There are things I want to do in life and with my remaining 30-60 years, and I'm not going to get them done without a better will. So, it is important for me to reach my goal of 177 pounds, not because it is a particularly ideal number but because it is a number I have chosen. I have made it a magic "mission accomplished" spot.

I have really learned a lot about myself and what it takes me to get things done. I really would like to write it all out someday, but I don't have the time now. Suffice it to say that I used to equate my lack of will power with an inability to "suck it up and do things, dammit". I did lack that, and I've gotten a little better at it. But I'd say now that this is only one of the tools in the "will toolkit". You definitely need it sometimes, but if you're using it too much, you are doing something wrong.

I misunderstood Joel's comment to me. I thought that he was saying I should just "suck it up" and stick to the program (He was actually suggesting something else.) The reason I found it helpful is that it is my least favorite tool, but sometimes it is the best tool for the job.

It came out a few times over the weekend, and I will make it to 177.

Week 30 +2.6

Most of this came in week 29 when I skipped weigh in, but this week has not been an exactly model week. There are several reasons for the gain which I will now (thoughtfully I might add) list for the Weight Watchers police should they wish to try to press charges. (You'll never take me alive, Pigs!)

Please note I'm gonna skip the first level reasons (i.e eating food/drinking beer/not exercising) as they are pretty obvious. What follows is the second level reasons (i.e. the reasons for the first level reasons).

1) It's hard to be good when depressed. Depression is a funny thing. Sometimes you can beat it by "bucking up"; sometimes you beat it by taking it easier on yourself. At some point, getting out of the funk became more important than staying on the diet.

I am feeling great now though. It has passed.

2) Lately I have been gearing up for Lent. The exercise thing is my plan for the big final push to get me over the top (under the top?). As such, I haven't been too worried about staying on the diet.

3) I am still committed to my goal of making it to 177, but I'm in no real hurry. I look forward to shedding the last 8 pounds, but I'm feeling pretty good having lost the 25 already.

4) It's my mother's fault. She didn't toilet train me until I was two and half, and I have been a fuck up ever since.

And One More
Welcome to Lady FJL. She and I share a passion for white wine, and thanks to her I now know what type of undies I am. (I had been wondering). She may have the distinction of being the only current Knight whose family actually used to have a title. My ancestors only came out of the coal mines a few generations back, and our titles are related to ale consumption.

Weight: 185.4
Net Pounds Lost: -25.8
Pounds till goal: 8.4

Running for Jesus

Alright. I'm decided. For Lent this year, I'm giving up not running for an hour every day until Easter. Except Sundays. Or Thursdays. Depends on the week.

Hmmm. That doesn't really sound right. Lacks a certain something.

OK, I still need to work on the phrasing, but you get the idea. This morning I popped out of bed and ran for an hour straight without stopping.

OK, that's not right either. That's what I meant to do, but it is my wife's birthday, so I was busy being a good husband (OK, a passable husband). My inaugural run will have to wait until this evening after the kids go to bed. Yes, I know I shouldn't leave my wife alone for an hour on the evening of her birthday, but it's not my fault she was born on Ash Wednesday. I'll be a better date on her birthday than I was the year I gave up caffeine, and set a better example at Easter services than the year I gave up beer (Hey, Lent ends at midnight where I come from).

New Kn-ig-its
Welcome to Sir Squishy and Sir Pork in Boots . Both knights have been at this for a bit and are on their way. Sir Squishy has recently embarked on a quest to avoid temptation in the land named "McDonald's" for 59 days. Should be finished right around Easter. His site is also a nice source of inspirational and humorous quotes. Sir Pork in Boots just started a very intense exercise regimen. I had to take a 10 minute break after reading the thing I was so exhausted. I hope you can make it through to Day 3, and yes, pigs do sweat.

I YAM what I YAM
Lord Lessimore posted recently to note the end of his first Year At maintenance weight. His example continues to inspire me and make me think that I may some day get to and STAY AT a healthy weight.

There has also been a comment sighting of Sir Howling Belly. He has been accosted by the mysterious Mr. Mojo. More on this as the story develops.