30 Days of Being Good -- Day 4
"Where's Day 1?" you might reasonably ask.
Well, that was 4 days ago, but I'm just around to writing things down, see. I've been continuing the battle with weight, and I'll tell you all about it, but first my latest weight management idea ... Hmmm, actually I better tell you a little history, so it makes sense.
January 2014
So, throughout the fall of 2013, I continue the coffee hostage technique to keep my weight under 180. It works pretty well. Winter comes (Starks were right). Weight creeps over 180. I stay off the coffee in respect of the rules for a few weeks, but finally start drinking coffee and say, "To hell with it." A happy time ensues where I eat anything while my weight hovers between 182-4. You might have noticed the resultant spike in the share price of "Ben & Jerry's" in spring 2014.
April 2014
Weight takes off like a runnaway train. For a day or two, I even crest of 190. Real weight I estimate peaks at 188. I lose the sense of feeling comfortable physically. I start to feel sluggish and heavy.
Realization comes that sadly the law of physics do, in fact, seem to apply to my body, and I cannot eat like a pig with impunity. Resolve to try to bring it under control by a little dieting and lots of exercise. I have a great amount of time for exercise starting in June when school is out for summer.
May 2014
I consciously try to modify the eating habits and weight dips lower. In fact, I even gets to 182.4 without anything other than trying to tone it down. Real weight is probably around 184. This is going to be easy.
June - mid-August 2014
School's out for summer. I start walking every day. Lots of long (10+ mile) walks. Start slimming down quite a bit. Weight doesn't budge because I'm also eating lots of fun food. This continues through most of the summer. I don't exactly eat everything I want, but I am not dieting or even eating sensibly. (Note: the two pieces of chocolate cake and ice cream on my birthday was admittedly the high water mark. It was really good cake. I would also note that chocolate cake and coffee makes a surprisingly good breakfast the day after your birthday.) Weight bounces around in mid 180's. I want to get to 180, and I'm doing the exercise; but I am also eating to put back on what I seem to be losing.
I also did a lot of reading about the obesity epidemic in the US over the summer. This is a serious problem, and it's no wonder it is tricky for me. Leading to my latest technique ...
Thirty Days of Being Good
I weigh myself every day now as a habit. I've noticed a few things.
1) Weight jumps around for no reason from day to day.
2) When it goes down, I tend to believe this is real weight loss. When it goes up, I tend to think this is a false spike.
3) I will talk myself into allowing a bad food choice because of good news on the scale.
4) I am incapable of objective thought when I am hungry and tired.
So, for 30 days, I am just going to be good. This definition is just like the chowderhead standard of 2009. I know what are good choices and what are not. I just need to make them. Unlike other times though, I have only the goal of being good for 30 days, not a particular weight loss. I will track my weight, with a slight wrinkle (see below), but in my mind, I'm just trying to "be good", not "lose weight". I can be good for 30 days.
What then?
Who knows. I am choosing this for a few reasons. First, I think I'm in much better shape from the summer exercise and that I have a leaner body waiting for some butter to melt off. Second, I am realizing that the key to weight loss for me is the focusing of the will, not the actual technique. This seems a very good and manageable focus time. Finally, a combination of these two, I believe I have actually done the work over the summer I just need to bring it home. I think it will be clearer what a good strategy is after the 30 days are up.
Tracking Weight Wrinkle
I've started to look at my real weight as my average weight over the last 7 days.
(Yes, this means that not only do I weigh myself every day but also I type it in a spreadsheet. Or at least I have for a month. I am a geek. Freely admitted.)
The scale tells me I weigh 182.4 this morning, and I weighed 186.4 when I started the thirty days.
"I've lost 4 lbs!"
No, I haven't. Seven day average says 1 lb. That sounds right. If my weight stays at 182.4 for another week, it's be closer to 4 lbs. That won't happen. Even with "being good", I think the 182 is a spike into low territory, but that's OK. My current 7 days average is 184.9, so anything below that is moving in the right direction.
Current Numbers
Starting Weight: 185.9
Current Weight: 184.9
Well, that was 4 days ago, but I'm just around to writing things down, see. I've been continuing the battle with weight, and I'll tell you all about it, but first my latest weight management idea ... Hmmm, actually I better tell you a little history, so it makes sense.
January 2014
So, throughout the fall of 2013, I continue the coffee hostage technique to keep my weight under 180. It works pretty well. Winter comes (Starks were right). Weight creeps over 180. I stay off the coffee in respect of the rules for a few weeks, but finally start drinking coffee and say, "To hell with it." A happy time ensues where I eat anything while my weight hovers between 182-4. You might have noticed the resultant spike in the share price of "Ben & Jerry's" in spring 2014.
April 2014
Weight takes off like a runnaway train. For a day or two, I even crest of 190. Real weight I estimate peaks at 188. I lose the sense of feeling comfortable physically. I start to feel sluggish and heavy.
Realization comes that sadly the law of physics do, in fact, seem to apply to my body, and I cannot eat like a pig with impunity. Resolve to try to bring it under control by a little dieting and lots of exercise. I have a great amount of time for exercise starting in June when school is out for summer.
May 2014
I consciously try to modify the eating habits and weight dips lower. In fact, I even gets to 182.4 without anything other than trying to tone it down. Real weight is probably around 184. This is going to be easy.
June - mid-August 2014
School's out for summer. I start walking every day. Lots of long (10+ mile) walks. Start slimming down quite a bit. Weight doesn't budge because I'm also eating lots of fun food. This continues through most of the summer. I don't exactly eat everything I want, but I am not dieting or even eating sensibly. (Note: the two pieces of chocolate cake and ice cream on my birthday was admittedly the high water mark. It was really good cake. I would also note that chocolate cake and coffee makes a surprisingly good breakfast the day after your birthday.) Weight bounces around in mid 180's. I want to get to 180, and I'm doing the exercise; but I am also eating to put back on what I seem to be losing.
I also did a lot of reading about the obesity epidemic in the US over the summer. This is a serious problem, and it's no wonder it is tricky for me. Leading to my latest technique ...
Thirty Days of Being Good
I weigh myself every day now as a habit. I've noticed a few things.
1) Weight jumps around for no reason from day to day.
2) When it goes down, I tend to believe this is real weight loss. When it goes up, I tend to think this is a false spike.
3) I will talk myself into allowing a bad food choice because of good news on the scale.
4) I am incapable of objective thought when I am hungry and tired.
So, for 30 days, I am just going to be good. This definition is just like the chowderhead standard of 2009. I know what are good choices and what are not. I just need to make them. Unlike other times though, I have only the goal of being good for 30 days, not a particular weight loss. I will track my weight, with a slight wrinkle (see below), but in my mind, I'm just trying to "be good", not "lose weight". I can be good for 30 days.
What then?
Who knows. I am choosing this for a few reasons. First, I think I'm in much better shape from the summer exercise and that I have a leaner body waiting for some butter to melt off. Second, I am realizing that the key to weight loss for me is the focusing of the will, not the actual technique. This seems a very good and manageable focus time. Finally, a combination of these two, I believe I have actually done the work over the summer I just need to bring it home. I think it will be clearer what a good strategy is after the 30 days are up.
Tracking Weight Wrinkle
I've started to look at my real weight as my average weight over the last 7 days.
(Yes, this means that not only do I weigh myself every day but also I type it in a spreadsheet. Or at least I have for a month. I am a geek. Freely admitted.)
The scale tells me I weigh 182.4 this morning, and I weighed 186.4 when I started the thirty days.
"I've lost 4 lbs!"
No, I haven't. Seven day average says 1 lb. That sounds right. If my weight stays at 182.4 for another week, it's be closer to 4 lbs. That won't happen. Even with "being good", I think the 182 is a spike into low territory, but that's OK. My current 7 days average is 184.9, so anything below that is moving in the right direction.
Current Numbers
Starting Weight: 185.9
Current Weight: 184.9
posted by Don Q., Sir Chubalot at 8:11 AM
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