Real Life Update 8, Slow But Steady (1 lb. lost)

253 lbs.
116 lbs. lost since 12/7/07

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I can feel it.  My body is starting to level off.  It may just be that for this amount of exercise and way of eating 240-250 may be where I land.  Again, it doesn't bother me wherever that might end up, I can just tell in my daily/weekly progress that my body is settling down.  Having said this, who knows, I could drop another fiver next week.  The body does what the body does, I'm just going to continue to live life this way and see what heppens.  Once I do level off (lets say within a pound either way for a 4 week stretch) I will probably be a little more sporadic with these updates.  I'll hop on whenever I feel there is something to talk about related to health/weight but will only do the official weight check maybe monthly.  I still want to do it periodically just to have that sense of accountability to you.  And if the program grows to include others (which I still hope it will) this will become the home for those efforts as well.   But as long as I'm losing one or two pounds a week, I'll keep checking in weekly to let you know how it is going!

Real Life Update 7, My Wife Says I'm Ripped (1 lb. lost)

254 lbs.
115 lbs. lost since 12/7/07

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There are very few people who get the privilege of seeing me shirtless (even after 115 pounds just know that phrase was dripping with sarcasm.), and my wife is one of those select few.  Last night, getting ready for bed, in a moment of Sawyeresque shirt shedding, my wife utters this sentence, "Wow, you're ripped!".  After my throat was too sore to laugh anymore, I realized what she meant to say was, "You remember how you used to resemble a gigantic collection of tube socks full of pudding?  Well, I don't see as much pudding, and when the light hits your arm just right I see what might be a muscle or two."  Even knowing the amazing benefit of the doubt my wife's assessment of my physical stature entails, it's still nice to know that this whole process is paying off.  If for no other reason than I am some sort of Adonis in my wife's eyes.

Back next week with more delusions of those who love me and hopefully another pound or two scampering away from my now chiseled exterior. 

Real Life Update 6, Losing Again (2 lbs. lost)

255 lbs.
114 lbs. lost since 12/7/07

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Here we go again!  It certainly feels great to be back on the downward slide as the holidays fade into the background.  I think a one or two pound loss should be pretty typical for me from here until I level off, wherever that might be.  I only have one more hump to get over before a long stretch of "normalcy" and that would be a week of vacation coming up in the next month or so.  I figure as long as a come out of that week around 250 or so I should be able to hit my skydiving weight by my birthday (hint, hint).  I recently rechecked my "bucket list" (of course it wasn't called that when I wrote it in college, but now Jack Nicholson insists that I refer to it as such) as I was thinking about jumping out of a plane since I knew I had written that on there.  What I didn't remember is that when I wrote that list (about 12 years ago) I had also put on there to weigh below 240 again.  I can knock off two "bucket list" items with about 20 more pounds!!  Still pretty sure that attending a Lion's playoff game will be the most difficult to achieve, cause I'm too cheap to pay the scalper prices especially when they include transportation to an alternate reality where the Detroit Lions make the playoffs.

Real Life Update 5, Thrilled with the 3 Week Stall (0 lbs. lost)

257 lbs.
112 lbs. lost since 12/7/07

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Three weeks ago I weighed in at 257, today I weigh in exactly the same.  This makes me happy, in fact, it makes me extremely happy.  If I can come out of these three weeks every year the same I go in I will consider that success.  Holiday is a time for celebration, travel, family, and fun, and more than anything else, lots and lots of food.  Late nights snacks, lots of seasonal desserts, being away from workout opportunities, and a desire to embrace the idea of the splurge all add to the difficulty.  To somehow come out even is a great encouragement to me and backs up something I've learned over the last year or so.  If 85% of the time you make wise choices, the 15% can't hurt you very much.  Now, if I allow these splurges to become habitual again, that is when it becomes a detriment.  It's likely that the first week I maintained, the second week I gained a pound or two, and this week I lost a pound or two, but at the end of the day if I can weigh on January 9th what I weighed on December 20th every year, staying healthy should be a piece of cake (or two, OK, fine, three.)

Real Life Update 4, Out of Town (? lbs. lost)

??? lbs.
112 lbs. lost since 12/7/07

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Just checkin' in to let you know that I do not have access to my scale this weekend.  Got some good time with old friends and ate lots of wonderful food, so next week could be interesting.  Stay tuned for the New Year's damage!