Weigh-In Results

It's Monday and time to weigh in.

I've had a sore throat that's recently exploded into a full-blown head cold, which is expanding into my lungs.  Gross.  I stayed home from work today and will probably be gone tomorrow as well.  I really hate being sick.

Anyway, I decided to go ahead with my weigh-in.  I didn't want to miss a weigh-in just because I was sick.  I haven't exercised since Thursday and the weekend was filled with food and beer the likes of which will not be seen for quite some time.  I ate a cheeseburger and fries and just felt yucky afterward.  I'm glad my body is adapting to my healthier eating habits.

We'd better get this weigh in over with.  It's not pretty.

The result: 267.2.  I'm sorry I don't have a picture but I figured I didn't need photographic proof of a 5 pound gain. 

So to review: I was sick, I didn't exercise, I've been eating poorly, I had a few beers, and I didn't exercise right before my weigh-in as per usual.  That resulted in me weighing 5 pounds more than I weighed last week.  I know what I did wrong and I know what I need to do.

The Line

Sorry I haven't posted since Monday.  Don't worry, I'm still working toward my goal, I just had a busy week. 

I'm currently in Morris, Minnesota, where I went to college.  This weekend is Jazz Fest and I'm playing in the Alumni Band.  At last year's Jazz Fest, I weighed 51 pounds more than I weigh right now.  I bought myself an XL tshirt, which is a size smaller than I'm currently stocked with at home.  It's a little snug, but nothing that losing 10 pounds won't fix.  I don't think many people are noticing that I've lost that much weight though.  The only people who have said anything are those who follow my blog. 

I'm not upset that no one is noticing anything.  The people here aren't people I see on a regular basis.  It kind of makes me wonder if the brain is set up in such a way that it draws a distinct line between fat and not fat people.  Yes I'm a lot skinnier than I was last year at this time, but I'm not skinny yet. 

I had a friend who lost somewhere around 200 pounds over a couple years in college.  Nobody noticed when he first started to lose weight.  At least I didn't.  Then, after the next summer when classes resumed, he was nearly unrecognizable.  He probably lost 75 pounds in front of my eyes, but it wasn't until he crossed that line between fat and skinny in my mind that I noticed he had lost any weight.

So to those of you who have crossed the line of people noticing that you've lost weight, when did you notice it happening?  For those of you still on your way, when do you think it will happen?  Have you caught yourself doing the same thing?

Well, I'm going to enjoy the weather and some fantastic music! 

Monday Weigh-In*

I finally finished #amerryworkoutpledge.  I biked 6.5 miles, ran/walked (C25k week 2) 1.9 miles, and was on the elliptical for 26 minutes and 1.4 miles.  That's a total of 9.8 miles in 90 minutes!  Thanks Mary, for being so awesome!

I've got a goal that's not necessarily weight-loss related for the month of April.  Keep my apartment clean.  I think this will help in the weight-loss arena because when I'm in a more put-together environment, I behave in a more put-together way.

Moving on, this week's weigh-in has a big asterisk next to it for a couple reasons:

1.  I weighed in right after I finished exercising for 90 minutes.  I may have been quite dehydrated.
2.  I had a very small dinner tonight.  Just a chicken salad and some teddy grahams.  It sure was tasty though.  Spinach, chicken, Parmesan cheese and Caesar dressing.  Mmm... so tasty.

Still, I'm happy with the number.

I've lost 33.8 pounds since I started my journey at the end of November.  I've hit two milestones this weigh-in.  The first is I'm a third of the way to my goal.  The second takes a bit more explaining.

On April 14th, 2009, I stepped on my bathroom scale and it said I weighed 313.2 pounds, the biggest number I've ever seen while weighing myself.  Next week is the one-year anniversary of that particular low point.  I'm thrilled to report that I am now 51 pounds lighter than I was this time last year!

I've been getting really frustrated with the scale as of late.  It's been my own fault.  I'm still way too relaxed with how much I eat.  I have a plan though.

I lost 51 pounds since last April.  I'm a third of the way to my goal.  I will lose 100 pounds by November 28th, 2010 and meet my goal!

Attack Cardio

So I found an awesome new workout plan.  I'll get started right away.

Attack Cardio with Vinnie Jones from Vinnie Jones

Blog of the Week and a Digital Postcard

So I forgot to post my blog of the week on Thursday.  I was too busy feeling lousy and pessimistic and not very good at all.  Things improved when I tried on my old red jacket and it fit!

Rachel at Body by Pizza left the following comment on Thursday's post:

'Not eating as well' as you'd 'like' and 'plateau' in the same sentence? Could these two somehow (somehow!) be related?

She's exactly right.  It's so easy to make excuses.  I've done so poorly at monitoring my intake.  Really poorly.  Here's the plan:

Week One: Monitor everything I eat on The Daily Plate even if I take in 10,000 calories in a day.  

Week Two: Stay within The Daily Plate's recommended calories (somewhere around 2600).  Keep recording everything I eat.

Week Three: Cut my daily calorie consumption to around 2200 calories a day.

I've got to get better at logging my consumption.  If I don't know how much I'm eating, I'm going to keep self sabotaging.

Thanks for the much-needed ball busting Rachel.  Body by Pizza is this week's Blog of the Week!  I'm a sucker for blogs with awesome names.  She's lost 107 pounds already and she's shooting for a 121 pound loss.  Go check her out.

Claire spent last night with some relatives for a girls' weekend in Minneapolis.  I was "bachin' it" as my dad used to say when my mom was away.  So I went over to my friend, Jake's, house and things got pretty wild.  Don't worry, I didn't eat or drink everything or go over on calories or anything.  I went for a run and a walk yesterday too!  We decided we needed to use the remote control on my camera and make a stop motion video.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you our first stop motion film, Happy Easter: A Digital Postcard.  Enjoy.

Plateau?

This afternoon, my wife and I went out for an adventure.  We started at Ikea, then went to the park for a mini photo-shoot and hike, then we went to Target.
When we were at Ikea, I started feeling really light-headed.  I had to sit down a couple times, but I got a carbonated Swedish apple beverage thing and felt a little better.  We went to the park and I felt okay, but not great.  Then at Target I started feeling lousy again. 

We came home and rested for a little bit.  After I ate some food I felt better, but I still feel pretty lousy.  I'm pretty foggy right now.

I'm not used to feeling this way and I don't like it one bit. 

It might be a reaction to the heat and humidity; we hit 80 here today for the first time this year.  I'm also wondering if I've overexerted myself with all the extra exercise I've been partaking in this week. 

I was going to do Mary's #amerryworkoutpledge tonight and spend 90 minutes on the elliptical.  I'm going to have to put it off until tomorrow or Saturday.  I feel bad taking a rest day, but I really don't want to pass out at the gym.

I'm afraid I've hit a plateau.  My last few weigh-ins have been pretty piddly.  At least they've all been losses.  I wanted to make Monday's weigh-in really big, but things aren't looking that way.  I haven't been eating as well as I want and my body isn't cooperating today.

Sorry for the pessimistic post.  I know I'm capable of losing the next 69 pounds.  I just need to figure out the best plan of attack.  

Advice, Workout Pledges, and Binges.

First of all, thanks to Kat for the mention on her site.  Secrets to Losing 100 Pounds was the very first blog I started reading when I was just starting 100 Pounds in a Year.  I really connected with her because she had the same weight loss goal I had and was already on her way toward reaching it.  If you look carefully, you'll see I stole borrowed much of my layout from her.  She featured a piece of advice I sent her about building habits.  Check her out here!

Regarding another blog.  Mary at A Merry Life recently did a workout pledge.  Her's was much more simple than any I've done.  She added 30 seconds for every comment posted on her blog.  I (along with 21 other weight-loss bloggers) decided I should match her pledge.  180 comments later, the time limit for the pledge was set.  My next workout would be 90 minutes long.

I tried to do it today, but realized after 50 minutes on the elliptical that I had somewhere to be and couldn't possibly finish.  So I decide I'll be starting again tomorrow (and finishing this time).

I also did day 2 of C25k today with my wife.  Other than the side aches, I'm really digging it.  It's a very manageable way to get this fat guy running.

I also have a confession to make.  I had a mini-binge today.  Claire and I went to a picnic for a friend's birthday.  There were chips and salsa there and I had a lot of both.  I also had some Doritos and some orange Gatorade and the most amazing tiramisu (sp) brownies ever.  I was stuffed in the end, but I figure some of that was negated by the double-dose of workout I had today.

One last thing, I recently heard from a friend I haven't heard from in a while.  He mentioned that he'd been reading my blog and every time he needs a push to get to the gym, he reads my blog.  It makes me feel really good to know that I'm helping other people become healthier. 

He told me about a facebook group he's a part of called Beach Body Here I Come!  It's a group of people keeping each other motivated to lose weight and live healthier.  I'll be going there frequently to give and get advice and motivation.  You should check it out too.

What or who inspires and motivates you to live a healthier life?