TiredOfTheWeight.com

WOW!!!!  I just cannot believe that almost an entire year has passed since I started this weight loss journey.  Two Monday’s from now, coincidentally, will mark the exact one year mark and I will be posting the much anticipated ’after’ picture on this blog.  Although I know that I will not make my original goal of one hundred pounds, I am extremely proud of what I have done so far (66 pounds as of this morning).

I have learned a lot this year and I will share much of it in my post next week.  Although I will probably not publish here regularly after this year, I will still be updating the site periodically until I reach my final weigh goal.  I am very close right now - only 34 pounds away from my original goal.  See you next week!

As you may know, the Thanksgiving holiday played havoc with my weight and I gained three pounds over a two week period.  I am happy to say that one month later, I have shed all three of those pounds and am back to where I started on November 12th!

Hopefully, I will not gain as much at Christmas time but it does not look good for me.  Most of my family will be visiting from Maine and Switzerland as well as my brother and sister-in-law’s family from Maryland.  These celebrations, when coupled with my vacation from work and no school, will surely make it difficult to maintain control over about a five day period.  I will do my best -but I know that no matter how much I might gain in that short period, I will take it right back off later.  My mother-in-law will be making her world famous baked ziti dinner on Christmas night.  That alone should cause me to gain at least two pounds!

Well, not really.  I only had a five day vacation but I had not weighed for two weeks.  In addition to that, I was pretty lazy in counting and did not take things very seriously for all of the last week.  This morning’s weigh-in showed a three pound gain and unlike previous gains, I totally know why I gained and accept it.  Today, it is time to move on.  I have resumed tracking my points online and will be better at counting over the next week.

Did I mention that Thanksgiving dinner was AWESOME!  I have always said there would be at least four or five days per year that I will not count anything: Thanksgiving, Christmas, my birthday, 4th of July and maybe New Years or one other day I just don’t feel like it.  I find that as long as I resume counting the day after, the damage is minimal if at all present.

Hopefully, I will lose all three of those pounds and then some before the Christmas holiday.  This article says that the average American gains ten pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I suppose I’m already ahead of the game according to that statistic but I will be happy if I break even!

I lost two and a half pounds last week… YAY!  Two hectic and exciting weeks have passed since I started a one year journey of an entirely different kind.  I am pleased to say that I am doing fairly well with all things considered.  The new schedule is grueling and demanding both physically and mentally.  The first week, I could not get used to the odd timing of when and where I could eat and it took a bit of adjusting to get it right. 

Now that I have a sort of routine established, I should be able to cruise through the rest of it without much trouble.  Did I mention the academic stress?  Holy crap!  The first module is almost entirely legal mumbo-jumbo which has to be memorized.  I guess it makes sense, law enforcement; you need to know the laws!

Tomorrow will be the first night of PT for my class.  I’m a bit nervous about it but am taking comfort in the fact that I am one of many that will be suffering.  :-) 

We have a mini-vacation planned for this weekend.  The family will pack up and travel to Tallahassee for the weekend and come back some time on Monday afternoon.  Although I will probably be studying for most of the latter part of it, I am really looking forward to camping out.

If I feel up to it, I may post on Wednesday to let you know how Tuesday’s PT went…  but I might be too sore to type!

I lost a half pound this weekend.  I did very well last week counting but, as usual, I attended a party this weekend and threw counting out the window.  I really must try to be better about counting on the weekends but I find it very difficult.

Although I started the academy last week, we have not PT’d yet.  That will come tomorrow.  I am really not looking forward to it since I seem to have made myself sore over the weekend (although I have NO idea how!).  The back of my legs and butt are killing me!  It hurts even to sit down.  All I can think of is climbing a ladder a bunch of times and doing roof work on the fifth wheel for a few hours…  Oh well.  As some U.S. Marine friends of mine once said when I was in the military: “Pain ain’t nothing but weakness leaving the body.”

Hoo-rah!

This weekend symbolized yet another turning point in my life.  A point which will bring about much change and some added (but unwanted) stress to an already hectic life.  It was my last truly free weekend for a while to come - 11 months to be exact. 

My family and I went camping this weekend and we had a nice, relaxing stay at a campground in Jennings, FL.  While ever cognizant of my continued weight loss journey, I decided that since this was my last free weekend for a while I was not going to suppress all of my ‘dietary urges’ as I might usually do.  –I will have an extra bread stick, please.  Yes, I would like another cookie!  Sure, put some chocolate syrup on that ice cream.  I think I’ll have a burger and a dog!  Of course you know I did not go all-out and try to ruin any of the hard work I’ve done over the past ten months but I also did not let my ‘cheating’ bother me… well sort of.

It’s funny how I like to analyze things after they happen in order to try and make sense of it all.  Why on earth did I still have these fantastic urges to eat so much?  I thought I had it whipped!  (mmmmm…… whipped cream)  The truth is, I don’t think I will ever be 100% happy restraining myself at all times.  Who could ever be that way about anything and not go crazy?  The key is moderation.  I did not have a bun with my hot dog.  I did not have any mayo with my burger and the cheese was made with 2% milk.  The bread sticks at Pizza Hut were cut in half already so I didn’t really have two.  The ice cream was only 4 points per cup.  And the cookies; they were normal, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and they were awesome!

I guess without realizing it, I have changed my habits for the best and come to terms with the situation in a way that is healthy - both physically and mentally.  While I’m sure that I will continue to have moments where I struggle with things, I know that they will be temporary and I will get right back on track the next day (or maybe I’ll start on Monday!).

So as I get ready to make a big change and several adjustments to my schedule as I start the police academy, I stepped on the scale this morning to reveal that there has been no change since last week’s weigh-in.  How ironic.

I actually posted my first two-weeks-in-a-row loss since late August!  What a relief to know that my body seems to be out of the yo-yo effect (for now).  I seem to be having intermittent highs and lows in my hunger patterns lately.  I am usually able to stay pretty steady and not snack too much in between meals, but lately I have seen an increase in the desire to snack.  Hopefully, this will pass because I don’t want to get back into that habit!

I wonder how much of my eating habits are related to the seasons and/or weather??  Just a thought…

I could not believe what the scale had to say this morning.  At my last weigh-in I was at 239; this morning it read 233.5.  What the hell?  If that is not a yo-yo, I don’t know what is.  It is a bitter sweet success since my goal is to lose weight but why the HUGE discrepancy from week to week?  It sort of makes me nervous about next week’s weigh-in because I’m afraid that I’ll re-gain a few pounds like I have done several times over the last month or so. 

Another one of my theories I have is: “the scale is a piece-of-crap-lier”.  Perhaps the scale has good and bad weeks too?  Well, my wife totally blew that theory up when she weighed in and had only lost a pound (I say ‘only’, because she does not need to lose any).  Thanks a lot Mr. Scale! 

Oh well, I have two weeks now until the start of the academy and I am continuing my exercise regimen.  Tonight I ran for about a half hour on the treadmill.  I look forward to starting the academy but am starting to get a little nervous now.

 I would be lying if I said I was not completely disappointed with myself this week.  I have (again) re-gained all of the weight I lost last week.  Well, almost all of it.  I must say that I was not very good at counting all of my points over the last week and also not very diligent with my exercise program.  I find it all too easy to consume more points than I should in the evening hours.  I usually tend not to get on the computer at night so I log my points for breakfast and lunch but not supper.  This will have to change.

I only have three weeks before the academy starts and I want to buckle down and do everything right until then.  (Thats not to say that I will let it go after that, but you get my point)  I am going to increase my workouts to at least four days per week and I will have to count all my points a lot more strictly.  I have come too far to get discouraged now, so its time to get serious again.  (I have been getting a little lazy)  Wish me luck!

This mornings weigh in produced a two and a half pound loss which puts me to within half a pound of the three I gained last week.  Remember: first I lost three pounds, then I gained it all back and now I have re-lost two and a half of the original three.  To me, I am still a half pound short of where I should be.  According to the Weight Watchers web site, I am a very bad boy!  Their computer says I have lost too much, too fast… huh?  I guess they see it as five and a half pounds in three weeks.  Not me, I see it as a half pound gain in three weeks.

I guess its just a matter of perception and from what angle you are looking at the numbers.  Of course, my angle is harshest.  Their angle is meant to conserve my losses so as to maximize the time I am on the program (therefor maximizing their profits!)  I know, I’m a cynical bastard.  At least it makes me laugh.