Holiday Fall-Out

Christmas was rough. I got over 200 again - to my extreme self-disgust. So I am off sweets and fried foods until I hit 189. I really wanted to be done with the 200's in December (that means never see it on the scale, especially on the night weigh-in). I took it for granted that 2010 would be completely 200-free, so now I am going to work really hard to ensure that is true. I've been doing well. Last night I was at 199.7 so I have made a lot of headway. We'll see how it goes tonight; hopefully I will be even further away.

But one thing is for damn sure - I am going to be the skeleton at the feast on New Year's Eve.

Making it through the Holidays

It's almost Christmas, which I know is going to be a challenge. It's hard to balance the desire to maintain/lose this week with the desire to enjoy the holidays and all the delicious things that go along with it. It doesn't help that I am dealing with the dual frustration an abbreviated and interrupted work-out schedule.

It's abbreviated because I've had to go easy on my work-outs since I fainted for no apparent reason at the gym last week. I haven't wanted to overdo it, in case that was the reason.

It's interrupted because those bastards at 24-Hour Fitness want to be with their families at Christmas. Between their holiday schedule and my crazy work schedule I won't be able to go to the gym Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. I'm going to have to find other ways to burn calories, I guess.

It's not the end of the world and it won't kill me to integrate other work-out methods into my routine. But I am a creature of habit and like my regimen.

I think I'm just being crazy and the anticipation is worse than it actually will be. I think I need to give myself more credit.

Truth be told, I am doing quite well. I'm at 191 so I only have 12 more pounds to lose by February 14th. Or as it amuses to say it, "My goal is to be overweight by Valentine's Day."

The Biggest Loser

This is the first season I watched The Biggest Loser. I suppose since I watched the whole season I can say I like it (not love it). In fact, the con list might be longer than the pro list. Let's see shall we?

LIKES:

1. I like the exertion challenges. I like seeing the contestants find what they are physically capable of.
2. I like the weigh-ins
3. I like the gym sequences
4. I like Bob
5. I like seeing them succeed at losing weight
6. I like the before and after photos

DISLIKES:

1. I dislike all of the product placement and staged conversations about the sponsors
2. I dislike all the angst-ridden decisions about who they are going to vote for
3. I dislike Jillian's therapy talk (or as she is known on the forums, Dr. Phil-lian) - shut up already!
4. I dislike their dismay at 'only losing 5 pounds'. It's 5 pounds less, be happy!

I suppose the bottom line is that I wouldn't watch The Biggest Loser if I didn't have a DVR. I can't watch it without fast-forward. But since I have DVR, I guess I'll watch the next season

The Snack-Factor Diet

I recently read The Snack-Factor Diet by Keri Glassman. She argues that the key to weight loss is snacking to keep ones energy up and ones metabolism high. On the whole it was an OK book. Although it's more of an eating plan than a 'diet'. But of course, what you eat doesn't affect your metabolism - one of the many metabolism myths.  I greatly disapprove of her opinion that dieters should not eat fruit for the first month of the diet, to lose the taste for sweetness. I think that's just plain stupid. She was also quick to recommend the snack bars that her company produces. I did like that she said that if you stray from the diet each meal is a chance to start over again. I don't think she broke any new ground with her book, but there was some solid advice there.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I plan on indulging, but not over-indulging. Wish me luck!

On the Road Again

Maintaining ends so quickly and then it's time to lose again. My next goal is to hit 179 by Valentine's Day. That means I'll have lost 120 pounds and, according to my BMI, no longer be obese. I'll be overweight. Woo-hoo!

This cycle I'm going to have to lose over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. Yikes!

As always, here is a photo tour of my journey so far:

Vindication!

Many of the diet and heath books I have read (with one exception) have a similar comment. They all say that you shouldn't weigh yourself very much when you're trying to lose weight. Some have said once a week, some have said once a month, one even said never.

I've never followed that. I like to weigh myself every day. OK, I weigh myself a compulsive three times a day. I do it when I wake up, after my workout, and just before I go to bed. The one that 'counts' is the after workout weight.

I do it because I like to know what's going on. I like to see the rewards and consequences right away. I think that it keeps me more in touch with my intake and helps me squelch possible binges if I know that I am going to have to hop on the scale that night. And I have been vindicated!

The University of Minnesota did a study that showed that people who are trying to either lose or maintain their weight do better if they weigh themselves daily. Here is the link.

I love being right.

Really? Cookies?

A friend posted this crazy diet to Facebook. It is seriously fucked up. Really? Cookies? How dumb are people?

Here is the link.

The gist of the diet is that you eat six of their prepackaged cookies a day and one 'real' meal a day and you will lose 10 pounds a month. Of course you'll lose weight if you are only eating 800 calories a day! It should be called Malnutrition for Dummies. It doesn't help when Dr. Siegal (the creator of this bullshit) says, “I have yet to see the first case where anyone suffered the ill effects of a low calorie diet.” Really? What about fatigue, constipation, nausea, and diarrhea. Not to mention an increased susceptibility to a host of viruses.   

This sort of nonsense makes me angry. Weight loss is confusing and hard enough without mountebanks like this guy making it worse.

Warning: Exclamation Points Ahead...

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Those of you who are my friends on Facebook know that I finally hit my goal of 199 pounds. That means I have lost 100 pounds. 100 fucking pounds! It feels great to type it (and even better to say it). It doesn't seem real somehow. I'm so glad I decided to do this incrementally. Even though it doesn't seem like it took that long, I would have seemed almost unreachable in June of 2008, when I weighed 299 pounds.

No resting on my laurels, after all, I'm not finished. I am 2/3 the way through so I still have 50 pounds to go. However, I do get to maintain for a month, so I suppose there will be some resting  - just a little. I'm going to consider the weight I have to maintain is 197 pounds. With the 5 pound spread I allow myself that means I can weigh anything from 199 - 195. I don't want to see that 2 on the scale!

I have to say it one more time...

100 FUCKING POUNDS!!!!!!

Puling a Stephanie

Since I still have not reached that elusive 199 I had to "pull a Stephanie". Stephanie is one of my employees and when she started working for me she was in the middle of a self-imposed sugar ban. She wanted to see if she could not eat sugar for 6 months. She was able to, in fact I want to stop her whenever I see her eating sugar now - she's not supposed to eat sugar!

Until I see 199 I can't have sugar. So far it is working well, I am losing relatively quickly (within 5 pounds!) I hope to see it soon.

“There’s a subterfuge of health. But it’s just vanity.”

Msn.com had a very interesting article today about detox "cleansing" diets. I would recommend reading it. I really liked this part at the end:

"As Carly Milne, a 33-year-old journalist in L.A. and former master cleanser, puts it, “If I were to tell my girlfriends I was going on a diet to lose weight, they’d all say, ‘Love yourself for who you are; you look fabulous!’ But if I say I’m on a quest to get healthy, everyone is really supportive. It’s like you’re taking care of yourself, instead of beating up on yourself for not being perfect.”

Unfortunately most of the forum comments are from idiots.

The Lose Weight Diet

If you have a few free moments you may want to visit the Lose Weight Diet. I thought it was cool. I think the guy has the right sort of take on losing weight. He does a pretty good job at keeping it simple and straightforward as it really is.

My major complaint is that he has the Google Ads allowed on his site. I know he is keeping his 'program' free and all but it makes him seem hypocritical when it is alongside ads for the "lose 18 pounds in 4 days" shit.

I think it is definitely worth a gander.

I still haven't seen that elusive 1 on the scale yet, but I really don't deserve to. I've been bad. It would just be negative reinforcement. I'm going for the end of September, all I have to do it be good.

The Cheater's Diet

I just read The Cheater's Diet by Paul Rivas, M.D. and E.A. Tremblay. Apparently it is "the medically proven way to supercharge weight loss, break through diet ruts, and stay thin for good". Their theory is that by "taking weekends off" from your diet your body will not go into starvation mode and your metabolism will run hot consistently.

I thought it was an interesting hypothesis, but I don't think he had enough proof. The book doesn't have any footnotes or bibliography. I was put off at the first chapter because it was written with a this is so easy and doesn't involve any hard work on your part mentality. It did get better though. I could see this working well for some people with some weight to lose, but I don't see it working me. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Since today is my birthday I wanted to be at 199. Unfortunately, I have missed that goal by 6 pounds. So I still have some work to do until I can maintain (and see the wonderful 1 on the scale!). I hope to be able to do it in two weeks. We shall see.

Time Article

There was a very annoying article in Time Magazine recently. It was from a dude who was taking the stance that exercise won't help you lose weight. You can read the whole article here. However, he was just blaming exercise for his poor choices.

And here is an excellent rebuttal.

I think I'm particularly annoyed at Time for giving this idea a platform. I realize that not everyone needs a gym to get in shape (in fact, most people who lose weight use walking), but if you burn more calories than you consume - you will lose weight. It's a simple equation. It seems that too many people are already frightened by the idea of exerting themselves without giving them an excuse not to.

I thought of this article yesterday when I was asked on two separate times if I "was killing myself at the gym". I thought it was sad that it seemed like the only way I could lose weight was to "kill myself at the gym." I admit it's hard to get in the habit but I am at the point where I feel uncomfortable if I don't go to the gym. But I thought that a few years ago - and stopped going to the gym and gained back the weight I had lost (about 30 pounds). But I am glad it happened so I know I can't get complacent and assume that it will take care of itself.

Progressing again

I am finally losing again after that frustrating period of gaining back 5 - 6 pounds. I have a hypothesis about that. I had to increase my salt intake to raise my low blood pressure. I think the salt was making me retain water. When that leveled off, I started seeing the change on the scale again. So I am back at 209 (which means I've lost 90 pounds!). Short of losing a limb, I won't hit 199 by September 6th, but I am still going to try to get as close as I can.

I did pass a nice milestone last week. I was on vacation and we went to the local factory stores. We went into Ann Taylor, and I was able to fit into a really cute shirt. It was the first time I was able to buy something at a "normal" store (i.e. a store with no plus-sized section) since I don't know when. It's probably been since high school.

Back Sliding

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

I was doing so well last week and I have lost a lot of ground. Or maybe I should say that I have gained ground, since I've been doing more gaining than losing. 

This weight loss gig is so frustrating at times.  

Fat Families, Thin Families

I recently read Fat Families, Thin Families by Amy Hendel R-PA (I don't know what that means, since she's not a Republican from Pennsylvania). I quite enjoyed it, although the first half was better than the second half. She wrote about ways families can become healthier. Although she used gender neutral terms it was obviously directed towards women. She really focused on how one shouldn't blame excess weight on genetics which I really liked and it was also very well rounded... no off-limits food etc. She had her Yes, No, Maybe So foods. It was a bit to 'programmy' for me. But I thought she made some excellent level-headed points so I would recommend it.

I crunched the numbers and to reach 199 by September 6th I am going to have to be aggressive. I have to lose a little over 2 pounds a week. So I have made myself a chart of where I should be each day, and am being very strict with myself. I am optimistic that I can still reach it.

Self-Destruction

When I started losing weight I wanted to make sure that I did it healthfully. I wanted to do it right so I could lose it right and keep it off. 

About 2 weeks ago I fainted at the gym (so fucking embarrassing, now I'll always be the girl who fainted). I was out cold! I think it was a combination of dehydration from a 12 mile hike the previous day and forgetting to eat breakfast that morning. So it got me thinking about the other unhealthy things I may be doing.

I didn't eat before my workout about once a week. I've read conflicting things about whether or not one should eat before working out. It didn't seem to make a difference if I ate or not. I could still do the same intensity if I didn't eat and it doesn't seem to effect my weight loss if I do. I am going to continue with the glass of milk and a piece of fruit. It seems to make the most sense and I've been losing - so no arguing with success. 

Something else I've done is worked out more than once a day. I know that this can actually be detrimental to my quest, but sometimes it hard to channel all of the excess energy I have. I try to take a long walk or clean house (I think my sisters prefer it when I clean).

This last item is the worst and I've been debating if I actually wanted to blog about it, but what the hell. A few years ago I lost about 30 pounds with Weight Watchers. Once, the night before a weigh-in I was particularly dreading, I took a laxative. Luckily, it didn't make a difference on the scale. Sometimes I wonder if I had seen results if I would have done it again. I hope not, I felt pretty stupid afterwards.

On the whole I really think I am doing this right - but sometimes the desire to see a change in scale can really fuck with your head.

Now I just need to go purge that entire chocolate cake I just ate :-)

 

No S Diet

I was sent a link to a diet called the No S Diet. It was thought up by a guy named Reinhard Engels. Here is a snippet from his website:

The No S Diet, also known as the "Grandma Diet," the "Why Didn't I Think of that Diet," and the "No $ Diet" is a program of systematic moderation I invented for myself that I imagine might work for similarly minded people.

No funny science or calorie accounting involved, just a few simple and mnemonic tricks for giving your willpower the upper hand.

There are just three rules and one exception:

• No Snacks
• No Sweets
• No Seconds

Except (sometimes) on days that start with "S"

That's it.

How could something this simple possibly work? Precisely because it's simple -- or rather, following the Einsteinian dictum, "as simple as possible, but not simpler." For all its folksy charm, there's a lot of serious, practical wisdom packed into those 14 words. 

On its face it is very simple and the advice is pretty good. However his website (which is atrocious, dude needs a web designer) goes on and on about other exceptions and caveats. When I was finished reading the whole website it seemed unduly complicated.

I was also annoyed when he weighed in (no pun intended) on sugar substitutes. He says, "you *know* that in 10 years scientists are going to discover that they're even worse for you than real sugar."

Oh really? You *know* that? I understand that with fake sugar (as with everything) moderation is the name of the game. But surely you can recognize that without claiming to know what will happen 10 years in the future?

So I give the No S Diet 2 stars.

Better Late Then Never

It took six extra days, but I finally got to 215. 

It's about time.

Mini-Goal

Today I was supposed to hit my mini-goal of 215 and missed it by a pound and half. I am glad I am making progress but I really tried to hit that goal. It's all so discouraging. 

That is quite enough of feeling sorry for myself, I guess I need to set a new goal. My new goal is to get to 208 by the end of July. 

I am happy to report that the phenomenon I've been experiencing since February seems to have subsided.  Just to recap I was finding myself discouraged after I lost about 50 pounds. I was frustrated to have lost so much weight and still be obese. Granted I wasn't morbidly obese anymore, but I was (and still am) obese. Since I hit the half way point that has gotten better. I was a very odd feeling. I have never read or heard of anyone else going through it. But then again, most of the books out there seem to be directed at the overweight - not the obese. I still have 35 more pounds until am considered overweight. If I lost exactly 100 more pounds I would barely be considered underweight - but that's not going to happen.

208... here I come!

Our Lady of Weight Loss

I just finished reading Our Lady of Weight Loss by Janice Taylor. It sucked big time. Actually, it sucked huge-time. Ms. Taylor, who apparently considers herself an artist, was able to lose 50 pounds after she "heard a voice" telling her to turn weight loss into an art project. She called the voice Our Lady of Weight Loss. I kid you not.

The general advice of the book is pretty routine, stuff I've read before. However, I had never read about plate feng shui before. (Can I tell you how happy I am that the spell check doesn't recognize feng shui. Chalk one up for critical thinking). She says I should balance my meals, not what I'm eating, but the color of what I'm eating. Also don't forget to use the right color plate and have the right color tablecloth at the right time of day. What bullshit! (The spell check recognizes that)

She also has something called Our Lady of Weight Loss's Kick in the Tush Club. Which is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I hate the word tush. Could it be more puerile? If you don't want to use the word ass, fine, but don't use a phrase that should have ass in it. What are you 12? I realize I've stopped critiquing the book and have started ranting. 

She also suggests several art projects throughout the book, like decorating macaroni and cheese boxes or decorating sneakers. Her illustrations throughout the book also suck huge-time. He art projects all seem to be taking prints of saints and putting eye-glasses on them. I don't think she is as original or talented as she thinks she is. I REALLY hated the illustrations.  I don't get the link between weight loss and juvenile art projects.

In good news, after being within a pound of it for five days, I finally hit 219, which means I've lost 80 pounds. And have spend the afternoon singing 2:19 by Tom Waits. All without plate feng shui.

The Portion Teller

I recently read The Portion Teller by Lisa Young.  She posits that it is easier to manage portion sizes when you can handily compare them to common items. I suppose that is true, but sometimes her examples are convoluted, especially when she combines them and uses fractions. Like a deck of cards and half a walnut or the palm of your hand and three jacks. It made it needlessly complicated. It also seemed like many of her terms should have a TM in super script. Like SmartBets, that is a bit too programmy for my taste. 

However I did like some of the things she said. Like, 'no one ever got fat from eating too many carrots" and she espoused that nothing is off-limits, just how much. 

So it was basically OK, but it didn't blow my mind. 

The loss is going slowly but surely (more slowly than I'd like, truth be told), but I'm just keeping my eye on the goal.

Irony

Why is it that members of my gym will spend so much time trying to get a parking space right next to building, instead of parking in the huge parking lot across the street? Can the exercise only start when you enter the building? You can't walk 50 damn feet?

I don't get it.

Once More With Feeling

This morning I hit 224 - that's the halfway point, so all I have to do to hit my final goal is do what I have already done - again. I set a mini-goal for myself to get to this point by the end of May, so I am annoyed that I am 6 days late.

I'll be doing a few mini-goals for this stretch, and my next one is to hit 215 by June 30.

That will put me that much closer to my final goal and.... Paris! 

I won't get there by sitting on my ass at the computer. 

Rules

A new losing cycle = additional rules to follow.

So here are the new rules:

1. I have to slow down while and eating and properly chew my food. I've always been a really fast eater and eat after I'm full. I hope this will curb that.

2. I have to add another strength building exercise. Since I alternate everyday between my upper and lower body, I have to do an additional machine to focus on my core.

3. When I come to a flight of stairs, I have to run up it (if possible).  I have no current plans to visit the Washington Monument. 

I hope this helps me hit 199 by my birthday. I haven't really made any progress yet, which is so frustrating - but I am trying to stay positive.

Back on the Wagon

As of today I get to start losing again. According to my the guidelines I arbitrarily set for myself I have to lose 23 pounds which would put me at 207. However, I don't think I could be so close to getting out of the 200's for a month and not do anything about it (it's been hard enough being so close to the halfway point).

So hold on to your socks people...I am going to lose 31 pounds which will put me at 199 pounds. So not only will I have hit that major milestone - I will also have lost 100 pounds. It's almost impossible to comprehend. 

Here are the photos:

NOW!

Characters

Since I work-out everyday (almost) I see the many of the same people there. 

For your reading pleasure I am going to classify a few of them:

THE BFF's

The BFF's talk. They talk and talk and talk. On the weight machines they talk. On the cardio machines they talk. In the pool they talk. In the locker room they talk. They never shut the fuck up. The worst part of it is the inanity. They never talk about anything interesting. If they are going to blab for 45 minutes loud enough for me to hear through my ear buds, they should at least gossip about something salacious or scandalous - not about everything they ate in the last week.  Can you tell the BFF's annoy me?

CHATTY CATHY:

The Chatty Cathy's (CC) don't really annoy me (which is ironic considering the rant above). I rarely see the CC working out. He (the main CC at my gym is a guy) is always striking up a conversation with someone. He does a 2 minutes on a machine and then 15 minutes talking to someone - usually about sports. It's his time, I guess, but it doesn't seem very efficient. The CC perplexes me.

THE TODD:

The Todd at my gym is a trainer. He reminds me of the character of (you guessed it) The Todd from Scrubs. He doesn't seems too bright, but is very enthusiastic. He's excited about lunges, he's ebullient about stretches, he's over-the-moon about arm curls. So far I've only seen him do 'regular fives' but it's only a matter of time. The Todd amuses me.

THE PEOPLE-WATCHER

That's me

Skinny Bitch

I recently read Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.  Going in I knew one of the authors was into holistic nutrition, so I really have no one to blame but myself. It was truly fucking terrible. As Julie Klausner says in her review of the book, "It is a PETA pamphlet in chick-lit clothing." It was not about eating healthily - it's about why you should be a vegan. As a vegetarian, these are the people who give us a bad name. It is full of sanctimonious bull-shit.

Some of their advice on losing weight is to fast. Seriously - fasting. They also say to give blood. Seriously - blood. It was ridiculous and insulting.

I would recommend reading the review in Salon that I quoted above. She is able to describe it much more eloquently. 

Here's the link.

I'm just maintaining right now, so there's not much to relate on the whole losing issue. I do enjoy maintaining... there's ice cream.

 

 

Goal

I was originally going to post a review of Skinny Bitch today. That is getting preempted by the fantastic (and totally unexpected) news that I hit my goal today!

I am amazed, I had resigned myself to missing the new deadline (only by two or so pounds, but missing it nonetheless). But on the scale today... 232.9, bitches!

I am so happy this has made my week. 

Other People Stories

I really liked these vignettes of other peoples weight loss successes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25708021/

Thanks to Amy for the link

New End Date

Since I've been doing so well and are ahead a schedule I've decided to change the deadline for this 10% up two weeks.

So now I have to hit 232 by Easter.

Now I just have to recover from being bad this weekend. I had a piece of cake and potato skins on Saturday and another piece of cake today (damn birthday celebrations, it was just too rude of my brother to have been born 25 years ago - just to subvert me).

Back to being good - but the cake was pretty fucking delicious. 

In Defense of Food

I just read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (he also wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma).  He says the the key to eating healthfully can be summed up in seven words. "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants". 

On the whole I quite liked it. I thought it was sensible. With the glaring exception of the anti-science mentality he seems to espouse. He blames science for developing food that is unhealthy (although in most cases they were trying to develop food to help people). It was annoying.

Otherwise, I liked what he said about trying to eat real food - not stuff that has been processed beyond all recognition. And of course I liked the bit about the plants. Plants are yummy.

Finally!

It seems like I've been trying to roll over to the 230's for the past two weeks. Today I finally did it (238.7 thank you very much) So that means I have lost over 60 pounds and only have 6 pounds until I finish this 10%. It seems I will do it well before my April 30th due date.

So things are looking up.

Good Advice

An 86 year old Japanese man struck up a conversation with me at the gym while we were working out on nearby machines.

He told me about a saying they have in Japan; Hara hachi bunme. It means to eats until you are 80% full. 

I think that is very good advice. I tried it at dinner tonight, and it worked really well. 

I'm going to keep it up.

Measuring Up

I have also been taking my measurements so can track my progress that way too. I lost the damn tape measure, so I haven't measured myself in a while.

So as of last night, I have lost 6 inches off my waist. I thought that was pretty fucking cool.

French Women Don't Get Fat

I just read French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. I had heard lost of great things about it, so I was pretty excited to read it. I must admit I was rather disappointed.  The author moved to America for a year when she was a teenager and gained about 30 pounds (she never says for sure). When she returns to France, with the help of a family doctor, she loses the weight and is set on the path of good eating and good living. 

Many of the ideas she espouses are good; eating a varied diet, drinking lots of water, treating yourself. But I was disturbed by a few things - particularly her recommendation that when you are starting out to only have leek soup for a weekend. A liquid diet, really?

Also the lifestyle and food habits she recommends are really only available to people who are well-off.  I can see her ideas working better for people who only need to lose 30 pounds - not people like me who need to lose a lot.

Although I did really make me want to go to France - but of course I already wanted to go to France.

So on the whole, I'm going to give it a 'meh'. 

Recent Diet Study

I thought this was really interesting...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/heath/nutrition/26diet.html?_r=1 

Thanks to Amy for the link

Updates

I realize I haven't posted in a while. Things are going well.

So as many of you know I made it through the vacation triumphantly. I was able to maintain my weight without going to the gym and allowing myself some treats. I thought that was pretty fucking awesome.

I mentioned in October that one of the milestones I was looking forward to was fitting comfortably in an airline seat. In the past I could just barely fit the seat belt around me. During this trip I was able to fit it and still have about 2 inches, but I don't know if I could say that I fit comfortably, but it was still nice.

I also ruthlessly went through my closet. I got rid of my current summer clothes, (which I decided to keep through the vacation). I also got rid of all of my 3x clothes. I will never need them again - there is no going back!

Although I am trying to be positive, it is still slightly discouraging to have lost 50+ pounds and still be so obese. Sometimes it seems impossible, but I'm not going to give up. I don't know what characteristic is more valuable in losing weight - willpower or patience. 

But, back to being positive, I am halfway though this cycle. If I keep up this way I will lose the 10% weeks ahead of schedule. I also thinks that's fucking awesome and should stop complaining.

 

Milestone Hit

I did it. I hit 249 (249.9 thank you very much)

It is noteworthy for two reasons. It means:

• I am 1/3 done
• I have less than 100 pounds left to lose (99 thank you very much)
  

I just hope I don't sabotage myself too much over my vacation...

The Power of Ten

It is amazing the how motivating it is when I get close to dropping another set of ten. Every time I get to about 3 or 2 I go into overdrive to lose the few pounds to be in a new set of ten. 

That's where I've been this week. I'm in the low 250's, and by Friday I want to see 249 on my scale. Even though I know it will fluctuate and will go back up, I want to see it.

I can't imagine how motivated I'll be when I get close to moving from the 200's to the 100's 

Books

I've found it helpful in my weight loss journey to read the odd book about weight loss. But it is difficult to find one that won't drive me nuts. I don't want some schmaltzy self-help book or a book about a new fad diet.

So far I found two sane books.

The first is Breaking Through Your Set Point by George Blackburn, MD. 

I found it soon after I started my regime and he espouses much of the standards I set for myself (i.e. losing weight 10% at at a time, taking time to maintain).

I didn't like his statements about sleeping more to lose weight. I sleep when I'm tired and wake up naturally most of the time - I can't help it if it's not 8 or 9 hours!

The other one is Calorie Queens by Jackie Scott et al.

I like her practical (and personally successful) advice. She tells how she and her daughter both lost massive amounts of weight. The first half is better than the second, but it is the one I would recommend the most.

I don't like the 'trendy' name she came up for her method. She call is Eucalorics. Basically, she says you need to calculate the numbers of calories you would need to consume to maintain your ideal weight. Then you eat that many calories - every day for the rest of your life.

Harsh, but true.

I don't think it's the method for me (I don't think I could count calories like that). But it was sane.

Now I need to look for a new book to keep me focused. That means I have to brave the self-help section - blech.

 

Phase II begins

Now that January 1st has arrived I need to begin losing the next 10%. So as of this morning I am at 258 so I need to lose 25.8 pounds, But I'll just round it up to 26. They say that it is healthy to lose 1 - 2 pounds a week. If I plan on a pound and a half a week - that means I should reach 232 by April 30th. So that is my new goal.

The Additional Rules:

• To drink 64 oz of water a day
• No having "seconds".
  

I can't see any difference in the mirror (although I know there is a difference in my clothes). So here is the picture when I first started and now in the same shirt.

So I guess I can see a difference. That makes me happy.