Current Weight: 235 (-3/-19)
This is my 10th weigh-in, and I’ve lost 19 pounds so far — that’s 1.9lbs/week! Hooray! I’m actually slightly ahead of where I need to be for the next milestone (233 on June 12th)…hopefully it will stay that way!
I have to run out to set up a computer lab for a series of classes I’m teaching this weekend, but I wanted to get this written before I left.
Drink More Water and Tea: A
Food Journal: B
Count Calories: B
Exercise: C
I’ve been highly distracted by SIFF and some heavy-duty partying (SIFF-related, naturally), so my apologies for the 3-day delay.
But hey, I’ve seen 10 films since Thursday night. Good times! :-)
Anyway, on to business.
Current weight (as of 5/22): 238 (-3.5/-16)
This was exciting! At first I thought it was an error, but then I’ve maintained that weight all weekend (I was, sadly, 238.5 this morning, but I did fuck up last night with some delicious brownies and Thai food). I think its safe to say that I’m officially in the 230s! Let me just say one thing: woo.
Psychologically, this was an important barrier to hit. I’ve toiled in the 240s and 250s for so long, I don’t think I ever really saw anything less as a real possibility.
It also represents the loss of over 50 pounds total since I started losing weight over 2 years ago.
Next milestone: June 12th at 233.
Oops. Skipped a few weeks.
I’ve still be working hard, fortunately. I just kept forgetting to post/kept running out of time. I’d stick “blog” on my to-do list for Monday, then it would be Friday and I’d think, “shit — just wait till next Monday”. Rinse and repeat.
I’ve actually altered the calendar a bit so I’ll be doing weigh-ins on Fridays instead. They seem to be less hectic, for one thing; but also, I seem to do much better during the week and have a tendency to fall of the wagon slightly over the weekend. Now, if I report a weight on Friday, it will be at my theoretical best, rather than the possibly-not-so-great-Monday. Is this cheating? Maybe. But I don’t care. ;-)
Anyway.
Here’s where we are now:
May 4th: 245 (-2/-9)
May 8th: 243 (-2/-11)
Current weight: 241.5 (-1.5/-12.5)
I’m a half-pound off where I want to be today, but still — I’ve lost 12.5 pounds since March 23rd. I’m pretty damn happy with that!
I had actually hit 240 yesterday, but I think that was a fluctuation glitch (but it sure was exciting)…soon enough, soon enough.
I don’t know why, but I feel as though it will be a significant achievement (though somewhat arbitrary) to actually BREAK 240 and start working through the 230 range…something about changing digits that gets me worked up. :-)
Here are the next milestones:
June 12th: 233
July 10th: 225
July 31st: 220
I’ve been really good lately with the water-drinking and the calorie-counting, but not so much on the working-out. Boo.
Drink More Water and Tea: A
Food Journal: C
Count Calories: B
Exercise: D
Two weeks for the price of one. That’s right — here at wonderyak.com, we’re all about VALUE (and not at all about procrastination or forgetfulness)!
Last week’s post (which I’m going to claim was eaten by my dog, even though I don’t have a dog; and that, of course, raises an interesting question: if it was eaten by my fictitious dog, how did I get it back in order to post it right now? Uh oh):
I almost didn’t post today.
I felt like such a miserable failure this morning, I figured the only reasonable thing to do was to give up. Again.
I had a bad week. One bad decision on Monday turned into two on Tuesday, turned into three on Wednesday…until it ended with a weekend bingeing on Costco turkey wraps and carrot cake. And, of course, gaining two pounds. Fuck me.
But, through the anger, through the continued self-hatred, I will forge ahead.
I can’t undo the past; I can only work toward a better future.
Current Weight: 251 (-3/+2)
Epic fail.
This week’s post:
If last week was a miserable exercise in gluttony, sloth and weakness, this weak was…well, I can’t really think of anything terribly poetic to say, but let’s just call it “better” (and not “a celebration of strength”, since that sounds like part of a log-line for a Lifetime Movie of the Week).
I felt great all week. I resisted food at every turn (pizza at a party? I am impervious!) and when I did indulge myself, I did the unthinkable — I moderated my portions! Dear God, what have I become?
I think that last week’s weigh-in might have been slightly erroneous, though, because if it were true I lost 4 pounds this week. I mean, sure, I’ll take it; but I can’t imagine that was actually the case.
Current Weight: 247 (-7/-4)
Drink More Water and Tea: A
Food Journal: B
Count Calories: C
Exercise: C
So where does this put me in perspective of my overall goals? I’m 27 pounds away from 220, and I have 14 weeks to get there. I’m one pound above where I wanted to be this week, but I feel confident that I will still be able to hit my next milestone of 241 on May 18th.
Actually, only three of these photos are actually from Las Vegas proper, but what the hell.
The full series can be found here. These are just some of my favorites.
On top of Black Mountain, overlooking Lake Mead.
The Bellagio Fountains.
The Deep-Fried Twinkie. On a stick.
Getting into trouble at Red Rock Canyon.
Chillin’ on some rocks.
The view from the top of Red Rock Canyon.
Friends stuffed into a small hole.
The Wife’s birthday — midnight at The Luxor.
Current Weight: 249 (-5/-1)
Losing a pound while in Las Vegas? Not bad.
Drink More Water and Tea: I drank a TON of water everyday (with the exception of a few several gin and tonics and one capirihna, I drank nothing BUT water our entire trip), and managed to drink tea every morning. Hooray! Grade: A.
Food Journal: Blah. I done fucked this one up again. I could make a bunch of excuses about how I was out of town, yada yada yada…but, you know what? I got into this mess by making excuses. So no more of that. I didn’t do it. Because I’m lazy. End of story. Grade: F. Boo.
Count Calories: Yeah. Well. See above. I did manage to count calories for everything we made oursevlves (we were staying in a condo, so we got to cook breakfast and lunch ourselves), but eating out? Not so much. Grade: D.
Exercise: Ok, I totally rocked this. We walked at least 2 miles every day (we actually only took one taxi the entire time we were in Vegas) and on three occasions we went hiking (6 miles the first time, 3 miles the second and probably 3 miles the third — the third time was a lot of rock scrambling and almost dying trying to navigate cliffs…good times). And let me tell you: it felt great! My favorite part of our trip, in fact, was the hiking. I forgot how much I love the desert. It’s amazingly beautiful in its desolate, sun-burnt way. Grade: A.
Next Monday is my first milestone report…and my goal weight is 248. Only one more pound to go! Of course, hopefully I’ll be able to do a little better.
EDIT: I should add, in the interest of full disclouse, that I did eat half of a deep-fried Twinkie. It’s not something I’m proud of, but it had to happen.
Life exploded all over me last week and I completely forgot to post. I did keep up with my plan, though! So that’s something. :-)
To play catch-up:
On Monday, March 30th I weighed in at 252.5 (-1.5/-1.5).
I’m currently in Las Vegas and don’t have a scale, but before we left on Saturday I weighed 250 (-2.5/-4).
I’m off to a good start, but now I’m stuck in the land of all-you-can eat buffets (”HOORAY FOR THE BOO-FAY!”, would have been my mantra a few years ago) and crazy-big margaritas (which you can drink outside on the street…at 8:30 in the morning). This week is going to be difficult, but fortunately our room has a full kitchen and we went and purchased a bunch of groceries at Whole Foods yesterday. We also have a nice little gym and it seems I’m quite the fan of the elliptical machine. And I guess I’ll probably end up walking more than usual on a daily basis since we’re only three blocks off The Strip and driving around here is a giant pain in the ass…and, you know, since we don’t have a rental car. ;-)
I’d love it if I could manage to actually shed some pounds while on vacation, but if not, as long as I stay at 250 I’ll be happy.
On to the grades:
Drink More Water and Tea: I know I could drink more, but I did manage to drink more than usual. I also just bought a tin of the most delicious tea ever (The Republic of Tea, Ginger Peach), so we’re making progress. Grade: B-
Food Journal: I have a little notebook, I’ve been writing things down. I keep having to play catch-up since I have a mind like a sieve, but just the threat of it has made me much more aware of what I’m shoveling in my mouth. I’ve even started — SHOCK, AWE — sharing restaurant meals with my wife. For those that know me, you’ll understand what an unprecedented move this is. Grade: C
Count Calories: I have failed miserably at this. I’ve significantly reduced my intake, but I’ve been really lazy and have just been counting mentally. I need to start going back to calorieking.com. I hate being lazy…I’m just too lazy to do anything about it. Wait…damnit. Grade: D
Jogging Exercise: I was talking to a few medical professionals about my plan, and the consensus was “don’t jog every day, moron — you’ll kill your knees”. And after jogging three days in a row, I’m inclined to agree. So, the new plan is simply Exercise Vigorously Five Days a Week. Sadly, I missed a few days over the last two weeks (hey — I’m a fatty; this is not easy for me), but I’m not giving up. Grade: C-
The trailer for the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival is here, courtesy of the unbelievably talented folks at Digital Kitchen!
Can you guess, on a scale from 1 to 10, how excited this Yak is? (hint: see “This is Spinal Tap”)
Here we are. The first Monday of another weight loss adventure! Sweeeeet.
Starting weight: 254
Goal weight (8/3): 220 (-34)
Rather than have to think of this thing as one huge push, I’ve set up milestones along the way:
April 20th: 248 (-6/-6)
May 18th: 241 (-7/-13)
June 15th: 233 (-8/-21)
July 13th: 225 (-8/-29)
August 3rd: 220 (-5/-34)
And again, here are the five behavioral categories against which I’ll be grading myself:
The jogging thing got off to a rather inauspicious start today (sigh) because I had to leave for a shoot on Mercer Island at the ass-crack of dawn; BUT, I will be going later this afternoon. I just really hope the schizophrenic Seattle weather cooperates with me. This morning was absolutely beautiful (one of those mornings that makes me remember why I live here), but now it’s gone shitty. Gr.
