SUNDAY another day like the past 45 before it

Another unspectacular day...
Another day just eating nothing but actual food.
Not necessarily health food, but healthy food nevertheless

ON THE PROGRAM FOR A MONTH AND A HALF

It is now the end of the day, February 15.

I have not swayed from my course.

I have continued to eat well for 1.5 months.

This is a bit of an accomplishment.

Even this short time represents 1/8th of year.

As long as I continue... I will see my weight continue to drop.

Unlike past 'health binges' this has been a far more sustainable plan.

In the past I consumed 1000 calories per day. 

It is true that my weight dropped faster - but when I ended that plan, I had not practiced safe eating.

This time, I am eating well.  I am not starving myself. 

And there is not really a plan to jettison...

I am trying (again) to get into the habit of simply eating well.

Someday, and I don't know when, I will have a cookie and maybe a chocolate bar...

But that day should not come soon.

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I have stayed 'on program' for 1.5 months... That is 1/8th of a year.  I just need to keep on doing  what I am doing.

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RESULTS!

Sunday morning was the first time I was home and could weigh myself on my home scale.  I suspected that I would be cheered by the results:

On the morning of January 1st I did weight 297 lbs.
On the morning just today February 2nd, I weigh 272.6 lbs

January 2020, the first month of the year, and of the decade ushered in a weight loss of 24.4 lbs.

I did this without starving myself.
I did this basically eating three meals per day.
I did this eating zero unhealthy snacks, and for that matter, zero 'healthy' snacks.
I did not choose the absolute lowest calories choice at restaurants - but always had an enjoyable meal.
I did not forgo the baguette french bread when enjoying soup, but always skipped the crackers.
I did always have a glass of water with lunch and dinner - never soda, never diet iced tea.
I did walk away from free breakfast buffett - thinking I could have eaten more.
I did almost always stop and dine in for lunch and dinner, avoided 'drive-thru' meals.
I did lose 24.4 lbs in the first month of the year.
I did remember that I have done this before, and that I could do it again.
I did remember that the most difficult thing about changing a life pattern is deciding to do it...
...and doing it.
  

OK, now it's time to continue doing what I am doing....

SUNDAY JANUARY 26 (POSTED ONE DAY LATE)

18 HOUR DAY - OUT AND ABOUT

As I review my food consumption today, I see that this is the first time I have exceeded 2000 calories this year.  I woke up at 5:30AM and scarfed down a quick breakfast at the hotel before taking a 45 minute in order to be at an appointment at 7AM.  When I returned to my hotel around 9AM, I stopped and had a breakfast sandwich at Starbucks.  I also had two significant meals for lunch and dinner. I stayed away from pure junk food all day, as I have all year - and I feel OK about my going over 2000 calories.

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SALMON POWER BOWL - NEW FAVORITE?

At a late Red Lobster lunch I carefully perused the menu and stumbled upon the Salmon Power Bowl.  A bit of a misnomer, as it was not served in a bowl, but a plate. That is quite a tiny quibble. The meal was delicious.  Not particularly low calorie, but highly satisfactory... And a high protein meal can't be too unhealthy. Besides, I am not really trying to eat the lowest calorie option at every meal - but I am (so far successfully) eradicating chocolate from my life.  Twenty days into the new year and I have been successful.  If I only keep the chocolate candy, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate ice-cream, chocolate milk, chocolate doughnuts, and chocolate donuts, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, and the like far away - my weight will drop - as it has already in just the first twenty days of the year.

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YIKES! HOW MANY CREAMERS DID YOU SAY?

Oh boy... When I buy a coffee at Starbucks I often add Zero Calorie Vanilla syrup. This ain't health food - but at least it has no calories.  When I am having by free included breakfast a hotel in the morning, I often add three or four 'creamers' to a cup of coffee. Really? Not any more. Not after today. That ship has sailed! Each of these little packages contain 35 calories!  Who knew?  Not I. The information is not hard to find, but one does have to look. The calories are not printed on this ubiquitous container.  Yikes!

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CREATURE OF HABIT

I am an enigma to myself.
When I am eating stupidly, I get into habits, that are hard to break.

When I finally get motivated to make a change.
It takes little time for me to create new habits.

I have not bothered to stop in a restaurant to eat a meal in months.
I ain't talking about Peter Luger's Steakhouse, or Ruth's Chris...
I am talking about stopping to enjoy a meal in a place like Panera Bread.

For months and months, it was easier to buy Burger King, Taco Bell, McDonald's and a half dozen moronic places to eat.

After only 8 days, it now seems natural to carve out the half-hour and eat something a bit more normal.

I am creating new habits.


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Day 4

The 'advantage' of making a new lifestyle choice on January 1st of a New Year is that it is easy to calculate how long one has been 'at it.  Saturday, yesterday was January 4 and for me it was Day 4.

Day 4 does not exactly signal to the world, or more importantly to myself that I have made a lifestyle change... But one does have to get to day 4 before one arrives at the end of week 1.

GAINED ONE TENTH POUND (DAY 102)

Not bad....
I knew I was eating more.... with the reduced daylight and busy work schedule I have walked less...
And still, after all that... and no weigh ins for the past two weeks.... I have gained one tenth of one pound.   Actually, I am happy about this....

35° (DAY 84)

The weather is changing... if I am going to maintain my walking schedule, I am going to get used to walking in the cold. Sunday I headed out in the 35° temperature.  I walked 13 miles.

COMISKEY PARK (DAY 68)

I walked to Comiskey Park on Friday.
(Well technically I guess it is called Guaranteed Rate Field)
I am pretty sure that I am pretty much never going to call it that...
just like I still call the tallest building in Chicago The Sears Tower - which it no longer is.
just like I will always call the most ubiquitous donut shop in America DUNKIN' DONUTS.
just like I still call a well known chicken fast food establishment Kentucky Fried Chicken.

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WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA (DAY 67)

For the 3rd day in a row, I awoke pre-dawn and set out for a hike. (7miles, 10 miles, 10 miles).
For the 46th day in a row, I took a walk/hike, never less than 2 miles, often 7 miles or more.
For the 67th day in a row, I kept my calorie consumption within the neighborhood of 1000.

This is what a lunatic looks like just before he sets out for a 10 mile hike at 5:45AM (two full hours before sunrise)

PRE-DAWN URBAN HIKE (DAY 65)

On Tuesday, I needed to pick up a colleague at the airport, and immediately travel 100 miles west to visit a customer. After that visit we traveled another 100 miles to be in place for a Wednesday morning appointment in Forsyth, Illinois. I knew there would be very little time to get a walk accomplished as the day unfolded. So, for the first time, in a very long time, I popped out of bed and set out for a pre-dawn 5:30AM walk. That's not to shabby to have logged a seven mile urban hike prior to eating breakfast.

NORTHERLY ISLAND (DAY 62)

I definitely had an extra bounce in my step from the moment I stepped on my scale on Saturday morning. The euphoria that I felt, realizing just how much weight I have shed since July 31st made me feel terrific. The last seven days included another drop of 4.4 lbs. I am officially in the 230's. Nine weeks ago, I was an astounding 283.6 lbs. I literally was having trouble just walking around the corner. I set out for a walk on Saturday morning, with the intention of talking a ten mile urban hike with Northerly Island as a destination.  By the time I returned home, I had logged fifteen miles. 

And here's a fact that just about no one in the universe could possibly care about but I do.  This weekend marks the third anniversary since I successfully made the summit at Half-Dome in Yosemite.  It was one of the most memorable and best days of my life. On that day, I weighed 227 lbs. Just ten months prior to the epic climb, I had weighed 309 lbs.  I had shed 82 lbs when I climbed that rock in Yosemite, and on that day I weighed 227 lbs.  Today it is three years later and I am only 11.2 lbs from that weight.  I might return to that weight before the month of October ends. That ain't bad.

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