2008 March « 200by40 – Weight Loss the Right Way

Victories and Milestones

2008/03/26 at 3:25 pm | Posted in Inspiration, Milestone, Victory | Comments Off

I am adding two new Categories to the blog today: Victory and Milestone. Here’s a brief description of each.

A Victory will commemorate a major event that I had been battling since starting my weight loss, for example, fitting into a smaller pair of pants, shirt, etc. In short, it’s a small celebration.

A Milestone, on the other hand, will recognize a major event in a series that is worthy of recognition but will only lead to better things down the road.

Confused? Fear not, I have an example of both on today’s entry.

Today’s Victory
Years ago, Ann bought me a Low Rider brand shirt that, in all honesty, is one of the coolest shirts I’ve ever owned. It’s red-and-black-and-white plaid. It’s truly worth wearing but the problem was that when she bought it I was still, for lack of a better term, a blimp and could only button the thing in certain areas.

It was a size Large. What in the world was she thinking?

At any rate, I swore I’d wear that shirt if it killed me because it’s the thought that counts. Last night I tried it on for the first time in months and I’ll be damned if it fits me now. It’s a bit snug at the bottom button but hey, that’s easy to fix. I have conquered the shirt and could possibly wear it to my uncle’s wedding in a few months. That’s a sure Victory.

Today’s Milestone
Yesterday at work I had noticed at that my belt wasn’t quite holding up my pants they way they used to. So I went into the bathroom, unbuckled it and pulled it tighter. It was then that I realized that I need a new hole on my belt since I had surpassed the smallest one.

I went home and drilled a hole in my belt so that it does the job better—until I have to buy a smaller belt. That’s a Milestone.

The next Victory has yet to be determined but my Milestone is quickly approaching: Reaching the 240s.

Stay tuned!

Weekly Weigh-In #1

2008/03/25 at 4:25 pm | Posted in Exercise, Food, Health, Weekly Weigh-In | Comments Off

I’ve decided that Tuesdays would be the day of my Weekly Weigh-In. That’s probably because “Wednesday’s Weekly Weigh-In” just had too many Ws in it for my liking. And it sounded like a lunch special at Souplantation or something.

Here’s how it will go down. I will:

Weigh myself each Tuesday morning at the same time
Wear the same clothes each time
Do it before breakfast

At any rate, here we go with this week’s results.

Weight for March 25, 2008: 251 pounds

That’s a gain of one half pound. Now I could go and eat a donut and cry and whine over gaining a mere 8 ounces but I’m not. I can’t. That’s not how things are going to work this time so I’ll accept it and move on to doing things right. Keep in mind that this included the Easter holiday on Sunday so I could have gained much more than I did.

Yesterday’s exercises included my 1.5 mile walk, sit-ups, weight training, biking for about a half mile with my son, and 30 minutes of Wii Sports. It was indeed a full slate of activities and it felt good to use my weight machine as such rather than the clothes rack it’s been for some time now.

My employer will be getting a fresh batch of fruit this morning so I’m set for snacks today. Dinner is still up in the air but chances are it will be some kind of chicken or a salad.

Speaking of food, when I changed my eating habits I made it a point to cut back on red meat. Chicken is about the only kind of meat I eat regularly; I was a fast-food carnivore prior to making the change.

I also gave up my reliance on diet soft drinks. People, you have no idea how bad I was when it came to diet soft drinks. I would buy a case and be through it within a day or two. It got a point where I literally felt addicted to them and needed a “fix” in order to carry on. That’s when I knew I had a problem–as if diet sodas were a hard drug–and quit cold turkey, much to my wife’s amusement.

“You? Give up diet sodas? Yeah, right!”

The next day I threw them all out and started buying bottled water.

I’m not saying I don’t drink them at all, no. I might have one every other day if the mood bothers to strike me. My beverages of choice are now bottled water, bottled water mixed with those flavor packets, or SoBe Green Tea.

My wife still a bit incredulous to the idea of me not drinking diet sodas anymore, especially switching to green tea. I hate it, but it’s better for you.

Another Holiday Gone

2008/03/25 at 4:11 am | Posted in Exercise, Food | Comments Off

With Easter behind me, I’m ready to get back on the schedule.

It’s no secret that the holidays bring with them the temptation to eat compulsively. And chances are you’re like me–you fall victim to all of the tasty goodness that is floating around. There was just too much food around the house for anybody to be “good” so I made a day of it.

But do I regret it? Of course not. If you ask me, it’s fine to skip a day–holidays, at least–in order to keep your sanity while trying to lose weight. The key is remembering to get back onto whichever plan you’re sticking to the very next day.

That’s where I’m at today. All the potato salad, ham, hot dogs and whatnot are in the past and it’s time to move on. I did so by drinking my usual amount of water while at work and in preparation of Easter, extended my lunchtime walk to 1.5 miles about a week ago:

Compare that to my old walking route:

That addition only adds a few more minutes and 1/2 mile to my walk; I do it all in about 20 minutes or so. And that’s where my job’s location helps me out. Because I take the train to work, I have to walk to and from the station and work, up and down stairs to the platforms, and also up and down the stairway in my office building. Every little bit helps and this is proof that no matter how busy you are, there is always time to do a minimum amount of exercise, and walking is about as easy and healthy as it gets.

So once this post is done, I’m off to do my nightly ritual: sit-ups, weight training and maybe some Wii Sports. No, it’s not easy and there are days when I just don’t feel like it.

But it must be done if I expect to reach my goal.

Further Reading

Rather than re-post entries from my other blog, I thought I’d link some categories that would be of interest. Here they are:

Posts of particular interest:

In “Good and Bad” I describe the mixed emotions I’m feeling about losing weight over a prolonged period of time
“Rewarding” is a kind of follow-up to the post mentioned above, in which I speak of rewarding myself for a job well done when nobody takes notice to my progress

See you all later.

Welcome

2008/03/24 at 7:52 pm | Posted in General, Life | Comments Off

Welcome to 200by40, a blog dedicated to my thoughts, trials and tribulations during my quest to reach my goal of weighing 200 pounds–or losing 50+ pounds–by my 40th birthday on February 14, 2009 by doing it the old-fashioned way: proper diet and exercise. I will be adding more content as well as an “About” page later tonight.

Check back often and see what’s going on as I will post as frequently as I can. In the meantime, check out my personal blog for assorted nonsense.

Thanks!