March 16, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (225.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 225.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (6.5 pounds to go, .5 pounds gained)

Note: The last 3 days have basically been a break from dieting. Not a feeding frenzy, but also not a stretch where anyone would see me as a person trying to lose weight.

It definitely started with Saturday, a day when I was at Millsaps taking photos from 10 till 4 and then went to a supper party that evening. Then on Sunday I was tired, went to Millsaps to take more photos from 12 to 4, and naturally I stayed up late working on photos. Monday was a case of simply being worn out and trying to get through the day.

Here’s something that I’ve said many times. From a logical standpoint, it seems like dieting is something that a person can do regardless of whatever else is going on in their life. For me, and apparently for many others, this isn’t the case. If I don’t have time to focus on my diet, if I don’t have a situation where I can plan my food for the day, if I find myself overworked and worn out, then it is extremely difficult to successfully diet. Not impossible, but extremely difficult.

This last weekend was busy and I had no control over the time flow. The ball games were on a set schedule that I couldn’t change. There were other things that had to be done before the weekend ended and there just wasn’t much time to get it all done. This week, while still being very busy, will be more about my time flow. It lowers the stress level and hopefully it will allow me to get back to the task of lowering my weight.

6:00--walked 45 minutes
6:50--270 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories

March 15, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (225.5 lbs)

See March 16 post.

March 14, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (225.5 lbs)

See March 16 post.

March 13, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (222.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 222.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (3.5 pounds to go, 2.5 pounds lost)

Today is going to be tricky in several ways. My plan is to be a the Millsaps softball field at 10 to take photos of warmups and then a game that starts at 11. Then I'll walk up the hill and take photos at a baseball game that starts at 1 and will probably run till after 4. Then I eating supper at a friend's house.

My plan it to wait until about 9:40 and then go by the nearby Burger King for one of their breakfast sandwiches. That's not too bad on the calories if you hold off on the jelly, and it should hold me until after the start of the baseball. At the baseball game, the only thing quick and available will be a candy bar. Admittedly, I could take something to the game like a couple of apples, but don't expect perfection from my diet.

The candy bar and a diet soda will get me through the game and then I'll try to not eat until the supper. If I skip on any chips and dips before the meal and on desert after the meal, the calorie count for the day will be okay. As for the walking today, I'll be on my feet most of the time from 10 to 4. I'll let that count for the walking and I'll be during plenty of moving around doing that time.

2 Week Weight Chart

My morning weigh-in numbers for the last 14 days:

March 13, 2010 -- 222.5
March 12, 2010 -- 223.5
March 11, 2010 -- 223.5
March 10, 2010 -- 222.5
March 9, 2010 -- 224.5
March 8, 2010 -- 225
March 7, 2010 -- 226
March 6, 2010 -- 225.5
March 5, 2010 -- unknown
March 4, 2010 -- 225
March 3, 2010 -- 224.5
March 2, 2010 -- 223.5
March 1, 2010 -- 224.5
Feb. 28, 2010 -- 225.5

Two week results = 3 pounds lost = rate of 78 pounds lost in a year

Total results since February 16 (232 pounds) = 9.5 pounds lost

March 12, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (223.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 223.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (4.5 pounds to go, 1.5 pounds lost)

6:00--walked 40 minutes
6:50--270 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--260 calories
3:00--160 calories
5:00--250 calories
7:30--320 calories
10:10--350 calories (working late on photos)

Daily total = 1,710 calories

March 11, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (223.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 223.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (4.5 pounds to go, 1.5 pounds lost)

Not as bad as expected after 3 beers and a frozen pizza last night. This day didn't start off so great as I skipped the walking in order to get more rest. Maybe I can get that walking in this afternoon.

6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
3:00--100 calories
7:00--260 calories
8:30--100 calories

Daily total = 1,420 calories

March 10, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (222.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 222.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (3.5 pounds to go, 2.5 pounds lost)

Notes: I didn't eat much after noon yesterday, a factor in today's low weight. Today needs to be another day in the 1,500 calorie range, and that will take some planning since I'll have a few light beers with the guys tonight.

5:00--walked 50 minutes
6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
5:30 to 7:00--450 calories (3 regular beers, they didn't have light)
7:45--700 calories

Daily total = 2,110 calories (this total isn't really bad, especially for a night of going out for a few drinks, but I could have cut back at both lunch and supper so I'm going to mark this as a bad day even though it was a good day considering the circumstances)

March 9, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (224.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 224.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (5.5 pounds to go, .5 pounds lost)

It's good to get back into the losing weight category on this phase of my dieting. While walking this morning I realized that there's a huge amount of difference between consuming 2,000 or 1,500 calories per day. It doesn't sound like much, but look at the calories as if they are dollars.

Say a person has monthly expenses of about $2,000, enough to pay the bills and budget for those once a year big expenses. Life can go on "as is" for a long time if there's $2,000 coming in each month. However, life will change in a hurry if that income drops to $1,500 per month. Changes will have to be made.

That's how I see the calorie thing. My body can cope with a drop to 2,000 calories a day by lowering my metabolism instead of dipping into the fat reserves. A drop to 1,500 calories a day is a different story. That type of drop would mean that changes have to be made and that's what I'm looking for. I need to start looking at cutting back a little here and there, and I think those little changes will make a big difference.

6:00--walked 45 minutes
6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
7:00--320 calories

Daily total = 1,280 calories

March 8, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (225 lbs)

Morning Weight: 225 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (6 pounds to go, 0 pounds lost)

Got up at 4:45 this morning as usual, then rested for a couple of minutes and suddenly it was 5:35. This is how my efforts start to fall apart. I was up till midnight working on the photo project, something that I need to do every night this week, and getting up to walk at 6 is going to be tough. That might have to be the way it goes for a few weeks and that will be okay IF I don't start eating extra food for "energy" to get me through the day. When a person gets tired and overworked, they really have to dig deep for the willpower necessary to stick with a dieting plan.

6:45--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
3:30--320 calories
8:00--320 calories

Daily total = 1,600 calories

March 7, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (226 lbs)

Morning Weight: 226 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (7 pounds to go, 1 pound gained)

Note: My momentum was broken by that stretch of being sick. At a time when my body was still wanting to add a few pounds to get back to a more comfortable norm, I eased up instead of tightening up. My guess is that the formula to get back the momentum will be a string of 1,500 calorie days, steady doses of walking, and less calories after 6:30 in the evening. Today would be a good day to start that trend.

8:30--250 calories
11:30--320 calories
2:00--300 calories
5:30--700 calories

Daily total = 1,570 calories

March 6, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (225.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 225.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (6.5 pounds to go, .5 pounds gained)

I gave up keeping the Thursday scorecard and didn't even try on Friday. The regular eating wasn't too bad. It was the candy that I was taking for "medicinal purposes" which made the calorie count impossible. It would be nice if I could report being 100% this morning. However, that is not the case. I'm close, maybe 90% back with just a slight cough and occasional runny nose reminding me that I've been sick. It's close enough that I can get back to the business of dieting.

8:30--320 calories
11:30--400 calories
3:30--300 calories
5:30--250 calories
7:30--380 calories
10:30--320 calories

Daily total = 1,970 calories

March 3, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (224.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 224.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 219 pounds (.5 pounds lost, 5.5 pounds to go)

!!!!!!!!!!! Today was the 3rd straight day of being under the first diet goal of 225 pounds so that's one diet successfully completed. It's possible that I'll bounce up to 225 in the next day or two, but I really think that I'll never, ever see that setpoint of 228 pounds that was blocking me in recent months or any weight that begins with "23".

With those 7 pounds gone and out of the picture, I'm not going to refer to them with any total weight loss count. My guess is that I'll do much better by focusing fully on the diet at hand, which is to lose the 6 pounds between 225 pounds and 219. Getting out of the 220's is going to be a huge achievement so I'm excited about succeeding on this new diet.

6:00--walked 45 minutes
6:50--260 calories

7:00--I've had a sore throat and a cold since the weekend. Yesterday I just about lost my voice totally. Today I'm sucking on lifesavers and Jolly Ranchers for "medical reasons" so I'm not counting them as calories. Yes, that does sound like cheating, but it's my diet and my rules, so I can assure you that this is 100% perfectly legal as long as it doesn't become a habit.

12:00--600 calories
2:30--250 calories
5:30--250 calories
8:00--320 calories

Daily total = 1,680 calories plus the lifesavers

March 2, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (223.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 223.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (8.5 pounds lost, Day 2 of 3 needed to accomplish goal)

6:00--walked 45 minutes
6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
3:00--100 calories

PLUS--lots of candy throughout the day because of a sore throat that was causing me to lose my voice while trying to deal with phone problems that we have had since the start of the week. Voice is almost gone now, I'm going to get in bed as soon as getting home, and we'll see if I get up later in the evening or just get a healthy helping of rest. I'm going to put this down as a "Bad Day" which it was in general as well as in calorie intake.

March 1, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (224.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 224.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (7.5 pounds lost, Day 1 of 3 needed to accomplish goal)

6:00--walked 45 minutes
6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
3:00--100 calories
6:30--300 calories
7:45--320 calories

Daily Total = 1,680 calories

Note: Got to work and found out the phones weren't working. Called people all day about this with lots of promises but no phone connections--how did people call about phone troubles prior to the invention of cell phones? An AT&T guy got to the office at 4:00. I stayed with him till 7:30. Phones still not working. At this point, there was nothing for him to fix, just a need for him to be there and verify that others had fixed the circuit elsewhere. He could test that outside the building so I went home. Now I have a sore throat and sniffles after a long day--it's 8:00 and I'm going to bed with hopes that tomorrow will be a better day.

February 28, 2010--Dieting Scorecare (225.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 225.5 pounds
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (6.5 pounds lost, .5 pound to go)

9:00--320 calories
12:00--250 calories
3:15--400 calories
6:00--320 calories
7:30--250 calories

Daily total = 1,540 calories


Note: I've been feeling a little sick the last couple of days. It wasn't anything serious until I went and took photos at a Millsaps baseball game. Maybe being out and walking around had nothing to do with it, but last night I have that yucky combination of fever and chills. Really felt punk. Today is much better and I'm taking some cold medicine. I'll skip the walking today and even going out to just watch the baseball game. Might even skip some of the photo editing to take a nap or relax by watching a DVD. It's no good for anyone if I stay sick for very long.

February 27, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (225.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 225.5 pounds (I slept till 8 so this might be lower than normal)
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (6.5 pounds lost, .5 pound to go)

Let me mention that I'm somewhat sick this morning. I could feel it coming on yesterday so I stayed in bed a little longer this Saturday morning. It's a general punk feeling, somewhat of a sore throat that will turn into sniffles and sneezing in a day or two, and a little coughing right now. This hits me every once in a while, but not lately. My plan it to make this a soup day--all soup, all day. There could be worse ways to treat an illness.

9:00--380 calories (baked potatoes with cheddar and bacon bits)
12:00--310 calories (decided to go photograph Millsaps baseball--got away from the soups)
2:00--230 calories
5:00--250 calories (1,170 so far)
7:00--700 calories

Daily Total = 1,870 calories

February 26, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (226 lbs)

Morning Weight: 226 pounds
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (6 pounds lost, 1 pound to go)

6:10--walked 30 minutes (got to work late--stopped at Walmart)
6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
3:00--250 calories (1,210 calories so far)
6:00--100 calories (light beer)
6:20--680 calories (frozen pizza--decided to get wild to end the work week)
8:00--100 calories (light beer)

Daily total = 2,090 calories

February 25, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (227.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 227.5 pounds (see Note below)
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (4.5 pounds lost, 2.5 pounds to go)

6:00--walked 45 minutes
6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
3:00--250 calories
6:00--320 calories
11:30--320 calories

Daily total = 1,850 calories

Note: Still going in the wrong direction. Some of that is eating later in the evening. Some is due to getting up this morning at 4 and drinking half a soda before weighing. Some is my body trying to adjust back after that big loss at the start. It's not disappointing or discouraging. It's simply a very small part of the big picture. Much more important than my actual weight is my behavior. Consistently walking for 45 minutes each day and consistently making a significant reduction in my caloric intake--that's the important thing and it is becoming habitual behavior. I'm on the right track and it will lead me to the right results.

February 24, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (226.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 226.5 pounds (see Note below)
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (5.5 pounds lost, 1.5 pounds to go)

6:00--walked 45 minutes
6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
3:00--250 calories
6:00--300 calories
7:30--600 calories

Daily total = 2,110 calories (over the 2,000 barrior, but actually a very good number for a Wednesday. I'll give myself a "good day" on this one.)


Note: This isn't so unusual, gaining back some weight after a quick and unrealistic weight loss. The big picture is still that I've lost 5.5 pounds in about 2 weeks and the weight loss will start back up before too long if I keep doing the things I've been doing.

February 23, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (226 lbs)

Morning Weight: 226 pounds
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (6 pounds lost, 1 pound to go)

6:00--walked 45 minutes
6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
3:00--100 calories (total so far = 1,060 calories)
5:00--250 calories
7:00--380 calories

Daily total = 1,690 calories

February 22, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (226 lbs)

Morning Weight: 226 pounds
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (6 pounds lost, 1 pound to go)
(Note--this is why I like the 3 days in a row rule for getting at or under a goal. I don't want to move on to the next goal while there's still work to be done on the current goal.)

6:00--walked 45 minutes
6:50--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--540 calories
3:00--100 calories
5:45--250 calories (1,250 so far)
9:00--320 calories

Daily Total = 1,570 calories

February 21, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (225 lbs)

Morning Weight: 225 pounds
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (7 pounds lost, 0 pounds to go)
(Note--A goal isn't officially achieved until there are 3 straight days at that target or below. This is Day 1 of reaching the goal target.)

9:00--250 calories
11:30--360 calories
12:00--walked 45 minutes
6:30--640 calories
9:30--250 calories (I need to stay up late to work on photos)

Daily total = 1,500 calories

Frank's Diet Weekend Update--February 20, 2010

Previous diets blogs have gotten bogged down because I've thought every post had to have some words of wisdom or something that had a chance of being interesting. While I might still throw in some posts like that during the week, I'm more likely to post every day if things are kept short and simple. Hence, the diet scorecard.

A weekend update shouldn't be too hard, especially if I don't try to make it a literary masterpiece. Here are some thoughts about the first week and other things:

---This has obviously been a great start. While my weight had consistently been in the 230's for a few weeks, it wouldn't have surprised me if good behavior had dropped that weight to 229 or 228. Getting down to 226 this soon is a surprise, but I know it is success that can be lost with one day of backsliding.

---During a couple of decades as a runner, I quickly learn that my key to consistency was to run early in the morning before any conflicts could crop up. It obviously the same with walking. I'm trying to consider the time between 6 and 7 Monday through Friday as work time with my task being to walk for 45 minutes.

---45 minutes of walking for me is 2.5 miles, maybe a little more. Do that 7 times a week and it adds up to at least 17.5 miles of exercise a week. That's pretty good, it's time well spent, and so far my body hasn't revolted with some sort of pain. This is what I've needed to do for the last 4 years (or really, for about the last 14 years).

---While this is putting the cart way ahead of the horse, my real goal is to get back to 175 pounds. My real goal is to get back to jogging, tennis and racquetball. I can easily get below 200 pounds with dieting and walking. Those things will get me down to at least 190 pounds, but it will take more activity to get lower--and one of the reason I want to lose weight is so I be more active. These two things go hand in hand: Lose weight so I can be more active--be more active so I can lose weight.

---Finally for this update, I realize that one successful week is just the start. The good things is that this feels more like a lifestyle change instead of a diet. I've just readjusted elements of my normal life to create some changes. Changing a lifestyle is much more likely to succeed than using a short term tool like a diet. If a person doesn't change their lifestyle, then at its best, a diet will only be a temporary patch and not a long term fix.

February 20, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (226 lbs)

Morning Weight: 226 pounds
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (6 pounds lost, 1 pound to go)

9:00--320 calories
1:00--250 calories
5:30--walked for 45 minutes
7:30--640 calories

Daily Total = 1,210 calories

February 19, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (226.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 226.5 pounds (see note below)
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (5.5 pounds lost, 1.5 pounds to go)

6:00--45 minutes walking
7:00--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
5:00--260 calories
9:30--350 calories (the gap between 5 and 9:30 was spent taking basketball photos--and resisting the urge to buy candy at the concession stand)

Daily total = 1,570 calories

Note: I'm not complaining about 5 pounds lost in 2 days, but I'm realistic enough to know that this isn't the norm and those 5 pounds would come back in a flash if I falter. The bigger news is that I'm comfortable with the idea of changing my work hours from 7-4 to 6-4 with that first hour being devoted to walking. That extra hour spent at work will pay off big even though it won't change my paycheck.

February 18, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (228.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 228.5 pounds (see note below)
Diet Goal: 225 pounds (3.5 pounds lost, 3.5 pounds to go)

6:00--walked 45 minutes
7:00--260 calories
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
5:30--250 calories
7:45--320 calories

Daily total = 1,530 calories


NOTE: If the body is something like 70% fluids then my body is composed of about 160 pounds of fluids. That means a daily loss of 3 pounds in certainly possible, but I don't honestly believe that 3 pounds of pure fat has melted away. Going by the calculation that a pound of fat equals about 3,500 calories of energy, I don't think my body burned up 10,000 calories over the last 24 hours. Not that I'm complaining. It's definitely a move in the right direction. Now I need to hold on to this success and work hard to get through this 228 pound area which has been a sticking point for me in the past.)

February 17, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (231.5 lbs)

Morning Weight: 231.5 pounds
Goal: 225 pounds (.5 pounds lost, 6.5 pounds to go)

6:00--walked 45 minutes
7:00--260 calories
10:00--300 calories (office birthday party--in the past 1,500 calories would have been typical)
12:00--600 calories
5:30--250 calories
8:00--380 calories

Daily total = 1,790 calories

February 16, 2010--Dieting Scorecard (232 lbs)

Morning weight: 232 pounds
Goal: 225 pounds

6:00--walked 45 minutes (got to work early and walked in the warmth of the hallways)
7:00--260 calories
8:15--about 60 calories (grabbed some of those little candy hearts without thinking--bad move)
10:00--100 calories
12:00--600 calories
4:00--250 calories (daily total up to 1,270 calories)
6:00--260 calories
8:45--100 calories

Daily calorie total = 1,630 calories

The Henry Ford Diet Plan

"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs." -- Henry Ford

How much do you want to lose? Is it 30 pounds? Maybe 40 pounds? Or really--you are trying to lose closer to 100 pounds! Congratulations are taking on a challenge that will totally change your life.

Losing a significant amount of weight is a big challenge and it can be depressing to see the weight come off at a slow pace. Sure, it's a faster pace than when we put on the weight, but we weren't focusing on our weight back then. This lack of focus in the past is why we find ourselves in our current predicament.

I have a big goal with this diet. My plan is to work hard on getting to 190 pounds, then regroup and shoot for 180. That would be 50 pounds and to be quite honest, my heart is set on revisiting the 170's for the first time in a couple of decades. The problem is that 50 pounds is so far away. A 5 pound weight loss still leaves me 45 pounds from my goal. Even a really good effort like losing 25 pounds in 2 or 3 months would put me only halfway to the finish line. That's tough on a person mentally, so why don't we break it down into smaller goals that will add up to one big accomplishment? Here's what I'm looking out with my diet:

---225 pounds: I've been hanging around the 228-232 range since Thanksgiving. Getting down to 225 would show that real progress is being made.

---219 pounds: Getting out of the 220's would be fantastic. Also, this would be the type of weight loss that shows up in looser clothing.

---213 pounds: There was a time when 215 seemed to be a wall of resistance that I could not break. Getting a couple of pounds below that would be quite a milestone.

---207 pounds: The point where a person of my height is considered overweight instead of obese. It would put me in the middle third segment of American adults.

---199 pounds: Under 200 for the first time since a short lived successful diet in 2006. This would be an awesome achievement.

---190 pounds: It's a big jump, but let's feed off the good vibe of the successes above. At this point I need to maintain and look at getting more active to push the weight loss lower.

Doesn't that look easier? Six reasonable diets that stack on top of each other to get me to a really significant achievement. It's nice to think about 190 pounds or lower, but for now the goal is to get to 225. I can do that over the next few weeks.

February 10, 2010--231 Pounds

Weight was 231 this morning after a less than successful day. Not that yesterday was a bad day, it just wasn't the kind of day that would make anyone think that I'm dieting. Maybe they would think I was eating reasonably, but no one would have viewed my intake yesterday as dieting.

Reasonable days aren't automatically bad. I'm meeting some friends tonight for a few drinks, a thing we try to do once a week, and that will prevent today from being a great day. It will be a good day or at least a reasonable day with some planning and willpower. Dieting doesn't mean living the life of a monk or nun for the next few months, hidden away from the world and doing penitence for our sins. However, on days like Tuesday when there was nothing special on the calendar, it's important that those days become really good diet days. Yesterday wasn't a bad day, just a missed opportunity for making a little progress on the diet.

Too Bad Dieting Isn't This Easy

We could wipe out obesity in a hurry if this formula worked for more than one unusual day:

Day 1: Weigh in the morning and get horrified by a weight of 236 pounds.
Day 1 (cont.): Start a weight loss blog and do a fairly good job of cutting down on the food intake.
Day 2: Weigh in the morning and see 231, a 5 pound loss which equates to 35 pounds lost per week.

Upon review, maybe that 236 is partially because I spent the previous evening at a Super Bowl party (Who Dat!!!). Truthfully, the 231 is closer to what I've been seeing lately and the higher weight was more of a look into the near future unless some changes were made. It was the visual jolt needed to make me think that enough is enough on the slow rise to a blimp-like frame.

Not that 231 is any great comfort zone. It's too much weight for my frame. Getting down to 226 will be great, progress being made and all that stuff, but it will still be too much weight for my frame. This dieting thing is something where we get fixated on "how much, how fast". It really should be about "which direction, for how long". That's the key, getting our weight change going in the proper direction and then keeping it going.

The 5 pounds "lost" yesterday are a fluke. The next 5 pounds will get me down to 226 and that will be a significant weight. It's been a while since the bathroom scale has displayed that number so clearly progress will have been made. The day I see 221 pounds will be about the time that there's a noticeable difference in how my pants fit. Noticeable changes in how clothes fit is much better feedback than a number on a scale. Getting to 216 will be exciting because it is starting to close in on the weight that separates the obese and overweight categories for my height. That's actually my first goal, getting to that glorious day when I'll only be considered overweight instead of obese.

It's really sad that moving into "just overweight" territory would be considered a great occasion. Sad for me personally, and sad that it would be a big accomplishment for a third of American adults and for about one out of every five or six American kids. How did this happen to me and how did it happen to this country? That's a discussion for another day, as is a post with links to tables showing what's considered normal, overweight, and obese for each height level. We'll have time to get to all of that since the 5 pounds per day weight loss isn't going to be the norm. It took time to put this excessive weight on, and it will take time to take it off. We can accept this, we can do this, so let's all have one more good effort today on our weight loss journey.

The Double Whammy of Dieting

Hey, let's start on that being 100% honest. Dieting isn't going to be easy. The concept of dieting is extremely easy: eat less, move more--repeat for multiple days, weeks, and months--go buy a new wardrobe and bask in the glowing compliments of friends, family and strangers. The reality of dieting is something totally different.

You and I are overweight because we like to eat too much and we don't move around enough. My weight didn't get to 236 pounds by magic. It was my behavior, my choices, that led to this steady increase in weight. Now there's a need for behavioral changes and making different choices in order to lose the weight. That's easier said than done.

Here's where the double whammy comes in. Not only is there the need to make changes in order to stop the weight gains, but those changes have to be doubled if I'm looking to lose weight. Maybe you have the same problem as me about not admitting just how much my lifestyle needs to be changed in order to lose weight. Cutting back a little and exercising a little will stop the weight gains. That's not enough. It's going to take cutting back a lot and making a real effort to be more active.

Is this fair, this having to work so hard to lose weight? Well yeah, it really is getting off easy when one considers how many months and years of bad choices contributed to the typical person's weight gain. It's like paying pennies on the dollar. Years of excess wiped away by months of good behavior. We're getting off easy.

Just remember that losing weight is a big change and it takes a big effort. Anything half-hearted might work in the short term to stop the weight gains, but it won't reverse the situation. Get excited about accomplishing something monumental, getting the kind of results that come from dedication and hard work. Look forward to a big challenge because overcoming the big challenges are the way to big successes. We can do this--I've got a good feeling about the next few months.

Introduction

First, let's talk about you. There's no hit counter or tracking set up on this blog. If you are reading this, I won't know it unless you leave a comment somewhere. That way you can stay anonymous if you prefer and I can imagine that the blog has numerous readers. It's a win-win.

Here's a quick summary of my weight history. I'm a single male in my late 50's. My weight was 236 pounds today, the highest I've ever been in my life, and far too much for my height of about 5'11". My childhood was one of obesity, my 20's and mid-30's were years of activity and a weight that stayed in the mid-160's. As I approached my 40's, the activity slowed down, the weight inched up, and here we are today with a serious weight problem.

The good news is that I've avoided the various ailments that often come with obesity and aging--heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer--these are all things where the risks go up for the obese person. I've avoided these ailments so far. My good fortune won't last forever and the door of opportunity to work on avoiding these diseases is rapidly closing. Something has to be done in the near term or serious consequences will soon hit me.

Last thing. I've been blogging about trying to lose weight for almost 4 years. The blogging started when my weight reached 230 pounds and within a half year my weight was down to 190. Then I got lax and the weight hit 200. Then 210--215--220, and here we are at 236. That old blog has been dropped, partially because of the need for a new start, and mostly because my friends knew that blog address. No one will know this new address and that will allow me to be 100% honest with myself without worrying about what anyone else thinks.

So if anyone is actually reading this and you too are ready to shed some of your excessive baggage, come on aboard. Feel free to just read or to read and comment. We can do this and the payoff will be well worth the effort. Let's loss some weight this year.