Monday, July 29, 2013

The making of an action hero pt18

Entry #17 I like being successful. It’s nice to look back at the last month and a half and see consistent positive change. At a certain point I feel like I’m bragging more than reporting results though. I was talking to a friend Thursday about his accomplishments and it was nice to not have everything tie back into one “thing.” You know what I’m talking about…everything has to come back to one issue for some people, no matter how improbable the conversational transition. I don’t want to become that person—the one issue guy that can’t talk about anything but his diet or his weight or his exercise plan. I hate that guy. I used to get really angry when people would neglect everything that I’d accomplished and only see how much over weight I was to the exclusion of everything else. Sure now I’m doing something about it so it’s nice to recount my successes. But everything in life shouldn’t center around that effort. I am going to tone it down a bit going forward. If someone asks, or the conversation turns in that direction great, no problem. But if that doesn’t happen, I’m going to keep this a personal journey (save for the five people who read these wandering essays.) Part of what I’m trying to do is change who I am as well as how much of me there is. That’s why I’m going out and “doing” things on my days off. That’s why I’m making long term lifestyle changes—so weight loss isn’t an issue any more. So it’s time to start living it if I’m going to preach it. The brunette and I have been discussing goals. She wants me to continue writing one of the two stories I’ve been working on. I want that too, though it’s sort of down on the list. She hunts zombies regularly on her iPhone using an app called zombie’s run. The deal we’ve worked out is that if she loses 20 pounds hunting zombies on our elliptical, I’ll write several more chapters in one of the series—new chapters not just rewrites of what I’ve already done. I came in at 298.6 this morning. That’s a bit more than yesterday’s 296.4, but I also splurged a bit yesterday and had a second portion of Indian leftovers plus a few snacks with friends. It’s time to think of the next goal. As of today I’ve maintained 5 straight days under 300, so I’m going to assume that 4 more days are going to happen. The next goal is to average under 290 pounds for an entire week, preferably before the 8/31 wedding we will attend. That’s a double goal for me because on 8/30 I have a physical scheduled. I used to hate going to the doctor. He is a really nice guy—friendly, humorous, all the things you want in the person who takes care of you. I just dreaded getting on that scale and getting the results of blood work back. For me it felt like a personal failure every time I came in and didn’t show any improvement. For the first time in a while I’m curious what eating better and losing weight will amount to. For this benchmark, I’ll send my Colt 1903 out to Crusader weaponry for their slipstream treatment and complete my perfect pocket pistol project. When I began this project I said that just spending money wasn’t something I was looking for in the rewards structure. I’m amending that slightly. I’m not putting things in the reward structure that I’d be buying whether I hit the goal or not. That means that I can’t put in the belt I’m buying because I need something to hold my pants up regardless. Today’s intake: Breakfast=A bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, a banana, and a glass of water. Work meal=a turkey and Swiss wrap, an apple, and a yogurt. Dinner=a large bowl of left over pasta salad, a glass of water, and a handful of chocolate for dessert. I had 2 cookies, a cheese stick, and several glasses of water since I came home from work. The hunger thing is getting to me. It isn’t the desire for food exactly; it’s that I’m eating less than my appetite says I should be. It makes it difficult unless I have something to distract me. On the one hand I didn’t open the roll of Ritz crackers or either of the two packages of cheese I bought for when guests come over. On the other I should have resisted the cheese stick at the end. I think it’s time to return to that original mental concept of “it begins with a thought.” I will be more focused going forward. I will be successful. I won’t take my current success for granted. Ten pounds a month, that’s the goal.

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