The One In Which We Cross a Threshold

Wow! It's been a while since I posted. Bad Hoff! Bad, naughty Hoff! I am deserving of a spanking. And then the oral sex!

But seriously folks, it has been a while, and I have positive news to report! When last we checked in, I was aiming for a weigh-in on 6/22 of 276.9 lbs. The week had been my usual up and down, peaking at 278.2 on Friday 6/20. But with DAPGF out of town, I was able to make some headway and drop down to 276.2 lbs for Saturday! Saturday did involve time with Dad and some naughty food, but I was able to use the rest of the time on Saturday for beach and gym, and made my weigh-in on Sunday at 276.2 lbs.! No gain from Saturday and I bettered my goal by more than a half pound!

With that success, my goal for 6/29 would be 274.7 lbs. That would represent my first foray under 275 lbs since I can remember. Looking way (weigh?) back at things, this weight-loss thing all got started when I realized that my scale was broken (insert fat jokes here). For whatever reason the scale (an old-school mechanical dial one) would read no higher than 260-ish pounds (the dial actually went to 300 lbs). Despite the fact that my clothes were seeming much tighter and my gut seemed larger, it hadn't dawned on me that the scale continuing to read 262 lbs wasn't indicative of a problem. I jut figured I'd only gained 10 or so pounds from the Newport Beach and Aliso Viejo days, and as I aged the weight was redistributing itself into my gut. Yeah, wishful thinking. So one morning I get on the scale and notice that as it spins up, instead of doing the typical "needle back and forth until it settles" routine, it simply stopped in the 260 neighborhood. With no idea how long it had been broken, I went and bought the new scale, and promptly realized that I was up in the 280s! Holy crap! But beyond the obvious horror, I had no idea how long I'd been that fat. So with that knowledge, that last bout of food poisoning was the last time I'd knowingly been in the 275 lb range.

So I'm starting at 276.2 lbs and aiming for 274.7 lbs on 6/29. The week was again my typical yo-yo experience, and I actually peaked at 278.8 during the week. Still, I fought and fought and managed to do a weigh-in of 276.2 lbs on 6/29. No change from the previous week, but given the 2.6 pound increase during the week, I'll take it.

So, again, I'm aiming for 274.7 lbs on 7/6. Again, the week was a typical yo-yo with an added wrinkle. I'm no longer riding the train, so I no longer get my thrice weekly bonus exercise walk to the train station. To make it worse, my new gig is with a brand new client who is still setting up their offices. So I didn't really even have a good opportunity to bring a Lean Cuisine type lunch. Nope, everybody wanted to go to the naughty Mexican joint nearby. But I didn't want to have two straight weeks with no progress, so I was careful with what I ate. DAPGF had a meeting to go to one evening, and she went out for lunch with friends on Saturday, so I had good opportunities to hit the gym and avoid restaurants. End result? Weigh-in on 7/6 was 274.6 lbs!! I beat my goal by .1 lb, and I was under 275 for the first time in well over a year!!! Can a brother get a woo hoo!!! Next Sunday, 7/13, the goal will be 273.1 lbs.

One thing that should help with meeting my next goal (and I'm sure helped out this past week) is my gym. Not that 24 Hour Fitness is really anything special, but they just got some new elliptical machines in, and boy are they difficult. The key thing about them is they have a variable stride to them, and because of that you have to work extra hard to keep up a constant stride. You get going and get yourself into a steady pace. All of a sudden, the "incline" or speed of the machine changes, and unconsciously your stride changes. God forbid you decide to reverse and go backwards. It is hella hard, and a brutal workout. With the old elliptical machines, I could bang out a half hour workout, on resistance level 11, and be sweating but hardly breathing heavily. With these new machines, I spend so much effort trying to maintain a consistent, steady pace and stride that I find myself winded after 12 minutes. I think, tbough, that the extra effort makes up the difference and probably then some. I will keep you advised as to whether I give up on them or not. Wish me luck.

And to finish off this long overdue post, instead of the last 5 songs I heard at the gym this morning, let's go with the first 5 songs...which ones served to pump me up. I added a bunch of tracks to the mp3 player, so I manually created a playlist, started with one particular song, and shuffled the rest. I was not disappointed.

Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart
AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie
Pantera - Mouth For War
Testament - Electric Crown
The Vines - Ride

FWIW, the next 5 were equally motivating:

Megadeth - High Speed Dirt
Iron Maiden - Invaders
Iced Earth - Declaration Day
W.A.S.P. - Blind in Texas
Babylon A.D. - Hammer Swings Down

See ya out there, peeps.

A bit over due, but worth the wait...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've been busy. I'm sure everybody is busy, but I really am. Out the door super early for work, back late. And when I've actually been in my office instead of some client's office, I've been hella busy on this new project that kicks off July 1. On top of work, DAPGF just went out of town, had a birthday party for a neighbor, and my Dad is in the process of moving. It has been a bit busy.

So, last Sunday, 6/8, my weigh-in goal was 277.0 I had (obviously) been at 279.0 for the previous Sunday, and set up my usual 1.5 pound goal. Unfortunately, I didn't quite make it. I did lose some weight, though, so no backsliding and I'm still under 280! 6/15, my weigh-in was 278.4 lbs, for a .6 lb loss during the week. I did my usual yo-yo thing, but it was a much smaller range of weight. Sure I didn't drop a lot off, but neither did I put on a lot, so I'm generally satisfied. And from 278.4 lbs, my goal for 6/23 is 276.9 lbs.

This is going to be an interesting weekend. I started off on fire. After a .2 lb gain after a Father's Day steak dinner with DAPGF and my Dad, I dropped down to 276.6! Holy crap! I think there was one moment a year an a half ago that I hit 275, and that was only due to a bout of food poisoning. Since Tuesday morning I've actually gained a little bit back. We had the aforementioned birthday party for the neighbor, and that involved appetizers and margaritas at a Mexican joint near Casa de Hoff, so that was expected. Wednesday I was actually on track for a pretty good showing...I was working in my capacity of Public Information Officer for a local water district, and doing a lot of door-to-door, up and down condo stairs in 95 degree heat. And that's where the problem came in. Milkshake, baby! I wanted it, I needed it, so dammit, I got it! It was gooooood. And baaaaaaad. But with DAPGF gone until Sunday morning, here's what I've got to look forward to: walking back to the train in predicted 100 degree heat on Friday afternoon; a run to the gym and/or the beach for some waves Friday evening (not sure how motivated I'm going to be, but the intent is there), followed by a (hopefully) healthy dinner of my choosing. No restaurant planned, so maybe I can avoid the large calories associated with a big dinner out. Saturday morning gym and beach, followed by a presumably healthy lunch at home (again, no restaurant). Dinner will likely be with my Dad, whom I will be helping move, so there will be exercise, but there will likely be beer as well. Must be careful. Sunday morning will be a repeat of Saturday morning, with the gym/beach/breakfast or lunch at home. DAPGF is back Sunday evening, so that will return the dinner plans to normal. Hopefully, though, I will have had the willpower to take advantage of the weekend and drop some serious weight. Wish me luck, peeps.

The one in which we achieve a major goal...

Well how about that! Last Sunday's weigh-in turned out to be 280.6 lbs. That would set the goal of a 1.5 pound loss at 279.1 lbs. Generally, I did fairly well during the week. I didn't really lose anything, but I also didn't really gain anything. I did get sick on Wednesday, to the point of staying home from work on Thursday. The surprising thing was the weekend, though. We ate very carefully on Friday (Thai veggie stirfry) and I hit the gym Saturday (caturday?) for a weigh-in of 279.0 lbs! Yay me, but wait! This is a pattern of mine. Sunday, being weigh-in day, usually involves some backsliding from Saturday's weigh-in, even if I do go to the gym. And Saturday night was expected to be even worse. DAPGF and I celebrated 6 years (?!?) together by going to Fleming's Steakhouse for a righteous meal of dead cow and assorted stuff. She had the petite filet, and I had a 16 oz New York Strip that was melt-in-your-mouth yummy. Bread and their House Special potatoes (told ya we lurved our carbs) made with real cream, jalapeños, and cheddar cheese, and a complementary piece of their molten lava chocolate cake, accompanied by whole whipped cream and whole vanilla bean ice cream. OMFGA was it wonderful, but I was sure that I'd pay for it Sunday morning. And to top it off, because of long doggie walk and needing to get the car washed, I didn't make it to the gym. Weigh-in result? 279.0 lbs!!!! I made my goal and had an official weigh-in of under 280! And it was 2 weigh-ins in a row under 280!!!! Yay me!

So the goal for Sunday 6/15 will be 277.5. I'd have to go back and look, but I believe that will be the lowest weight I will have knowingly had since I discovered that my scale was broken back in 2006! And I must say, I'm on an excellent start! This morning's weigh-in? 279.0 lbs! And what makes this weigh-in that much more significant is that, not only was there no physical activity involved beyond a 10 minute dog walk, but the weigh-in occurred at 7:30 a.m. The weekend weigh-ins usually occur around 11 a.m. So that tells me that I actually went against the grain on Sunday and lost more weight! DAPGF is going to be gone nearly every night this week, so I am going to have some good gym opportunities along with safer food options. This may turn out to be a really good week. Here's hoping I don't screw it up!

Better late than never, I suppose...

This post is long overdue. It's late partially because my schedule's been screwed up at work, and partially because I've been embarrassed that I finally had some backsliding. But here we go.

2 weeks ago, my hoped-for weigh-in (Memorial Day weekend) was 278.7, which would've been my first "market closing" weigh-in of under 280 in a looong time. I had done my usual yo-yo thing, but was climbing back down and approaching my goal. Saturday 5/24 actually saw me at 279.6, so I was within fingertip distance of my goal. I'm still not exactly sure what happened to me (hey! great blog title!), but Sunday's weigh-in bubbled back up to 280.6 lbs. My first bit of backsliding...a gain of .4 lbs for the week. Ahh, but the weekend is still upon us, and Monday's weigh-in dropped me back to 279.8. Not the real goal, but a weigh-in of under 280! Woo hoo!! So I figured I'd take my goal from Monday's weigh-in and simply aim for a better Sunday, so the goal for 6/1 was going to be 278.3.

278.3 lbs. Hmmm. I was off to a good start, with Monday not causing any damage, but then the wheels fell off. DAPGF was out teaching, so I caved into my evil urges and ordered Kung Pao Shrimp from PF Changs. Oh so freaking tasty, but pure evil. The weight jumps to 281. Then to 282! Then by Thursday I was back on the train thing, which got me some exercise and food control. Friday was even better, because I had to go to Riverside with my boss for a meeting at 10 a.m. No train walk, but I figured I'd get home early enough to maybe get a quickie workout in. Noon hits during the meeting, and one of the guys asked if anybody wanted lunch. My boss and I said we just wanted to work through, so we could get on the freeway headed south before traffic went to hell. So we plowed through and took off. At that point, I figured I could wait until we got back to my boss' place, and I'd hit some fast food on my way home. But the traffic gods actually helped me out. The freeway was packed, so I wound up taking Coast Highway (PCH) from Encinitas down to La Jolla. That helped me because there is no fast food located along the PCH. So I just gave in and drove home. I did have some Wheat Thins when I got home before we went out to dinner, but basically I hadn't eaten anything but a bagel all day. I made it to the gym and the beach on Saturday, and it showed. My weigh-in was back down to 279.4 lbs. Not quite to the goal, but given where I'd been the day before, it was a good sign. Saturday lunch was my downfall, though. Veggie burgers...no problem. Fries...major problem. I have come to the conclusion that potatoes, french fries in particular, are NOT my friends. And to make matters worse, DAPGF and I go to lots of places that serve them (Applebees, TGIF, Fuddruckers, Burger Lounge (a hoity-toity but uber-yummy burger joint in downtown La Jolla) and other such places. I always gain weight when fries are involved, and I really need to be better at avoiding them. I really need to be better at avoiding carbs in general, but that's difficult when the places you go to eat serve one or more of the following: bread, pasta, tortillas, tortilla chips, rice, fries, hash browns, and so on. End result, Sunday's weigh-in (despite a good workout at the gym) was back in the 280s somewhere (I don't have that day logged into My Fitness Pal yet).

So whatever the exact weigh-in was on 6/1, the goal for 6/8 will be exactly 1.5 lbs lighter than that. The week started ugly, despite a good workout on Monday evening. I once again fell victim to my baser urges and had lunch at Pizza Hut's buffet! What was I thinking?!? Still, this morning's weigh-in was back down to 280.2 lbs, so maybe I can make up the badness and get back on the downward trend. I wish you luck, peeps.

An Interesting Observation...

Slowly but surely, my weight is dropping off. I kind of yo-yo through the week, but so far, the past month-plus has had a net drop in weight each week. To the point that I've lost 5.4 pounds from 4/13 thru 5/18. Yay me!

As I've noted in previous posts, usually at the beginning of the week, when I am unable to hit the gym or avoid eating at a restaurant (or two!), my weight will jump up 2 or 3 pounds from the Sunday weigh-in. Part of that is due to the fact that the Sunday weigh-in typically takes place around 11 a.m., and the weigh-ins during the week typically occur around 7 a.m. But whatever the case, my weight jumps at the beginning of the week and then I fight to get it down as the week progresses. Thursday and Friday are two good days, because I have to do my 20 minute power walk back to the train, and it's more difficult to snack in Santa Ana, not having access to a car or the time to go somewhere to get something. Saturday morning usually allows me to go to the gym, and then likewise on Sunday, before that weigh-in. So the week starts rough, and lately has been ending on a relatively good note.

My scale is one of those fancy digital ones that, among other things, calculates BMI, or body fat. Given my size, it's going to be quite some time before my BMI is below "obese" (30% or so, if I remember correctly). But the interesting thing has been watching my body fat measurement each time I weigh myself. My BMI number has been steadily dropping as well. Typically, a gain in weight (such as what I typically experience on a Monday) results in a slightly lower BMI number, due to the "better" weight to Body Mass ratio. That being said, the range of the numbers has dropped over the past month by an average of 1 to 2 percent. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it works out to be a roughly 4.3 percent drop in body mass. Again, yay me!

So even as my weight does it's yo-yo thing, I can still see that I'm making progress by the fact that my body fat percentage is dropping off. And that is helping me keep going. Good luck out there.

Slowly, we continue the march...

Greetings, my peeps. I hope it isn't too hot where you are...it's somewhat thermal here in SoCal right now, but they are saying the temp is going to drop 10 to 12 degrees tomorrow, which means it will be in the high 70s instead of high 80s/low 90s. Every little bit helps, I suppose, which brings me to the topic at hand: my weight loss.

The progress has been slower than originally anticipated, but dammit, it's still progress! I continued my adherence to the "one little day" concept last week. Last Sunday (5/11), my weigh-in was 281.0 lbs, which led to my weekly loss goal for 5/18 of 279.5 lbs. Lately, Mondays have been good alternate gym days, because DAPGF has been out with friends on those evenings. I get to go to the gym, and eat a Lean Cuisine or two at home instead of going to some restaurant experience that will top 900 calories. Last week wasn't one of those days. Actually, the week wasn't that good for the exercise front in general. The only real exercise I got was my power walk on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday back to the train...the other days of the week, not so much. My daily weigh-in's reflect that pattern, with the weight that goes on from Sunday brunch (the weigh-in is obviously before eating) thru Monday dinner causing an inevitable 2 to 3 pound gain from Sunday to Monday (a weigh-in time that is 3 hours earlier doesn't help), slowly going off as I do my train walks on Thursday and Friday, followed (usually) by a trip to the gym Saturday and Sunday mornings. Same basic thing happened this week, which led to a 5/18 weigh-in of 280.2 lbs. Again, short of the goal by .7 lbs, but it still signifies a loss of .8 lbs for the week. I may not be achieving the individual goals that I set out to achieve, but I am still having positive results on the overall goal of losing weight. Since my recent rededication (my birthday), I'm down 5.2 lbs. Heck, since I started this blog, I dropped almost 11 pounds, gained more than 20 back, but I'm back to a net loss of 3.2 lbs, and actually making steady progress in the correct direction consistently for the first time in a while. And that, my friends, I will take.

Next Sunday (5/25), the goal is 278.7 lbs. See you there.

One Little Day (Revisited)

So. Last week I weighed in at 281.4 lbs, and the weekly goal for today's 1.5 lb loss was 279.9 lbs. The week was pretty mellow, and followed the typical pattern. I ate more than I should've for lunch, but hit the gym when DAPGF went out with friends. Tuesday was an OC day, so I got to do my walk to the train for exercise. DAPGF was teaching, so I was able to control my dinner. Wednesday was neither train, nor gym, nor Lean Cuisine. DAPGF and I went walking for a bit after dinner, which was better than nothing, but didn't really balance out dinner. Thursday I at least had the train for exercise, which when combined with the apres dinner walking gave me some progress. Friday was an interesting day. The train got as far as Irvine, where we were stopped due to a natural gas leak. I caught a bus into Santa Ana, and made it to the office for a few hours. I called both Metrolink and Amtrak before I left to see what the status of things were. Conflicting messages led me to go ahead and walk to the train. Upon arriving there, I got a ride to Tustin and crowded onto a bus to go just down to Irvine, where they told us that the buses might take us southward. Or maybe not. Or maybe trains were running. Who knew. So I finally got to Irvine, only to see the Amtrak train I rode up on in the morning, still there with the crew. I did check, but all the alcohol on the train had been consumed. So I waited. And waited. And waited. After an hour-ish, I started to get hungry. The only non-vending machine food I found was in this little quick wok Chinese joint at the transportation center, and I had some surprisingly delicious lo mein (I <3 pasta, remember). So I waited for a few hours, climbed several flights of stairs several times going from one set of tracks to the other, based on what the non-helpful personnel were telling us. Finally, an Amtrak train came up from Oceanside to take us back into San Diego county. Once in Oceanside, I caught a ride from a very nice young lady back to my car, and made it home just after 8. Normally, I would've been home by 4:30. So no gym, but no snacking and lots of walking around from place to place. Which led to a glorious weigh-in on Saturday that was within spitting distance of my goal...280.0 lbs! Oh so close. But it was not meant to be. DAPGF wanted to go to a sushi buffet for lunch, and then deep fried dinner stuff served to torpedo my phenomenal efforts. Weigh-in on Sunday morning was 281.0. Short of my goal by a pound, but still a net loss for the week. So for the month since my 37th birthday, I've dropped just about 4.5 pounds. Not as much as I'd hoped, but I haven't backslid since then. So I'm going to keep going. Next week's goal, 279.5 lbs. See ya out there!