Merry Christmas!

Well, I can't speak for everybody, but it has been hella busy for me. I started two new work assignments that keep me out of the office a lot, and when I'm in the office I'm usually working on three different things at once. Combine all of that with going out of town for Christmas, and Hoff has been sorely behind in his blogging. So, on to the fat.

This morning (Wednesday, 12/26), I weighed in at 283.6 lbs. The last time I weighed myself on a known scale was Sunday, 12/23, and I weighed in at 284.2 lbs. I had been in the 282's, so that was an unwelcome bump. But given the holidays and being on the road, I'll take a drop in weight. New Year's Eve notwithstanding, I'm working hard to get back into a groove. These new assignments are time-killers...several times in the past few weeks I've not made it into the gym because I've worked late. Combine that with DAPGF's shortened teaching schedule (nothing between now and New Years, then 1 day a week thru February) and I'm sensing potential disaster. There are a few upsides to the new assignments. One of them involves field work, specifically meeting with several homeowners to talk about a construction project going on in and around their townhomes. This necessitates climbing up a lot of stairs, and walking around condo communities looking for units that may be impacted by this construction project. The other one is a remote assignment. Basically, 3 days each week I'll take the train from San Diego to Santa Ana, so that I can do planning work in this office from 9 to 2 each of those days. To maximize the amount of work I'm able to do, I'll be avoiding lunch. My plan is to have some sort of minimal calorie snack like a granola bar to keep me going. I don't know if there's snack opportunities on the train, but I will try to avoid them. The other upside to this is that in Santa Ana I'll have a walk of a little over a mile to and from the train. So there's 15 minutes morning and afternoon of light cardio. Every little bit, I suppose.

So we shall see if there's any positive effects that come out of these new assignments. New year, new assignments, maybe I can build some new momentum. I wish all of you luck and happy holidays!

Let us commence the week with a resounding meh

Meh. That about sums it up. This past month-ish has witnessed a whole lot of no progress. I certainly could've worked harder, but work and weather have to shoulder some of the blame. It has actually been cold (for San Diego), so the dog has not wanted to go on long walks at 11:30 at night or 6:20 in the morning. Secretly, neither did I. That got worse when it started raining for two weekends in a row. Plus, the rain screwed up the two chances I'd had recently to hit the driving range. Combine that with a workload that was surprisingly packed and dictated that I work thru lunch on the days that weather would've permitted a trip to the range. Not exactly the way I wanted to enter the holiday season, but there ya go.

So, last Monday my weigh-in was 283.6 (wasn't I back in the 270s at one point?), and my theoretical 2 pound goal would've been a weigh-in this morning of 281.6. Well, that didn't happen. Rain was the big factor. A week ago, the rains were substantial enough to flood the parking lot of the driving range, and it was closed for half the week. And Wednesday I had a lunch meeting away from the office. Thursday I worked thru lunch and then couldn't hit the gym because I had a holiday party to attend. Beer and party munchies. Not the best diet plan out there. Another Christmas party on Friday for one of DAPGF's friends (more beer, yay!). I did make it to the gym on Saturday and Sunday, but I was getting sick (have a full blown cold now, dammit), so my workouts were less than enthusiastic.

But a strange thing happened. For the first time in recorded history (or at least that I can remember), I actually lost weight from a Sunday morning to a Monday morning. DAPGF and I had a decently light lunch on Sunday, and thanks to a Thai restaurant with surprisingly small portions (and apparently no heater inside the building!), my weight actually went down to 283.0 for this morning, which is a drop of 1.6 pounds from Sunday (itself an increase from last Monday) and a net loss for the week of .6 lbs! So it wasn't the net two pound loss I'm trying for, but it was a welcome bit of progress. And with the weather being nicer (at least drier but still on the nippy side), I hit the driving range at lunch. And I get the gym tonight. And to top it off, I'm playing a round of golf at Torrey Pines on Wednesday! One of the Top 50 courses in the country, and it is literally a 5 minute drive from Casa de Hoff! So because I hadn't been to the range for probably more than a month, I'm somewhat rusty. So even though I normally wouldn't have hit the range today, and likely not tomorrow, I'm doing it. So even more exercise! So long as next weekend doesn't cause a major implosion (and my boss is having his Christmas party on Saturday - more drinking!), I might actually make it back towards the 270s by next Monday! Stay classy, Planet Earth!

So about that weight loss thing...

So. Gonna lose 2 whole pounds this week. Yeah, that didn't exactly go as planned. I was actually doing alright, I was down a pound by Thursday when disaster struck. San Diego got deluged with rain, so much so that I got a flat tire driving thru a flooded roadway heading back to the office. So no golf. DAPGF and I were house and pet-sitting, so my gym time Saturday and Sunday mornings was cut short. And when all was said and done, I was up by a pound on Monday's weigh-in. Tuesday had me down .6 lbs from Monday, so maybe I can make some progress. I made it to the gym Monday night, but I've got a meeting on Wednesday at lunch and I've got a Holiday Drinks and Drinks (we like to drink) party Thursday evening. So not only will I not be working out, I'll be eating bar food and drinking. I can has recipe for disaster? We shall see...

Well, I didn't expect THAT to happen...

So happy post-Thanksgiving! I hope you all feasted (but not too much) and made it to and from wherever you may have gone safely. As for me, it was a quiet Thanksgiving with DAPGF. Being the first Thanksgiving without my mother, my father was graciously invited to spend Thanksgiving with my sister's in-laws who are absolutely wonderful people. These are the people who make you want to believe in the goodness of humanity. But with Dad off to the hinterlands of the midwest, DAPGF and I went to the Hotel Del Coronado for their outrageously outrageous buffet. I failed to bring my camera (and the lighting wasn't sufficient for camera phone work), so I was unable to show you just what sort of hellish nirvana was spread before us. To quote John Pinette "Pork chops and spare ribs and scampi, oh my!" There was a bit of everything. Oh who am I kidding? There was a LOT of everything! And an entire separate room of desserts! And the setting? A sunny, slightly breezy day in Coronado right on the beach. Yeah, just another crappy day in paradise! I tried to upload some pics from the Hotel's website, but Blogger seems to be having issues. Meh. Just know that it was a phenomenal meal at a phenomenal place on a phenomenal day. Life is good.

Ahhh, but this is a diet blog. And I would be remiss were I to fail to discuss matters of corpulence. So here's the "skinny" (another joke coming at ya! I got a million of 'em!). On Monday 11/19, my weigh-in was 284.6. I knew the buffet would be outrageous, and you few regular readers know my struggles with anything containing the word "buffet," so I had been working diligently to prepare for the feast. By Thanksgiving morning (pre-feast), I was at 282.0. I had planned to make it to the gym on Friday, but I had to take my POS Jeep into the dealer for some warranty work. So no working out, but no outrageous snacking. By the time I got home, showered and weighed myself, I was at 282.6 lbs. So after one of the more outrageous buffets this side of the Bellagio in Vegas, I had only gained .6 lbs! Can a brother get a w00000t! But wait! There's more! DAPGF had some friends in town for the weekend, and she went out with them on Friday. So Hoff doesn't have to go out to eat. By Saturday's weigh-in, (post gym) I was down to 281.0! Woo hoo!!! Saturday we had a very sensible lunch (back on Coronado for some reason) and some of the best raw, dead fish you'll ever come across at Sushi on the Rock in downtown La Jolla. Absolutely righteous. And the Sunday weigh-in was 281.4 lbs. So after all of that sushi goodness, I'll accept a .4 lb gain. Oh, and I did NOT make it to the gym on Sunday, so the gain was even more acceptable.

Sunday wound up being somewhat less successful from a food intake perspective, unfortunately. I was helping DAPGF get her lesson plans together for her classes this week, so she decided to make lunch, instead of losing an hour and a half away from the computer. Vegetarian burritos. They were very good, but I had more of them than I should. And then came dinner. A nice Italian place down in the Bird Rock neighborhood of La Jolla. Carpaccio, a wonderful caesar salad, and some outrageous mushroom and four cheese ravioli. Topped off by my second-favorite ice cream, Baskin Robbins Chocolate Oreo ice cream. And that was probably the final tipping point. Weigh-in for Monday...282.8 lbs. So I gained 1.4 lbs from Sunday to Monday, but I wound up down 1.8 lbs for the week of Thanksgiving. Ya know, I'll freaking take it! So if I'm managing to get my fat ass back into a loss mode, my goal for next Monday should be 280.8 lbs. Wish me luck, and good luck to all of you in the quest to undo the holidays!

The Fog is Getting Thicker. And Leon (Hoff) is Getting Larger!

Dammit! It's not supposed to happen like this! Considering that I had just about no gym time last week, I was actually making a bit of progress towards my goal for today of 281.8 lbs. And I even made it to the gym both Saturday and Sunday mornings, and DAPGF and I even went on a walk along La Jolla cove for about an hour on Saturday, but once again my progress was thwarted by great restaurants and my lack of willpower. Friday night actually wasn't too bad. Small salad and a grill sampler plate consisting of a steak quesadilla, grilled shrimp, and something else that I forget. Not outrageous by any means, and with the gym on Saturday morning, my weigh-in showed no increase from Friday morning. Woo hoo! Then came lunch. One word. Buffet. Show me the buffet!! Granted, the food tended to be on the healthy side of things, but if you eat enough you will eventually gain weight. Combine that with going out for dinner and many drinks with friends, and I've got the recipe for a 1.5 pound weight gain on Sunday morning. This despite another trip to the gym. Sunday I was on my own for lunch, but dinner consisted of Thai (pad thai, stir-fry shrimp, lots of rice and noodles, and some Baskin Robbins Chocolate Oreo Cookie ice cream (second in my world only to Ben and Jerry's Brownie Batter ice cream). And Monday's weigh-in: 284.8 lbs. Yep. Not only didn't I lose anything from last week, but I gained a pound! Holy fatness!

Still, somehow I remain optimistic. DAPGF teaches tonight and Thursday, so there's two gym nights when I can limit my meals to Lean Cuisine-esq meals. She might have something going on for Tuesday (which would be another gym/eat at home night), and she's getting her hair done after work on Wednesday, which might mean I get another gym/home evening. I can't let these opportunities slip by. I will make some progress, some hard core progress. If nothing else, I need to make progress to offset what next weekend will inevitably bring. Wish me luck, peeps.

The best laid plans of mice and men...

Well it was nice to see that I could guess exactly what would happen after my last post. After my shocking jump to 284.8 last week, I guessed that by Tuesday's weigh-in I'd be down to around 282. Sure as hell, I weighed in at 282.0. Unfortunately, that was the end of the goodness. DAPGF has gone from teaching on the evenings of Tues, Wed, and Thurs to teaching on Monday and Thursday. So my potential gym times have dropped and they're less "strategically" located. I've now got a long period in the middle of the week where, not only am I not going to the gym, but I'm going out to eat evil good restaurant food instead of eating my Lean Cuisines and such. It is most certainly not conducive to steady weight loss. Admittedly it is my own fault...DAPGF isn't forcing food down my throat, but so much better to be able to avoid the temptation.

Anyway, back to my fat. Because of the way the week is now structured, each day I gained a little weight back. I went from 282.0 to 282.4 to 282.6 and so on. Probably the only reason I didn't completely blimp back up was the dog walks. Now that the doggie is healing up nicely, we go on longer walks, particularly in the evening. Every little bit helps. But traffic was a nightmare on Thursday and I didn't come close to even trying to go to the gym. And Saturday went beyond the normal evil meals and included getting together with some of DAPGF's friends for Chinese food (yum but evil) and drinky-drinks at their place afterwards. And I also didn't make it to the gym on both Saturday and Sunday (vet visit on Saturday and assorted chores on Sunday), so I missed out on two opportunities to try and offset the naughtiness that I had wrought. End result, this morning's weigh-in: 283.8. Yes I gained back 1.8 pounds during the course of the week, but I was still down a pound overall for the week. I'm going to take it.

The time change has been a huge benefit so far. I was able to get up early enough to walk the doggie a decent distance, and also get my gym bag together for after work. I also got to work early and motivated, and even took the stairs up to the 3rd floor. I'm going to kick ass this week. My 2 pound goal is 281.8 lbs, but I want to do better. With the time change I'm going to either try to do longer doggie walks in the morning, or (and I think this is the more effective option) do decent dog walks and do a 10-15 minute Exercise TV workout afterwards. Being back in the 280s sucks, or as it might be stated here, Do Not Want! Dammit, I'm going to beat this. That first 10-12 pounds came off really easily and quickly. I really plateaued and made zero progress in August and September, and started to backslide in October. November is going to resume progress. I'm obviously not going to make my goal of 240 by Christmas, unless I amputate my leg or something, but if I can get below 270 I'll feel pretty good. Wish me luck, and good luck to all of you.

Umm, this "one little day" crap has got to stop!

So.  The past two posts have lamented the damage that one little day can bring to a fairly successful week of weight loss efforts.  In short, what progress I'd made throughout the week was undone by one day's worth of evil food.  This past week was by far the worst.  Granted, it wasn't really a good week by any stretch.  With the fires here in San Diego, it was smoky enough that I thought it prudent to avoid extended physical exertion outside, so the dog walks were cut short.  Combine that with the fires canceling school for practically everybody in San Diego County, and DAPGF's week of teaching was out the window.  With that, my gym nights were eliminated along with my eating Lean Cuisine-esque meals on those days she normally teaches.  So the stage is set for little to no progress.  Saturday morning, though, I managed to make it to the gym.  I only got a shorty workout in, because DAPGF was scrambling to get her final exams prepped for 3 classes all on one day.  Sunday was more of the same, with one exception.  We met my father for lunch at a brewpub near Casa de Hoff.  I know I did not make the wisest of choices, but I figured that with the gym I might survive with minimal damage.  Until dinner.  As with Saturday ( caturday?), I was helping DAPGF with her schoolwork (it sounds so sweet and innocent!).  She decided to reward me with dinner at my favorite Chinese joint in San Diego, Mandarin House.  Me and some friends order from this place (it does sit down and to go) as often as possible, to the extent that at one point several years ago, I could call up, tell them I wanted to place an order to go, they would reply "is this hoff?" I'd reply "yes," to which they would simply ask if I wanted egg rolls or not.  We ordered that often that they knew our order.  Anyway, I don't go there much anymore, because the food is simply too evil from a diet perspective.  Tasty as all hell, but all kinds of wrong from the diet perspective.  But DAPGF suggested it as a reward for all the help I gave her over the weekend.  So I went.  I did have the egg rolls, along with Kung Pao Shrimp and the Mandarin 3 Flavor Pan Fried Noodles (told ya I was a pastafarian).  Oh sweet flavor!  But I knew it was going to be a baaaaad thing on Monday.  And sure enough it was.  Last Monday (10/22) my weigh-in was 281.4 lbs, and my goal was 279.4.  I don't like being back in the 280s...I want to get through the 270s and work back into the 260s at least.  My ultimate goal is 240, but that's way off in the distance at this point.  Because this morning's weigh-in was 284.8!  WITHF (What In The Holy F**k)?!?!?!? 

Fortunately, I know that was a one-off experience and should only be a temporary spike.  Unless I do something utterly stupid food-wise today, my weigh-in tomorrow should be 282 or under.  DAPGF is starting a new teaching schedule, and my gym nights are dropping from 3 to 2 per week, but I'm going to try and make the most of them.  That and on the days that I don't make it to the gym, I'm going to do something physical during the day.  Most likely the driving range at lunch, but even walking at lunch.  The business park where my office is has lots of hills, so I should be able to get a decent 15 minute walk in that actually has an effect on things.  Wish me luck, peeps.

One Little Day...Revisited

When last we posted, we observed how one little day can undo a whole bunch of good efforts. In that example, my Monday 10/8 weigh-in zoomed up to 281.4 lbs, due to some Mexican Food and Margarita indiscretions. By mid week, I'd dropped back to 279.6, almost to my revised goal of 279.4 lbs. And then work blew up in my face. Gym time? Out the window due to late hours. Golf time? Yeah, right. Still, I was managing to hover within spitting distance of my goal weight, and even made it to the gym that Sunday (10/14). But Sunday was not a good day. Breakfast was huge, and then I played in a poker tournament. I only had a few drinks and no real snacking, so yay me. Unfortunately that was the last good effort on my part. Dinner consisted of Italian. Those of you who read What Happened with any regularity know that I'm a pastafarian. It can be in the form of Lo Mein (Chinese), Pad Thai (Thai), Lasagna (Italian), Udon (Japanese), or even SpaghettiOs. I lurves me some pasta. Hell, carbs in general (rice, breads, french fries, tortilla chips, etc.), but pasta kicks ass. So dinner consisted of fresh bread, fried calamari, a nice salad, and 4 cheese tortellini. I was baaaaad. And the Monday weigh-in reflected this by hitting 281.4! Again!

So this week's goal is 279.4 lbs. Again. So far it hasn't been great, but I'm making bits of progress. Work has been slamming me, so the gym hasn't happened at all. The dog had a good vet appointment last week, and the doctors have said that we can start increasing the physical activity levels, so I'm starting to increase the duration of the walks. Beyond that, there's not much happening. As of today (10/18), I was down to 280.6 lbs, and hopefully I can get back into the groove by the weekend. Wish me luck, peeps.

The one in which we see what damage one little day can do...

It's amazing how a week's worth of progress can be erased by one day's worth of "indiscretions".  My goal for this past Monday had been 276.8 lbs.  By Saturday morning I was down to 277.8, and getting closer to the goal.  But the entire week had been nothing but frustration for DAPGF, due to a variety of things work-related.  But on Sunday we managed to address some of the items and figure out an action plan to deal with the issues she's been facing.  I won't go into details, but think "jerk-off boss" and go from there.  Anyway, after our success in getting thru the weekend, DAPGF wanted to celebrate.  Here in San Diego, we gots us some wicked-tasty Mexican grub, and I'm not talking about El Pollo Loco or El Torito.  In particular, there's a California State Park that is called Old Town San Diego, and it reflects San Diego's Mexican and Native American heritage.  Think Williamsburg, VA, but with modern amenities and you won't be too far off.  So we went to our favorite Mexi joint there, had a couple of freshly made tortillas while we waited for them to call us for a seat, and then sat down.  Service was unfortunately a little slow, so we consumed a lot of chips and salsa, which weren't the best things for us (but oh were they tasty!), but what can you do?  Then the meal came.  Caesar salad, fajitas, beans, rice, and Margaritas galore!!  Oh and they were potent.  Any time you can smell the tequila as the waitress simply sets the glass down on the table, you know you're in for a good time.  End result, though, my weigh-in on Monday 10/8 was 281.4!!!  Holy crap!  I haven't been north of 280 in quite some time!  I guess my goal for 10/15 is going to be 279.4 lbs.

But as I've said many times, I'm still optimistic.  I know I can lose the weight, so I'm just going to go ahead and lose it!  Despite not being able to hit the gym yet this week, and having a 22 oz Breakwater Pale Ale with my lunch at the Rock Bottom Brewery on Tuesday (had to go to a meeting for work downtown, and it was from 11:30 to 1:30, so I earned a lunch…and I'm expensing it!  I looove being a consultant!), my weight this morning was down to 279.6.  Progress my friends, progress.  Just wish me luck in keeping it going.

(Hopefully) A Return to Progress

Greetings and Salivations!  New month, new efforts!  September wasn't a bad month, it just was a kind of screwy and ineffective month.  Those few of you still stopping by here at What Happened know that my dear doggie has been of ill health.  Specifically, she was diagnosed as having an "exploded" disc in her lower lumbar region.  Simple version, one of the discs in her back had broken up into bits, and the bits were putting pressure on her spinal cord.  This (logically) was the source of her pain, lack of energy, etc.  She had surgery to clean things up on 9/25, and it was a resounding (if not expensive) success!  She is already getting her energy and appetite back, and even though she's on a restricted physical regimen, she would rather be back to doing the usual stuff, like 45 minute walks through the canyons adjacent to Casa de Hoff.  For pretty much the entire month of September, though, she's been on restricted activity, either by choice via the pain or after we got her on steroids, by doctor's orders.  I think it was this that was one of two major contributions to my lack of progress in losing weight throughout September.  Every day, I would have two 40-60 minute walks at a reasonably moderate pace (varying 3.0-3.5 on a treadmill).  With the pain and restrictions, those walks got cut down to 5-10 minutes each at a slower pace, thus removing two major calorie-burning activities every single day.  The other contributor to my lack of progress was also dog-related.  Most nights that DAPGF taught, I had to head straight home to keep an eye on the dog, or take her to a doctor's appointment.  As such, of the 20 or so gym opportunities I had during September, I probably made it only 4 or 5 times. 

Still, it could have been worse.  As it happens, my weight on 9/1 was 278.6, and the weigh-in yesterday on 10/1 was 278.8.  And yesterday was screwy unto itself.  Because doggie came home late last week from her surgery, DAPGF worked from home on Friday to keep an eye on her, and I stayed home on 10/1 to keep an eye on her.  Interestingly, I managed to do a better job of not snacking than I do at work.  Despite a dinner that consisted of Jack Daniels Shrimp, potato skins, fries (they came with the shrimp), and a piece of Oreo chocolate cake from TGI Fridays, I managed to drop .2 lbs and weigh-in at 278.6 on Tuesday morning.  So far I've been really good at not eating anything extra, and I made it to the driving range to try out my new driver.  My slice is still fugly, but I'm getting pretty good power out of the new club.  I'm planning to hit the gym tonight, and with DAPGF teaching I get to stay home and eat a Lean Cuisine for dinner.  Tomorrow should be a pretty good day.  My goal for 10/8 is 276.8 lbs.  I've obviously had a problem breaking past the 275 barrier, but I think I've got the start of some momentum.  Wish me luck!  Keep it up out there!

Public Service Announcement

***Warning, graphic content ahead. SFW, but graphic***

So I ended my weekend on a really rough note. I went to take the dog for a walk at 5, before DAPGF and I went to get dinner. As I was walking past our condo's pool, I glanced in and saw what appeared to be a person floating face down in the water, and nobody else around. I got out my keys and got into the pool area, clipped the dog leash to the fence, and whipped out the cell phone to call 911. While it's ringing, I take off my shoes, keys, wallet, etc., and jump into the shallow end where the guy is floating. 911 answers and PUTS ME ON HOLD!!! I close the phone and chuck it up on the pool deck, scream for somebody to call 911 (several times), and grab this guy who is about 6 feet tall and probably weighs 200 pounds and hurl him up onto the pool deck. Boy Scouts 20 years ago comes rushing back and I get him on his side to try and clear his airway. Beer starts coming out his nose and mouth. While I'm checking for a pulse, my cell phone starts ringing. I don't know why, but I knew it was 911 calling me back (since I hung up on them) and I answered it. The 911 operator tells me that paramedics are on the way, and starts talking me through mouth to mouth and CPR. Side note, compression/breathing patterns have changed since I was last certified in the 1980s. People start to gather around the pool deck, but only one dude is helping me out at this point, mainly wiping the beer, water, and whatever off of this guy's face while I'm doing chest compressions. After about 10 minutes of that, I realized that the other dude had left. No idea why, no idea where he went. A few minutes after that, the San Diego Fire paramedics showed up and took over. I called DAPGF to come down and get the dog, to finish her walk. A San Diego Police officer took my statement (what happened, when did I find the guy, yadda yadda yadda). After about another 20 minutes of working on the guy, the paramedics stopped, saying that he was gone. After talking with a bunch of my neighbors who were hanging around with DAPGF, I went home and showered. We decided to go get something to eat, not that I had much of an appetite at that point. We decided to walk by the pool one last time, to see if the coroner had shown up so I could give her my statement and not have to have her call me during dinner or something. Fortunately she was there and that business was taken care of. I still feel queasy.

Things learned from this whole experience. You shouldn't swim alone, and you really shouldn't swim when you've been drinking. I only saw one can of beer on a table by the chaise lounge where the guy's wallet, flip flops, etc. were, but I bet he spent the day drinking while watching football. You should also carry your keys (all of them, storage rooms, pool areas, club houses) with you at all times. Damn near all of my neighbors said that they were amazed that I had my pool key on my key ring. Apparently they all keep theirs on separate rings. That, and keep a cell phone with you at all times. I walk the dog early in the morning and late at night. I am 6'3" and weigh in the range of 277-280, and I'm walking a Doberman Pinscher. It's not that likely that anybody is really going to hassle me while I'm walking, but why take the chance. So take these experiences and use them to better protect yourselves. I'm also going to find a CPR course and get re-certified, and I suggest that you all do it, too. Again, better to be prepared than find yourself in a bad situation and not know what to do. I feel bad that I wasn't able to get the guy revived, but I know I did everything that I could, and I did it as right as possible. I hope you never find yourself in such a position, but if you do, I hope you have read this post and are better prepared for it.

***Cross-posted at The Randomness***

How Stupid Can You Be?

And for the stupid is as stupid does award…

We bring you the story of MIT student, Star Simpson.  She's attending MIT, so she's brainy and likely somewhat techy and geeky (not that there's anything wrong with that).  She has to go to Logan International Airport in Boston to meet her boyfriend.  She decides to wear a sweatshirt upon which she's attached a lighted computer circuit board with visible wiring, and she's holding a wad of play doh in her hand.  After having the authorities level machine guns at her and arrest her, she's actually protesting what happened, and pleading "not guilty" to a charge of disturbing the peace and possessing a hoax device.

OK.  Was what she did a harmless statement (as she said)?  Technically, yes.  She was not wearing a bomb.  Did she exercise judgment that goes beyond stupid?  Hell yes.  Let's examine this.  Post 9/11 USA.  "Let me dress like a suicide bomber, but it will just be a joke.  Nobody should misunderstand what I'm doing.  And to add to the excitement, maybe I'll do it at the airport where two of the four highjacked 9/11 planes took off from.  And just to extract maximum irony, I'll do it in the city that went apeshit over the Aqua Teen Hunger Force goofy fake bomb thing.  I should really be able to make a statement that way."  And you wonder why the men with the big guns told you to get face down on the pavement.  And you wonder why you were placed under arrest.  Did the authorities overreact?  To the ATHF thing, probably.  To her, nope.  I'd say they did their jobs correctly, and I'm glad for it.  Besides, every single airport I've ever been in has always had a sign (several, actually) that had words to the effect of, "We take all comments regarding bombs and guns seriously."  Meaning even if you're joking, we're going to react as though your comment was meant seriously.  So if you go to an airport, any airport much less the one which was pretty much the epicenter of the 9/11 tragedy, and basically say that you've got a bomb strapped to your body, you should expect to be treated as a terrorist threat.  The moron is lucky to still be alive.  Major Scott Pare of the Mass. State Police was quoted as saying, "She was immediately told to stop, to raise her hands and not to make any movement, so we could observe all her movements to see if she was trying to trip any type of device.  Had she not followed the protocol, we might have used deadly force." 

I understand the idea of making a statement, really I do.  Unfortunately the statement that came across was, "I'm a f**king moron.  Shoot me."  Mr. Darwin, we likely have a future candidate for your award.

Dogs, steroids, and any excuse to not work out...

Wassup party peeps! I apologize for the lack of posts, but my dear doggie has been having some severe health issues, and I’ve been shuttling back and forth to vets, hand feeding her, and other assorted sick doggie activities. Right now the preliminary diagnosis is a slipped or herniated disc that has been causing lethargy, pain, lack of appetite, and a desire to not move her hind legs. The neurologist vet (yes, we’ve gotten to that stage) put her on steroids (my own little Dobie Bonds!) to see if they can reduce any inflammation in her spine. If they work, great. Still, on Tuesday she goes back to the neurologist for an MRI to specifically identify the injury. Even if the steroids reduce the inflammation, and the combo of ‘roids and doggie pain pills have given her her energy and appetite back, it’s likely that without surgery the problem would crop up again. So any good thoughts you can send towards Ginger and improvement to her health are much appreciated. And with that, on to my fat.

It’s a little frustrating. On August 27, my weigh-in was 279.2 lbs. At the time, it was the first real progress I’d seen in the month of August, and my next goal for 9/3 was to be 277.2 lbs. Ginger’s problems first cropped up that Thursday, August 30, and kind of screwed up my exercise over the weekend. I did get some weight-lifting in, hoisting 75 pounds of Dobie in and out of the Jeep, but with her lack of energy and pain, our 45 minute dog walks were reduced down to at most a lap around our condo building. I actually did pretty well on the eating end of things, especially impressive given the holiday, and wound up with a 9/3 weigh-in of 277.6 lbs, just .4 lbs shy of my goal. All things being equal, not bad.

Since I got so close, I set today’s goal at 2 pounds less than where I had planned to be last Monday, 275.2 lbs. Tuesday and Wednesday were both vet visit days where I ate no breakfast and didn’t go into the office, and thus didn’t really snack much. Wednesday’s weigh-in was actually 275.8 lbs, so I was actually pretty excited about making my goal. Unfortunately, Wednesday and Thursday’s gym opportunities were shot when I had to head home and take care of the dog, because DAPGF’s boss kept her late and she lost her window of time between work and teaching on both nights. And the weight had crept back up into the 279 range by Friday morning. I went to the driving range Friday at lunch, and I made it to the gym Saturday morning and was rewarded with a weigh-in of 278.2 lbs. Yes this was above where I started the week, but given the peak of the week (hey! That rhymed!) of 279.4, I was pretty pleased. Sunday I made it to the gym and managed to post a weigh-in of 277.8. Yay me! Fighting back! Sunday we went to Mimi’s Café for brunch. I had this stuffed BBQ chicken quesadilla. Now, I’ve had this thing a couple of times and it is just the perfect amount of food, IMO. It is tasty, satisfying, and just filling enough (it’s an appetizer, not an entrée) without making me feel stuffed. Sunday, though, I’m not sure what happened. I ate it and it just sat in my belly like a lead weight, and all I could think is that this was totally going to screw my Monday weigh-in. DAPGF went out with some friends, so I just had some Uncle Ben’s instant rice (about 400 cal. worth) and some baked Lays potato chips. End result, today’s weigh-in hit an ungodly 279.2 lbs. I gained almost 2 pounds this week, and wound up 4 pounds north of what my goal had been! I think they snuck some lead weights or something into my quesadilla.

You know, though, I’m disappointed but I remain optimistic. This recent effort that began in earnest on July 3, when I discovered My Fitness Pal (still the greatest weight-loss tool I’ve come across), and although the majority of August was lacking in progress, I didn’t backslide either. I’ve come to realize that I actually can control my weight. Logically (duh) all it takes is portion control and exercise. It sounds simple, but it ain’t the easiest thing to do. Especially when you are constantly bombarded by restaurants that have ever-increasing portion sizes, and fast food joints who charge $3.29 for a southwestern chicken pita sandwich that rings up at 254 calories (and is really tasty, btw – Jack in the Box) and $1.49 for a medium diet coke, but only charges 30 cents more to make it a combo with fries and a soda, or charging $2.29 for one sausage mcmuffin and $2.69 for 2 of them. Despite not needing a full combo, or 2 mcmuffins, I have such a mental block when it comes to trying to get my money’s worth, and I have such a hard time justifying to myself the idea of not getting the combo or not getting the two-fer deal. That being said, I’ve been really good at not hitting the drive-thru’s, and avoiding the Chinese buffets. I know I can do this. I’ve been doing it, and there’s no reason why I can’t. Given today’s weigh-in, my goal for 9/17 will be 277.2 lbs. I’m going to actually aim for where I should’ve been today, 275.2 lbs, but I’m trying to stick with the two pound drop per week. Wish me luck, and thank you in advance for any good vibes for Ginger.

After a small (unintentional) break, back to business

Hello blog world!  I must say that after a smashing success of losing 10 pounds during the month of July, August has been decidedly meh.  I've been doing some hovering in the 278 to 281-ish range the entire month.  I fully am to blame.  Mainly I've been snacking more at the office than I should.  Not a lot, but just enough to erase any progress made by exercising and eating decent meals.  At the tail end of July (Monday 7/30), my weight was sitting at 280.6 lbs.  The following Monday, 280.6 lbs.  The Monday after that, 280.6 lbs. 

Monday 8/20 was another story.  I had a slight Chinese buffet meltdown, and the weigh-in was 281.4 lbs.  So that put the week's 2 pound goal at 279.4 lbs.  The original goal of 278.6 would be the "X-Ring" bonus weight.  Monday and Tuesday brought large drops to 280.2 and 278.8 respectively.  Wednesday saw a rise to 279.2, Thursday to 279.6, and Friday to 280.8.  I made it to the gym on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so I'm not exactly sure why those days had increases.  Thursday I had lunch with some co-workers at a local brewpub.  I had a relatively healthy chicken sandwich, but caved in and had fries with it.  Meh.  Saturday, despite not getting to the gym I managed to drop back down to 280.0.  Sunday I didn't make the gym again, but still had an additional drop to 279.0.  Both days I didn't starve myself, but I ate relatively healthy.  Saturday was sushi for dinner and Sunday was mushroom ravioli, avoiding the alfredo sauce in favor of a much healthier tomato and veggie sauce.  End result, this morning's weigh-in, 279.2 lbs.  Yes I gained .2 lbs, but considering I didn't have much of a workout last night or this morning (both dogwalks were 15 minutes or less), I'll take it.  Besides, I beat my goal of 279.4, so good on me.  

The goal for 9/3 is 277.2 lbs.  Given that the 3^rd is a holiday, I'll likely go to the gym that morning.  Hopefully that will allow me to get a good start to September and get back into the groove that I had going thru July.  Wish me luck, and good luck to all of you.

The one in which we admit some shortcomings, and still see progress

Whassup party people?  Sorry for the delay in posting, but there's two reasons.  First, I've been hella busy at work for the past two weeks.  Second, I haven't had much to report.

 

My last post was on August 6, and at that point I was at 280.6 lbs, precisely where I'd been the week before.  As I said, I've been quite busy at work.  I did make it to the gym a bit during the week, but I didn't get any of my midday exercise in.  End result, Monday 8/13 my weigh-in was again 280.6 lbs.

 

I actually started to make some progress this past week.  I made it to the gym several times during the week, including Saturday and Sunday mornings, I hit the driving range once, and I got a bodysurfing session in on Sunday morning.  Water temps were in the low 70s and it was fan-dam-tastic.  My weight had been trending down, and as of Sunday's weigh-in (8/19) I'd beaten my goal of 278.6 by .4 lbs.  And then the wheels fell off.  If you either know me, or you've been reading What Happened for any length of time then you know I'm a sucker for Chinese food.  I.  Freaking.  Love.  It.  Sunday, after the gym, the beach, and the bitchin' weigh-in, I took my car to be detailed.  DAPGF was going shopping with a friend, so I was on my own for a rare Sunday.  There happens to be a Chinese buffet in the same shopping center as the car wash.  I haven't been to a Chinese buffet in close to a year, and I was jonesing.  So I went.  I really tried hard to not gorge myself like I've done in the past, and I think I succeeded.  That being said, I knew it wasn't a good thing.  And to top it off, DAPGF and I had to run errands after dinner, so no après-eating walk.  Monday's weigh-in, 281.4 lbs.

 

Yes, I know I torpedoed my progress and I've got nobody to blame but myself.  That being said, I'm not worried.  I know I'm not backsliding or anything, and I know that this mini plateau I've hit is only temporary, aided somewhat my conditions at work (which aren't bad, just busy).  So I'm ok with myself, because I've proven that it isn't that difficult to lose the weight.  I lost the first 10 pounds pretty easily, and, I know the first pounds are the easiest, but I'm so much heavier than I was 3 years ago that I know this is all excess weight that should come off fairly easily.  Besides, the odd Chinese buffet notwithstanding, I'm consistently eating much healthier than I have in years, and I'm exercising much more consistently as well.  As an example, Monday I started off on the road to go to a meeting with staff from the City of San Diego and one of our smaller airports (my company is looking at doing some work at the airport).  I ate my bagel on the road for breakfast, had just one quesadilla from Taco Bell for lunch, and a Lean Cuisine Bistro Brick Oven Pizza (they're surprisingly good, roughly 350 calories and 3 and a half minutes in the microwave) for dinner.  End result: Tuesday morning's weigh-in was down to 280.2 lbs.  See?  I can do it!  Now back to losing weight.  Gym tonight!

Still going...

So this week really got off on a bad start.  Monday morning, after a stellar weekend of avoiding pitfalls all over the place, I had a weigh-in of 280.6 lbs.  That not only beat my stated goal of 282.4, but also beat what had been my original goal of 281.0 lbs.  And then I got to work.   The day started off benignly enough, with my usual bagel and a couple glasses of water.  Then two of my coworkers grabbed me for a marketing meeting with a firm we're looking to collaborate with on a couple of projects.   So you've got 3 guys all in their mid 30s, with no authority figures around anywhere (aren't WE supposed to be the authority figures?), so do we go somewhere healthy to eat?   NO!!!  We go to the Pizza Port Brewpub for some doughy, cheesy, beer-y goodness.   One big cheesy chicken and artichoke heart pizza and 2 pitchers of beer down there.  And now hopefully we can go back to the office and get to work.   Nope.  One of the guys gets an email on his Treo stating that we just won a contract to prepare an Environmental Impact Report somewhere, and that is a six figure contract so it was time to celebrate.   Margaritas!  When all was said and done, Tuesday's weigh-in was almost 3 lbs higher.  Noooooo!  

 

But lately I've been feeling pretty good about this weight-loss thing.  I've actually lost 10 pounds over the last month, and I'm feeling good about my ability to keep losing.   So I buckled down and really worked.  I had a bonus gym night and took advantage of it.  I hit the driving range several times.   I was hyper diligent about what I ate.  By Sunday's weigh-in I'd gotten to within a half pound of my goal of 278.6.   And with DAPGF going out with some friends in town from NorCal, I'm thinking I can actually pull it off.  But I shot myself in the foot.  Dad is heading out on a vacation, his first real trip since my Mother passed away, and I figured I'd go spend some time with him before he took off.  Some snacking and such later, and I'm back home.   Monday's weigh-in, 280.6 lbs.  Exactly what it was last Monday.  On one hand I should be disappointed that I didn't lose anything.   But, I'm actually pleased that I managed to lose the 3 pounds I gained at the beginning of the week, and I'm liking my chances at continued weight-loss this week.   Tonight DAPGF is out for drinks again with her friend, so I get a bonus night at the gym.  And there shouldn't be anything at work that could cause a meltdown like last week, so I should be pretty safe there.   Finally, I've managed to get up a little earlier the past several mornings, which allows me to get my ExerciseTV mini workouts in the morning.  My goal for this week should've been 276.6 lbs, but the actual 2 pound loss would put me at 278.6 lbs.  So 278.6 is the goal.  If I can do better, and I think I can, then yay me!

Quite The Weekend!!

It was a pretty good weekend.  Saw the Lindsay Lohan movie, "I Know Who Killed Me" on Friday.   I'll give her this, she did a solid job of acting.  It's just that the movie was lame.  Especially given her recent meltdowns, the only way I can see this as being remotely beneficial to her career is that you get to see lots of her half-naked and either having raucous sex with some guy or grinding off of a stripper pole.   Beyond that…not so much.  On the other hand, I also saw Live Free or Die Hard (thank you DAPGF for caving in, and I told you it would be good!).   It absolutely freaking rocked!  As much as I loved the original (and I still do), I think I have to rank this one higher.   It was insanely good.  Was it a violent buddy action flick?  Yup.  Did it kick ass all over the place?   Hell yeah it did!  Probably my favorite movie of this year, and I see almost 2 movies per week, so that should say something.

 

Managed to get lots of exercise over the weekend, including time at the driving range and a dawn patrol session at the beach.   Combine that with the fact that DAPGF now thinks that walking after our meals is a good thing, plus some honeydew stuff around the house and I was working it hard.  Which worked out to be a good thing, and a perfect complement to my food intake.   Normally the weekends are dangerous, particularly Sundays.  I'm not eating my Lean Cuisine meals, but instead going to restaurants for notoriously large potions of food.   This weekend, though, I just managed to do a great job of controlling what I ate.  Shrimp fajitas where I avoided most of the beans and rice.   A chicken quesadilla with almost no sides.  Chicken and Shrimp veggie Thai stir fry.  And then the evil day, Sunday.   It started with a pretty gnarly omelet and hashbrowns, but we followed that up with an hour-long walk by the beach.  But here's what saved me.   DAPGF was having dinner with some friends, so I got to stay home and stay in control of what I ate.  A frozen pizza and one of those micro-servings of Ben and Jerry's Fudge Brownie ice cream.

 

All of which leads to this.  Last Monday's weigh-in was 284.4 lbs.  I'd been aiming for 283.0 but faltered a bit, so the goal for this morning's weigh-in was 282.4 lbs, instead of the 281.0 that I should've been shooting for.  So I get out of the shower, towel off and step on the scale.   280.6 lbs.!!!!!  Holy crap!!  Not only did I better my specific goal, but I even bettered my original goal!   Yay me!!!  When I started this latest round of effort back on July 2, my goal was to lose 2 lbs per week.  With this morning's weigh-in, I'm running ahead of that!  DAPGF deserves recognition for the after-meal walks.  I'm so glad she has gotten into this, because it really helps undo any damage done by eating.   I deserve a bunch of credit for my incredible exercise efforts and my ever-growing will-power and self-control.  And again, MyFitnessPal.com has proven time and time again to be an excellent tracking and motivation tool.  My new goal for next Monday will now be 278.6 lbs.  I think it's been nearly a year since I've been this low, but with the progress I've been having I am hyper-motivated!   Wish me luck and all of you keep up your efforts.  I am proof that the average schmuck who loves to eat can actually lose weight.

Hey! Progress!

So Monday's weigh-in was 284.2 lbs.  Dinner wasn't too bad.  Chinese food and frozen yogurt.   Combined with the golfing at lunch, I only gained .2 lbs for the Tuesday weigh-in.  On a side note, my dog is kind of acting like a whack-job.   Or at least a dog with ADDD (Attention Deficit Doggie Disorder).  In the past, our walks have been "destination" walks, where we leave our little condo complex and go walk thru the neighborhood, up through a park and so on, taking a roughly 45 minute to an hour journey spread out over 3-4 miles.   Lately she's been obsessed with kitties that she's seen on some of the walks, and is constantly going back to those particular condos and just pacing back and forth, or around the building.   2 things wrong with that.  First of all, it isn't consistent walking.  She'll stop and spend a couple of minutes sniffing, and then she'll go to one side of the stairs and then back to the other.   5 minutes of that and I've taken maybe 20 steps.  The other thing is I'm just waiting for somebody to call the cops on me because I'm loitering or casing the place.   I mean, I'm outside of these people's houses at 6:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m.  What would you think?  So lately it's been after 20 minutes of this I just drag the dog away and we go home.   I've tried dragging her away with the intention of going on a destination walk, but she knows exactly how to walk anywhere in the complex and still find her way back to Kittie-Land (yes, DAPGF and I have named the place, for the two kitties who live on one side of the sidewalk (Kittie-Fabulous and Kittie-Wonderful – don't know the real names), and Burrito who lives on the other side of the sidewalk).   Crazy.

 

Anyway, I was bound and determined to make up for the Chinese food on Tuesday.  I didn't go to the range at lunch, but went to the gym after work and then went and shot 9 holes at this little executive course near Casa de Hoff.   I got home late enough that I only had time to eat a single, 250 calorie Lean Cuisine and some Wheat Thins.  End result, Wednesday's weigh-in was down to 283.6 lbs.  I lathered, rinsed, and repeated the process for Wednesday.  Gym and then 9 holes of flog, and then a small dinner.   Thursday's weigh-in, 282.6 lbs.!!  w0000t!!

 

Again, I'm not perfect (far from it), but I am continuing to prove (mainly to myself) that I actually can control what I consume and make efforts at losing weight.   Wish me continued luck, and may you all find continued success in your efforts to do whatever it is that you all are attempting to do (unless it's make me fatter!).

Yeah, I saw this coming...

I was a naughty boy.  So when we last discussed my corpulence, I was making some progress.   But, dear readers, if you recall I purchased a box of Little Debbie Snack Cakes.  I mauled those on Tuesday and Wednesday, and failed to make it to the gym on both evenings.   Then came Thursday.  I had to be on the road very early, so I could be about 150 miles away by 8 a.m.  So no time for a proper breakfast, so we hit the Mickey Dees drive-thru for some McMuffin-y goodness.  Besides that, I haven't been thru the drive-thru for a meal in some time, so I was tempted at all turns.   I finally caved in and made my lunch a mix of Arbys and Wienerschnitzel (mmm, chili cheese dogs).  And to top it off, when I got back to the office that afternoon, we had people in from our corporate office.   And of course we like to show our visitors a good time, so someone had gone over to the nearby Karl Strauss brewery and procured a jug of their finest Amber Lager (one of my Top 5 desert island beers) which we proceeded to drain.   Not exactly a light beer.  So Friday's weigh-in actually hit 286.4 lbs, more than 2 pounds higher than the last good weigh-in on Tuesday.

 

With my goal of 283 for the Monday weigh-in fading quickly, I stepped it up.  I took some extra time at the driving range on Friday (comp time from getting going so early on Thursday), and I made it to the gym on both Saturday and Sunday.   End result, this morning's weigh-in was 284.4 lbs.  1.4 lbs shy of my goal, but given my meltdown I'll accept it.  

 

I'd love to continue the pattern I'd been on, which would've made this week's goal to get down to 281 lbs.  I'm not sure how realistic that is, so I'm making my 2 pound loss goal 282.4, which is 2 pounds from today.  If I can do better, then Yay Me!!!  If I make my goal, then good on me again.  If I don't, well, I'll keep trying.  I'm off to a good start today.  Just my bagel and some string cheese and several glasses of water.  The driving range will be visited (as it usually is on Mondays) which will help matters, and hopefully the doggie will want long walks.   As long as DAPGF doesn't torpedo me with dinner tonight, I should be in pretty good shape to get thru the week.  Wish me luck, and as always, shouts to MyFitnessPal.com for having such a great tool for a great (big) tool.

I think I'm liking this...

So at my last post, I was expressing amazement that I'd dropped all the way down to 283.6 lbs, and was hoping that I wouldn't implode over the weekend.   And the weekend was a little of both.

 

Friday dinner was kind of doomed for us.  We got a late start, and wound up at a very good sushi place in La Jolla village.  They actually had an all you can eat special for $25 per person.  Danger!  Danger!   What made it worse was that, unlike some of the mega buffets like Onami or Todai, you actually submitted your order form to the sushi chef and he made your order fresh.  Jeezus did we eat a bunch, but damn was it good.   DAPGF and I did go for a short walk after dinner, and I did walk the dog later, but I knew I'd been a baaaaad Hoff.  To top it off, I wasn't able to hit the gym Saturday morning.  

 

Saturday's weigh-in: 285.6 lbs.  Yep, gained 2 pounds.  But once again, I knew that this was a temporary setback, and that I did have the ability to lose the weight again.   So lunch was actually pretty light…a lean, bbq pulled pork sandwich (no breakfast) and then a "smaller" amount of Mexican for dinner.  All told, I only took in 1500 calories or so, which is about the smallest amount I've ever consumed over one 24 hour period (without the assistance of Montezuma's Revenge).   DAPGF and I took a walk and then I had a pretty long dog walk.  I was hoping that I'd been good enough to maybe get below 285.0, which was my goal for the week.

 

And Sunday's weigh-in: 283.2 lbs!!!  w00000t!!  How about that!   My only fear was that I'd gone to the gym and then weighed myself fairly late in the morning, so I knew the much earlier Monday morning weigh-in would probably be higher if only because of that.   Anyway, no breakfast but lunch consisted of some calamari, some veggie spring rolls, and a shrimp cobb salad at a restaurant with one of the finest views in Del Mar.  That all seemed to work out relatively healthily.  Dinner consisted of some tasty evil Thai food and frozen yogurt for dessert.  We actually have a "boutique" yogurt place here (it's just how we roll in San Diego), and I couldn't resist a layer of cookie dough, followed by cookies and cream yogurt (it really tastes like a freaking oreo cookie, not just vanilla with oreo bits), followed by chocolate custard yogurt topped with actual crushed oreo.   Mmmm.  Sweet fattening goodness.  I took the dog out for her walk and prepared to face the Monday morning music.

 

Monday's weigh in: 285.4 lbs.  Yep.  I knew that Sunday torpedoed my progress.   My goal from the previous week had been 287.0, and I hit 287.4.  Since I was so close, I made my 2 pound goal for this week 285.0, instead of 285.4.  I didn't hit the actual target weight, but I did hit the 2 pound loss goal.  So again, because I got so close, this week's goal will be a weigh-in on Monday 7/23 of 283.0 or lower.  So I set out to work hard on that goal.  I was careful in my eating.  I did my bagel/cream cheese for breakfast.   Snacks consisted of wheat thins and string cheese, and I did go to the store at lunch and got some beef jerky.  All that protein, low in calories, and very low in fat.   Great nibble food to have around.  I did munch a bit more than I intended, and there was one other bad thing I did.   Sunday night, DAPGF and I were watching something on Discovery or Food TV or one of those channels, and they did a teaser on Twinkies.  GF asked when the last time I had a twinkie was.   Honestly it's been over 10 years, but it got me kinda jonesing.  When I was at the store, I looked at a box of twinkes.   Back in the day, Ho Hos were my guilty pleasure, but there's nothing wrong with twinkies.  So I look at a $3.99 box of twinkies, and right next to it I see a box of the Little Debbies Ho Hos knock-off's for only $1.29.   Well how can I pass up that bargoon?  So I had a few snack cakes on Monday afternoon.  Meh.   Dinner was Red Robin for the righteous BBQ Chicken Wrap.  It did come with "never-ending" fries, but I tried not go gorge myself on them.  I had a nice long walk that evening with the dog, and then another good one this morning, hoping that I'd not gained anything more than I already was.

 

Tuesday's weigh-in: 284.2 lbs.  Down 1.2 lbs!!  I think I may be getting a handle on this.   I know that I've got a loooong way to go to get below 240 lbs, but I'm starting to feel as though I'm understanding how to actually eat in a way that will help me lose weight.   And again, I must give props to My Fitness Pal.  Whether it's legitimate or I'm just psyching myself into increasing my metabolism, being able to track my caloric intake directly against what I burn, and more importantly being able to track all activities that burn calories, is really helping me see what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong, how to correct that, and what progress I'm actually making.   If you haven't tried it, check it out.  I think you'll be pleased.

 

 

So, umm, wow!

So.  My Monday weigh-in to start this week was 287.4 lbs.  This was .4 lbs heavier than my goal, and almost 2.5 lbs heavier than my low point of the week, one day previous.  Despite that setback, I was still feeling good.  I had proven that I can lose the weight if I am just careful about how much crap I shove down my neck.   Anyway, Monday was not the best day.  I had to run home at lunch and get some stuff I'd forgotten in the morning, which meant that I ate a lot more than I intended to.   I did hit the gym on the way over to Mom and Dad's house, but I counteracted that with chips, salsa, a quesadilla, and two huge margaritas at Chevy's, with my sister.  End result, Tuesday's weigh-in was about 1 pound heavier than Mondays.   Still, I was optimistic because I had proof that I could lose the weight.  And in this I must give DAPGF full credit.  She is getting older (like the rest of us losers), and she's finally noticing that her metabolism is slowing and the weight isn't staying off like she would prefer.   So we go walking after dinner, usually for about a half hour or so.  In addition, I did go to the driving range at lunch on Tuesday, and had some nice, long doggie walks.   Wednesday's weigh-in was down to 286.8!  Progress!  Wednesday I hit the gym after work and was really tight on what I ate.   Thursday's weigh-in, 285.4 lbs.!!  Thursday, I went to a work luncheon but lucked out with the food.  Salad, and penne pasta in tomato sauce with chicken breast.  And I went and played this tiny little 9 hole executive golf course near Casa de Hoff after work.   DAPGF was out, so I was very careful with what I ate (Lean Cuisine BBQ Chicken Pizza, yummy).  When she came home, we went for another 30 minute walk, and then I had a 45 minute dog walk.   Friday morning's weigh-in.  283.6 lbs.!!!!!!!  Outside of the few days surrounding my mother's death, I haven't been near 283 in several months at least.   I do have the weekend to worry about, but I'm doing too well.  You can bet your collective asses that I'm going to do everything in my power to not backslide.   And I've said it before and I'll keep saying it…My Fitness Pal is a phenomenal tool.  Honestly I couldn't tell you whether it truly is keeping me on track, or whether the idea of using it is making my body process stuff better I couldn't tell you.   I do think that it is keeping me on track.  My sister isn't a fan of food journals or exercise logs, but I say Nay Nay.   Because of how My Fitness Pal is set up, it really lets you see your progress.  One look and I can tell whether the physical activity I've done (again, it lets you track just about anything) has "made up" for whatever I've eaten, or whether I need to put in extra time at the gym to burn off something naughty I've eaten.   I think that's the key…having calories in and calories out integrated.

 

So good luck out there.  Have a great weekend.

Cancer still sucks

Someday, hopefully sooner than later, we will find a cure for this shitty disease known as cancer.  But for now, here's a person who could use some kind words and thoughts.

 

Cross-posted at The Randomness and What Happened

The one in which we foresee both the good and the bad...

And the weekend was a mixed bag.  I had been making stellar progress this past week.   In fact, the Sunday weigh-in was all the way down to 285.0 lbs.!!!!  I haven't been that low in months!  I know the golfing was a major contributor, but I'd actually gotten down to 285.4 lbs for Saturday morning, so the golf counteracted the many beers consumed.  I proved to myself that I can actually lose weight, IF I DON'T GO OVERBOARD WITH STUFFING FOOD DOWN MY NECK!!!  

 

That last part is the key, obviously, and I aptly demonstrated it on Sunday.  After a fantabulous weigh-in Sunday morning, it was time to let the games begin.   I didn't hit the gym because my back was a bit sore, so I soaked in the steam room.  I sweated out a few calories, so I'm ok with that.   Lunch was a chicken taco salad thing that isn't too dangerous (no sour cream), but probably still fairly fattening.  Dinner was a BBQ Chicken Pizza at California Pizza Kitchen with DAPGF, and the cheese and carb-y goodness I'm sure did some damage.   Still, we went for about a 45 minute walk afterwards and made up for some of that.  The killer was what happened late that evening.   I pretty much hadn't been on the computer all weekend, and I wanted to check email, look at some of my favorite websites, and generally screw around.  So after DAPGF crashed out and I walked the dog, I jumped on the computer.  This is just shy of midnight, mind you.  Now, I know that you're not supposed to eat right before you go to bed, that it screws up your metabolism, etc. etc.   But the stomach started growling and I was needing just a little something salty.  So I went to the kitchen to grab something.  Did I grab a 60 calorie string cheese?   No.  Did I grab a few Wheat Thins?  No.  I grabbed the whole bag of Wheat Thins Toasted Veggie Crackers, using the rationale of "I don't want to make noise crinkling the bag getting out just a few chips, so I'll just bring the whole bag to the computer.   I'm not going to be on very long."  And next thing I know, 2/3 of the bag is gone!  End result, Monday's weigh-in was 287.4 lbs. 

 

Major bummer.  Not only did I gain 2.4 pounds from Sunday morning, but I also missed my goal.   Still, I'm trying to look at the positive.  I demonstrated that I can lose weight.  Now I just need to stop the little snacking problem.   Because the goal for this morning was to be 287.0 or below, the goal for next Monday (7/16) is 285.0 lbs or below.  I've got a couple of things working in my favor.   First, I get a bonus night at the gym tonight.  Little Sister is in town, and we've got to go thru some things that Dad has sorted out.   So DAPGF is on her own tonight and I'm hitting the gym on the way to Dad's (so weird to not say Mom and Dad's, btw, yesterday was their 40^th Wedding Anniversary.   Mom may not be here physically, but they're still married and Dad's still in love.  Cancer still sucks) house.  In addition to tonight, DAPGF starts teaching her new quarter this week, so instead of just one normal night of gym and online poker, I get two nights.   If the weather holds, I'm hitting the beach for some of it to catch the evening glass-off .  I also discovered a tiny little 9 hole executive golf course near Casa de Hoff.  It doesn't look like anything spectacular, but it will be good to work on the short game, pre-twilight fees are only $8, and the walking will be great exercise.   I had a good feeling about last week, and by and large I was right (except for the very end, which technically was part of the next week), and I've got another good feeling about this week, too.   Good luck!

Are the numbers really going down?

So yesterday's weigh-in was 286.8 lbs, and I was generally pleased that I'd only gained .4 lbs.  Yesterday was not a good food day.   DAPGF and I were house sitting over the 4^th, which necessitated my driving past (meaning thru) the drive thru on my way to work, and succumbing to the egg-y, cheesy goodness that is fast food breakfast sandwiches.   But dammit, I'm bound and determined to make up for it.  I walk the stairs all day.  I go to the driving range.   I know that DAPGF and I are going walking after dinner, and I know that I'm walking the dog later in the evening, but I'm pretty sure that it's not going to work.   When lo and behold, the email of emails comes down.  Our corporate office in Sacramento, where all of our network servers, internet servers, and email servers are located, is relocating and all of the servers were going to be shut down at 3 pm!   Well, hell!  If I can't even get on the internet, what's the point in staying.  So I left early and hit the gym on the way home!   Dinner consisted of mainly sushi, and the aforementioned walks. 

 

And the Friday weigh-in?  286.2 lbs!  Dropped .6 lbs!   As long as I don't completely fall apart over the weekend (and I'm golfing on Saturday which will definitely help the exercise side of things), I'll be ahead of my goal for the week.  

 

I have to say, My Fitness Pal is my new favorite thing.  I've kept the food diaries before, and I've tried to track my exercise, but this just works better.  First of all, it has a database of both food and exercise entries, and they run the spectrum.   Canoeing.  Golfing.  Playing a musical instrument.  Mowing the lawn (push or riding).   Walking the dog.  Walking up stairs.  I think this is it's greatest feature.   Not only can you track the obvious (20 minutes on the elliptical trainer burns 400 calories), but all of these things you wouldn't necessarily think twice about are listed.  It makes it much easier to see just how physically active you are, and it takes the calories burned and applies it to the calories consumed to give you your net figure.  It makes it so easy to see where you're doing things right, where you're doing things wrong, and what you need to do to make up for a poor decision (like going out to lunch with coworkers and having all fried appetizers and several beers, not that I would ever do anything like that!).   If you haven't gone over there to check it out, I highly recommend it.

 

Wherever you are, I hope you had a great 4^th of July, and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Progress!

As I said, I think it's going to be a good week.  I started off on the Monday weigh-in at 289.0.   Tuesday I spiked up to 290.4.  Monday's dinner was just wrong on so many levels, and it just illustrates how weak I can be at times.  After fighting pretty hard to limit what I ate, I went to dinner with DAPGF at this local curry place.  We go here fairly often, because the quality is good and the prices are very reasonable.   That being said, our "frequent diner" card has the requisite number of punches in it to qualify for a free entrée.  Woo hoo!   So instead of ordering the regular size, I ordered the large portion of their Teriyaki Chicken.  And I ate the whole bloody thing, including using my jasmine rice to soak up the rest of the (admittedly yummy) teriyaki sauce.   End result, despite an hour at the driving range in temps approaching 90 degrees, a half hour walk with DAPGF, and a 45 minute dog walk that evening, I gained almost a pound and a half for the Tuesday morning weigh-in.   But instead of getting down on myself, I resolved that I would be better on Tuesday.  I worked diligently to control my intake (using my new favorite tool, MyFitnessPal.com) and track my physical activities.  So on the 4^th, I woke up, walked the dog, and instead of hitting the gym I went to the beach (I <3 San Diego!) and got about an hour's worth of bodysurfing in.  Weigh-in when I got home, 286.0!!!  Cha-ching!!  Food and adult beverages are part of every 4^th of July celebration, and mine was no exception.   Weigh-in on Thursday morning, 286.4 lbs.  Considering the beer and pizza, I'm pretty satisfied with only gaining .4 lbs.  That gives me hope that my recent switch in the breakfast department, combined with a renewed effort at physical activity (more walking, more golf) will really get me on the downward trend.   I've actually met (and exceeded) my goal for this week…I just need to make sure I don't backslide.  Good luck with everything you're doing out there.