What Happened to Me? WTF is Wrong With Me?

290.8 lbs. This is the heaviest I have ever knowingly been (there was a period where I didn't have a working scale), and I'm not happy about it. I can offer up excuse after excuse, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm shoving waaaay too much food down my throat.

Wednesday was the bad day this past week. I had actually been inching my way down, and was on track to lose at least 2 lbs this week, maybe more. Instead, on Tuesday I had to stop at the grocery store to get dinner (thus breaking my rule to not shop while hungry), and I picked up one of the deli's XL Turkey sandwiches (about 18 inches of torpedo roll piled high with turkey, cheese, lettuce, etc.), with the idea that I'd have one 6 inch section for dinner with the bagel bites I had already bought, and take the other two sections to lunch on Wednesday. Now, Tuesday I hit the gym after work, so it negated the sandwich and I stayed even on the weight. I had made the oversight of not picking up bagels or something for breakfast, so on Wednesday I started off with not just two bacon wraps from BK, but I got the whole damn value meal! Carbs are baaaaad, and they seem to be the biggest contributor to my weight (tortilla chips, rice, pasta, bread, and so on), and naturally I scarfed down the hashbrowns without a thought. Then came lunch. I ate the first part of the sandwich, and actually felt somewhat satisfied. But I had another really tasty sandwich waiting for me. So of course I ate it, telling myself that when I hit the gym on the way home, it would be fine. That and of course I wasn't going to have much for dinner. Granted, I only had one lean cuisine, but I supplemented it with Pringles of course, and some chocolate cake that DAPGF brought home! Oh, and the gym? Well, the weather has been good, and this is the most convenient 24 Hour Fitness with a pool, so I thought I'd swim laps. Everybody knows that swimming is kick ass exercise, and I figured that I can knock off 20-30 minutes on the elliptical without much of a problem, I should be able to get in 15-20 minutes of swimming without dying in the pool. So to minimize the amount of stuff and changing I would have to do, I decided to forgo the normal workout entirely (cardio, abs, weight) and just do the swimming. So I got to the pool at about 3:50 pm, and had to wait for a lane. For 20 minutes. 20 minutes I could've been doing any kind of physical activity if I'd been thinking about it. Finally a lane opens up. One full lap and I realize that it has been a good 7 months since I'd done any swimming, and jeez am I having a hard time of it. So I struggle through 10 minutes of it, but hell if I can even remember how many lengths I did (12? 16? 20?). So yes, it kicked my ass but unfortunately it wasn't nearly enough to undo the damage I did.

So what do I do now? I've spewed lots of words in this here corner of the interwebs, and some of them I've managed to follow through on, at least for a time, but I need more than words. I need to find the follow-through to make it work. So that's what I'm going to do. No more buying snacks in the middle of the afternoon (like I did on Thursday...don't know how I managed to not gain more than .2 lbs). No more monster meals like that damn sandwich, and no more doubling up my meals (2 lean cuisines instead of 1, etc.). Portion control...that was a key component in my father's recent weight loss, although his current significant other feeds him more that she should, and he's gaining weight again. He would sit down in a restaurant and either move half of the meal off to the side, or have the server box up half of it from the get go. That isn't really an easy option for me, because when I am out to eat, DAPGF and I are (with lunch) usually running errands of some sort or (with dinner) going to see a movie. Either way, food would have to be unrefrigerated and stinking up the car for 1 to 3 hours before I could get it home. And I really can't wrap my head around the idea of just eating half of it and letting the server take away half of a meal that I paid for. I try to be frugal (hell, cheap), and the idea of paying $10 for a BBQ chicken salad or $13 for blackened Tilapia Fish Tacos and throwing half of it away just kills me. So I eat what I order. But the horrible thing, and here DAPGF is truly my enabler, is the bread or tortilla chips that are provided prior to the meal. We tend to go to nicer restaurants, and they all tend to provide some sort of carboriffic experience while we wait for the meal. How can I not partake of freshly baked sourdough bread or tortilla chips with awesome salsa? All I can do is try to slow down and simply not eat as much of it. As to the rest of the meal...I will be even more diligent in what I order, and I will minimize the amount of food that DAPGF will shove off on me (she eats much less than I do). And when I'm not out with DAPGF, I'll stick to my single Lean Cuisine-type meal and try to do nothing else. For the most part, I'm pretty solid in my workout routine, and when I stick to the meal plan that I laid out here, I tend to experience the success that I want (I really do want to succeed and lose weight!). Now, there are two events on the horizon that lead up to the summer beach season. The first is my birthday in early April (go Aries!). DAPGF doesn't really like steak that much, so when I have an opportunity to nom on some dead cow, I take advantage of it. The second is in late April, when some of my cohorts and I will be participating in the Beer Belly Olympics. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Game of bowling, round of golf, darts, billiards, horseshoes, washers, poker, etc., and lots of drinking. I've got to make the losses happen, so that those two events don't do a lot of damage. And to top it off, in honor of my little sister, I'm going to try to go without Diet Coke (or any soda) this weekend. This will not be easy, but I'm going to try. Wish me luck, peeps.

Progress! But not exactly as intended...

So...last Friday I laid out my game plan. I was going to be super-dedicated to hitting the gym at every possible opportunity, and during the week (when I had much more editorial control), I was going to plan out my meals to a rough average of less than 1900 calories per day. Given that lately my daily intake had ranged anywhere from 400 to 1400 calories above that, I figured that effort alone would help with the drop. Last Friday's weigh-in hit at 288.6 lbs. This morning's weigh-in was down to 285.2 lbs, for a drop of 3.4 lbs! But all is not exactly what it seems...

As with most of my plans, something always comes out unintended. And this particular "unintended" happened to be the wicked cold that is currently going around San Diego (and probably has variants in other parts of the country). I think I was infected sometime on Thursday, as both one of my co-workers and my father were both suffering from it. I first noticed the throat tickle Saturday morning at the gym. By Saturday afternoon, it was a full, dry, hacking cough and an all-over body ache. I actually did go to the gym Sunday morning, but could only manage a half set of abs, no weights, and about 10 minutes on the elliptical before I had to call it quits. My joints were killing me, I was feeling the fever/chills combo, and my cough could've scared a buffalo (which was ironic, since DAPGF and I shared a Buffalo breakfast quesadilla at the Tractor Room for breakfast). I must have really seemed sick, because DAPGF let me just lay in bed and watch the SuperBowl all afternoon. We did go out for dinner to this road house bbq place in El Cajon with some friends of hers (see, the weekends are harder for me to control), but I felt awful enough that I hardly ate any of my dinner. We went home and I promptly went to sleep, deciding at that point that there was no way I was going to work on Monday. Interestingly, I did better than I planned from a meal perspective, because I did absolutely no snacking. It's hard to snack when you're asleep. Tuesday was more of the same, except I did snack a bit (ironically, there was little to no nausea associated with this particular cold). I would've preferred to stay home on Wednesday also, but there were some things that I actually had to get done at work. This was the first chance I had to try out the diet plan on the road, and aided by my diminished appetite, I stuck to it. I also went to the doctor who said I was turning the corner and gave me some wonderful drugs. Thursday was almost as successful, except for one minor issue. Or rather combination of issues. By the end of Thursday, I was feeling somewhat better and getting my appetite back. Plus, I had to go to 4 different stores, at rush hour, in the rain, to get groceries on the way home, so in a weak moment I bagged on having a Lean Cuisine-type meal and went for the guilty pleasure Red Baron deep dish frozen pizza singles. Those rang up at probably 500 calories more than what I should've eaten.

So there's the first week. Successful, but not quite as intended. I haven't really gotten my energy back yet, and I haven't cleared enough crap out of my lungs to feel comfortable doing my usual gym workout. I will probably try to go in and do a light workout on the lifecycle, just to keep the metabolism going, but it's not going to be anything substantial. That being said, when I have a chance to fully implement my plan, I think this is going to work. Wish me luck and stay warm and dry out there!

More like "what's wrong with me?"

Well, this past week was a big steaming pile of poo. After last week's 3 item combo plate of fail, I followed it up with a dessert of fail a la mode! In short, I gained another pound-ish, going from 287.4 lbs last Friday to 288.8 lbs this Friday! It could've been worse, though...I actually got as high as 290.8 on Tuesday, which is pretty effin' ugly unto its own. I could've been better at the exercise thing, but mainly it was dinner that stuck to my ass. Last Friday night was restaurant week in San Diego, and DAPGF and I went out with friends for a bitchin' steak dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, so that was bad. Both Saturday and Sunday mornings I made it to the gym, but I got such a late start both days that I had to do a shorty workout. Because I'm with DAPGF all weekend, my meals are anything but minimalist. Monday I managed to go running in the morning and made it to the gym after work, but I stopped at the grocery store on the way home (before dinner), and bought a bunch of stuff that I shouldn't have, and then ate most of it in one sitting! Stupid. Tuesday I made it out in the morning to run, but had to work late and couldn't hit the gym on the way home. Wednesday I overslept and missed the run, but I did make it to the gym. Thursday it rained, so no morning run, and I worked late so no gym. And Thursday was capped with the neighbor asking if I wanted to go out for Mex food and beer. Hmm, let me think about that. So here we are.

I'm not going to the gym Saturday morning, because DAPGF and I are going up to Pomona to look at a rescue Dobie. Who knows if we'll come home with her or not, but I'm going to try to at least run in the morning. I should make the gym on Sunday, and then I should be in a good position to run every morning of next week and hit the gym at least on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. But as I said, the exercise is not as much of a problem as the need to feed the face is. Despite the obvious failure on the food intake, I at least felt good that I was making progress on the exercise angle. I can't guarantee anything this weekend, but for meals that don't involve DAPGF, I'm going to do everything I can to control myself. A 1.5 lb drop from 1/23 would bring me down to 287.3 lbs. I can do better than that, so despite the official goal of 287.3 lbs, I'm going to shoot to get under 286. It won't be easy, but I think I can. Wish me luck.

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.

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.

Happy Freaking Birthday!

To give an indicator as to how screwy my life has become, my birthday was actually last Saturday. Sigh. That is probably one of the things that I miss most about no longer working in real estate development and now working as a consultant...hourly billing. As a consultant, I have to track my time in 15 minute increments and for a solid majority of the time have a project to bill my time against. I haven't figured out which billing code I can put "blogging" into and get away with it. I am working on it, so when I figure it out I will let you know. Back in the formerly superheated San Diego real estate market, a lot of my time was wasted in the "hurry up and wait" game. I had plenty of work to do, but much of what I did was dependent on work that my consultants (architects, structural engineers, landscape architects, etc.) would prepare. It left me plenty of time to blog (see the 2005-2006 archives for What Happened and The Randomness). Now, not so much. But enough of that.

I am now 37. I. am. getting. old. As my sweet little sister so kindly pointed out, no matter how old I get, I'll always be older than her. Pbtpbtbpt! With said increase in age comes a corresponding decrease in my metabolic rate. Combine that with DAPGF not teaching as often, and Hoff has fewer opportunities for a workout at the gym (yeah, I'm really getting my $32/month out of the deal...not!!). And to top that off, one of the nights that would theoretically be a gym opportunity is one of the days that I work late in Santa Ana...a day that if I'm lucky I get home by 7. The last thing I want to do at that point is change clothes and head to the gym. One minor thing that is helping a bit, is that DAPGF is also getting older, and she claims (not that I can see it) that she's gaining weight. So I've convinced her to start walking after we have dinner (which is another issue entirely). So we do a half-hour stroll through some random San Diego neighborhood after dinner, to try and minimize the inevitable damage from dinner. Ah, yes, dinner. When DAPGF taught several nights per week, those were nights that I could hit the gym after work, and then come home to a simple Lean Cuisine meal (or two...some of those things are pretty damn small), and play some poker. Now, 3 or 4 nights during the week we go out to various restaurants (cheap ones...can't afford to do it up richly every night) where she tries to get us ordering healthy foods, but she's at least as much of a carbaholic as I am. Breads, tortillas, french fries, pasta, rice, bring 'em on. I'm trying to keep a lid on that behavior, but I love 'em too. Meh.

Which brings me to the moral of the story: a birthday is a perfect time to set some new goals. To set the stage, I decided that my birthday would be a blowout of sorts. Friday night was a poker night with a bunch of friends ($20 buy-in, by the end of the evening I'd pretty much tripled my money), so that was a beer laden evening. Saturday started off at me and DAPGF's favorite tapas buffet, Azul La Jolla. I really tried to maintain some semblance of portion control, but if you saw the spread they laid out, you'd understand. The day was gorgeous, so we walked around La Jolla for a bit, and then dinner. Steak at Lou & Mickey's in the Gaslamp District. The meat is so flavorful there, it's almost painful. And their scalloped potatoes (more carbs) are a cheese-laden delight. And it was topped off with a piece of layered chocolate cake so moist and rich that you'd think it wasn't cooked all the way through. Oh so freaking good. So Sunday morning, I weighed myself before hitting the gym. 285.4 lbs. Yikes! But there's my starting point. 285.4 lbs. I want to get down to 240 lbs by Thanksgiving (just in time to put it all back on!). That's 45.4 lbs to lose over the next 7 months. Approximately 6.3 lbs per month, or just about 1.5 lbs per week. I think I can make that work, so dammit, I'm going to do it! Admittedly, I'm not off to a great start. No gym on Monday, and I drove to Santa Ana today so no walk back to the train depot, but I've got plenty of week left to get through. My goal for next Sunday morning will be 283.9 lbs. Fat and stupid is no way to go through life. Not sure what I can do about the stupid, but maybe I can at least work on the fat. Wish me luck, peeps!

Pathetic Efforts, and other excuses

The dog ate my homework (well, tried to eat both an opossum and a raccoon, long freaking stories), work is hella busy (actually that has been true), I haven't had time to get to the gym (also sadly true, see "work" above). The short version is that it's been almost three weeks since my last post, and I've got pretty much nothing to show for it. Let's review the sadly unrealized goals:

1. Get caught up on emails. As I noted, I have far too many email addys. I've actually done almost adequate work on this front. I haven't been checking them as often as I should, but it's been often enough, for the most part. For the past 3 weeks, though, I've had the project from hell that I was working on. I was working on the train, I was working on the weekends, and I was working at night. I was NOT taking time first thing in the morning (which is my usual M.O.) to do a quick blast thru the emails whilst noshing on a bagel before starting the day. Nope. Too much stuff to do and not enough time.

2. Blogging more regularly. Well, it's been since 3/1 since I'd posted here at What Happened, I hadn't posted at Teh Randomness since 2/17, and 2/25 was the last post at How I Would Do It (too many blogs, I know). Hell, I went almost 3 weeks without a Tweet...it's been that kind of month. I've also been really bad at staying caught up on Bloglines. I probably have more feeds than I should (at least given the time constraints I've been under), but I'm working on that and made some progress this morning. With a little more free time in the office, I think I can keep a better handle on things. Time will tell, I suppose.

3. The big one (no pun intended), weight. I guess I should be satisfied that since March 1, I haven't gained any weight. The down side is that since March 1, I've only lost 2 pounds as of this morning. Granted, 2 pounds is better than nothing, but 2 pounds in almost 3 weeks is not enough. My goal had been 10 pounds for the month of March, but time and other issues are piling up against me. I'm about to partake in an Easter buffet with DAPGF at one of San Diego's institutions of fine dining, The Marine Room at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. Yes, just feel the snootiness oozing out of that sentence. Already I can see the line of Bentleys and Lamborghini's waiting to be valet parked. Also, DAPGF had a birthday last week. We were supposed to go to the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel this past Sunday for brunch, but DAPGF was hella sick all weekend. Not sure when that's going to be rescheduled, but it will happen. Maybe I can shove that into April sometime. Plus, I'm still snacking too damn much. Combine that with zero golfing and maybe 1 day per week at the gym, and the exercise factor has been non-existent as well. Plus, this train schedule doesn't give me the time to try and do the good old Exercise TV on-demand thing that I used to do. Meh.

So. With only 12 days left in the month, can I fashion a loss of 8 pounds? Theoretically, sure. .67 pound per day isn't completely out of reach. Difficult, but not completely out of reach. So I'm going to take a swing at hitting my goal. My birthday is next month, and I still want to start building some momentum in the correct direction. That my birthday will begin the progression to summer and time at teh beach is added motivayshun, because I don't want to still look like a freaking beached whale out there. So here we go. 2 pounds down, 8 more to go. Goal, 275.4 lbs or lower. Game on!

Here's What Happened to Me

I got stuck with a really fugly work schedule. And for the past two weeks, when I haven't been In The Ghetto in Santa Ana, I've been working on a major proposal that is sucking up the rest of my free time. Trips to the driving range have been minimal, as have gym trips. Basically, the only exercise until recently that I've been getting has been my walking to the train station. Anyway...

My last post weigh-in was 283.0. In the ensuing 2 weeks, I've dropped down to approximately 282, exploded up to 284.6 lbs, and as of this morning dropped back to 283.4 lbs. They call me The Yo Yo. On the plus side, DAPGF is complaining that she's gaining weight. IMO, she's skinny and I can't tell if she's gaining weight, but I'm a dude so my opinions are obviously suspect. The upside of this is that she has started us walking after dinner again. Over the summer we walked for a half hour or more every evening after dinner. As it got darker and the weather got cooler, the walking faded away. Now, it seems, we're back into it. More exercise is always a good thing. Good luck out there.

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 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!

It's going to be a good week...

Sez me…

 

This past 2 weeks has been brutally hectic.  Working late several nights, over the weekend, all to get a proposal together for a potentially $1.8 million contract.   We got it done, and now it's a waiting game to see if my company is going to be called for an interview.  I've got more projects to work on this week, but I'm hella relieved to be done with that proposal.   Of course, if we get the project I'm looking at 2 solid years of being busy, but it beats being unemployed.

 

A side effect of the work situation was that I played practically no poker at all for almost 2 weeks.  My first game of any substance, hell the only game I played recently was a 9 player $11 turbo on Tilt that I got into at about 12:30 in the morning, because I finally had a moment and was itching to play.   I played solid ABC poker and managed to take 2^nd place…that was my first cash in a while so I'll take it.

 

Last week had some rough spots on the weight loss front, which I partially attribute to how busy I was with work.   No gym last weekend, no gym on Wednesday, and after working late on Wednesday I succumbed to the siren call of Pickup Stix' House Special Chicken.  And I added 2 pounds that evening.   I fought back during the remainder of the week, and made it to the gym on both Saturday morning and Sunday morning.  Sunday's weigh-in gave me a fighting chance at hitting my 2 pound loss goal for the final week of June, but Sunday's eating did me in.   I'm not sure exactly what it is about Sundays (meaning why DAPGF and I eat what we do on Sundays), but my Monday morning weigh-ins are never good.  Case in point.  Sunday lunch was this killer restaurant in Solana Beach , where everything is organic, lean, and home-made.  So of course we order some of the least healthy things on the menu.  Calamari as a (very tasty) appetizer.   A Caesar salad to split, and a spiced turkey meatloaf (it tastes amazing) sandwich with home-cut Kennebec fries.  Then dinner.   Rubios Fish Tacos for a shrimp burrito.  And the weigh-in this morning was almost 2.5 pounds heavier than Sunday's.  So I'm starting (again) at 289.0 lbs, which is just about the heaviest I've ever (knowingly) been.  But the difference is, I've got a good feeling about this week.

 

I can't point to any one specific thing, but I feel good about this week (and everything else to come).  Over the weekend I managed to get some good housekeeping stuff done.  I made it to the gym twice.  DAPGF's new semester of teaching starts, and she's teaching twice a week which means two days plus the two weekend days of gym (or beach) opportunities.   On the beach note, the weather here in San Diego has been fantastic (eat your hearts out), and I'm dragging my fat to the beach for some good wave action.   I've gotten current on all my bills that piled up when I was out of work last year.  My checkbook register is all up to date, I've planned out my budget for the next 6 months, and it actually looks good, and my car insurance is going down because a speeding ticket expired and goes off of my record.  

 

I'm also trying something new on the diet.  I'm giving up on the oatmeal (for now) because one packet just doesn't do enough to keep me satisfied until lunch.   So I would then munch on my planned morning snack, and then my planned afternoon snack!  If I was lucky, that would hold me thru lunch, but then I'd have to go buy some sort of afternoon snack which seemed to never be low fat or healthy.   So I'm trying out a bagel with fat free cream cheese.  All told, about 260 calories and so far it's managed to fill me up better than a single packet of oatmeal.   Maybe if this one thing shows any kind of success, I can build some willpower off of that and do a better overall job of controlling my eating.

 

In addition to the gym and the diet changes, I'm going to the driving range.  The budgeting has allowed me money for time at the range once or twice a week, so I figure Mondays and Thursdays or Fridays (gym/beach on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) will give me some more exercise opportunities during the week, with the added benefit of keeping me occupied and not stuffing food in my face.   And for those of you who don't think swinging a golf club is exercise, go hit a hundred balls in 45 minutes to an hour.  I think you'll be surprised.

 

Finally, just having gotten some cleaning done around the house, buying a 2^nd hard drive cable for the new computer, getting the bills and budget current, I'm making a more concerted effort to plan my time wisely.   I suffer from poor time management skills, and it's been a problem both in my personal life as well as my professional life.  Having gotten caught up on my "chores" is giving me the opportunity to organize my overall life a little more efficiently.   Everything from planning out specific work tasks and checking email to playing poker and blogging, I'm trying to do a better job of time allocation and prioritizing.   Hopefully this will build on itself and I can apply it to all aspects of my life.

 

Self-control and will power.  This blog was started as a weight loss blog, and those two characteristics are key to any successful weight loss.   Maybe the expansion of the focus of the blog will help me control the expansion of my waist and gut!

 

Well let me tell you what has happened to me...

Ok.  So what has happened to me?  In short, I'm lame and I've been busy.   Quick recap?  That's all I've got time for, so for those of you who read The Randomness also, I apologize for regurgitating some of that post here.

 

Weight.  I wish I could say I've been a loser, but sadly that's not the case.   This past two weeks have seen lots of naughty food eaten, and pounds put on.  For the most part they've come back off, but overall, I'm up about a pound and a half from my weigh-in at the last post.   I have managed to get back on track in doing my affirmations, but they don't help much when we have a staff meeting at our branch location.  Yes, I had the Seared Ahi for lunch, which was probably the best option, but I'm sure that wasn't enough to counteract the effects of spinach/artichoke dip, deep fried calamari, and four pints of Stargazer IPA.   Hey.  We're consultants, and we can expense that stuff.  If they're gonna force me to get out of the office on a sunny San Diego afternoon, to go sit on the patio overlooking a huge koi pond while eating righteous seared ahi and drinking killer microbrews, well I guess I'll take one for the team.   Besides the dog walking, just about the only physical activity I'm getting is at work.  Our new office is on the third floor, so I do the stairs, up and down, several times per day.   This past weekend, I did make it to the gym both on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but Wednesday night's gym opportunity fell by the wayside in a minor traffic accident.   Not me, but some idiot on a bicycle trying to snake through stop and go street traffic got clipped by somebody who was making what seemed to be a legal turn into an apartment complex.   The rider looked to be generally ok (he was talking to the responding police officers), but the whole thing (3 cop cars, 1 fire truck, 1 ambulance) completely screwed up my commute and cost me almost an hour in getting home.   By the time I got thru it, the last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym.  Meh.

 

Poker.  Poker has been a cold cold world lately.  My once-growing bankroll has dramatically shrunk over the past few weeks.   There have been one or two instances where I made plays that were stupid, but by and large I've been playing well.  I'm just getting raped on the river, and I don't even live in the South (better?)!   Seriously, it's been almost funny, how predictable it's been.  An example, I follow 2 limpers and limp with my 66 from before the CO (cutoff for you non poker players, the seat before the dealer position, the small blind and the big blind).   5 of us see a flop of Ace-King-6.  Couple of bets and 3 of us see a K fall on the turn.  Schweet.   I've likely got the nuts unless somebody is slowplaying aces, kings, or big slick (AK).  First player to act ("Under the gun" or UTG) bets and a player in middle position (MP) calls.   I call, which puts me all in.  The river is a 7, and UTG shoves and MP calls.  Cards are flipped and UTG was playing A6 for two pairs.   Fine.  MP flips over 77 for his rivered 7s full of Ks, sinking my 6s full.  It's been that kind of run.   Suffice to say I'm taking a minor break to see if I can get out of this funk.  I'm doing pointless things like playing billiards and rummy online (and kicking the computer's ass) to see if I can get back into a winning groove.

 

Movie Review.  Knocked Up was very funny.  Biggest complaint, not getting to see Katherine Heigl's breasticles.  Second biggest complaint, having to see a fake version of her koochie (hey, it's the only word DAPGF finds acceptable, pick your own), in all it's crowning glory in mid birth.   It was even shaved, which I presume is just how she rolls.  The movie was very well done, and hugely humorous (although not quite up to the 40 Year Old Virgin).   It gets a little crude at times (duh) and some of the poopy references get a little old.  But the scene in Vegas with Seth and Paul Rudd taking mushrooms at a Cirque du Soleil performance was farking hysterical!   It is longer than 2 hours, so be sure to go potty before going in, if you're getting the Exxon-Valdez sized Dr. Pepper.  And for a completely different review, I also saw Once recently.  It's a story set in Ireland about a struggling musician, and how he falls in love with a Czech immigrant girl who gives him the motivation to actually write and record his songs (which tell the story of their almost-romance), and ultimately chase his dream of fame.   I know it sounds cheesy, but it was actually very well done and a great story.  The acting is great, and the music was excellent…typical folksy-rock coffeehouse fare, but better than most.   Obviously it isn't going to be as fast-paced as something like Live Free or Die Hard (can. not. freaking. wait!), but overall it was an excellent movie.

 

Last 5 songs I heard on Hair Nation: Poison – Look What the Cat Dragged In, Sammy Hagar – One Way to Rock, Motley Crue – Wild Side, Kiss – I Just Wanna Forget You, Ozzy Osbourne – Shot in the Dark.

 

Now that I've got my new computer, and can safely install my own software on it (Firefox, etc.), I'm starting to channel my inner geek.   I download Firefox, get the Google toolbar, and then start looking at all the ways to improve Firefox .  So I add buttons for Digg and Del.icio.us, which gets me into joining a bunch of these "social community" sites.   And then I read blogs like Wheatie's, and read about some of the cool stuff he's playing with ( Netscape, Buzznet, Last.FM, etc.), so I check them out.   So now I found the equivalent of an RSS reader for all of the social community sites, Mashable.   So when I get home tonight, I get to try and consolidate all of my online crap down into one simple site account.  Or theoretically that's how it will work.   Time will tell.  And when it does, I'll tell you.  Are any of you on any of these sites?  Let me know and I'll add you.   Or don't.  I've got lots of new online friends to play with.

 

Work has been extremely busy, with projects and proposals all coming due at the same time.  I cranked out a proposal last week, in the middle of working on an Air Quality statement for a project in the desert east of San Diego, then over the weekend I finished up a second proposal, which went out earlier this week, and now I've got two more proposals I'm trying to get done next week (both of them, both potential million dollar plus contracts – no pressure), while helping out on a third proposal, which is also due within the next week and a half!   Crazy.

 

So there.  We're updated.  See ya out there when I get a chance.

Go ahead and hate me. I don't care. I have this...

To continue Wil Wheaton's meme, I offer this photo. This was shot by yours truly, at around 12:30 p.m. today, at Powerhouse Park in Del Mar. The waves look small, but really the park area sits 15 or so feet above the beach, and a couple hundred yards back. Just thought I'd share. Go ahead and hate me. I'll just throw the sunroof back and crank up the stereo.

On the other hand, I think we can all be glad that we're not this poor soul. Look at these pictures, and be happy that this isn't your car. More pictures can be found at the link. Have a great weekend, everybody!