Saturday, March 26, 2011

Eleventh Weigh-In

So this is how I look now. Yup, I even dyed my hair and beard. 
No, not really. I'm doing well, but not miraculously. I lost another two pounds this week in spite of not tracking my intake well. I can thank my new walking schedule for that I'm sure.

Instead of trying to become a runner I've decided to focus on burning calories. Longer, slower workouts are what I need. I try to get in a total of one hour of speed walking (3.5 mph or faster) six days a week. That ends up being nearly 3500 calories burned each week. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. Even if I wasn't eating any differently I'd lose a pound a week!

SCIENCE!!

The picture is my character in City of Heroes the massively multi-player online role-playing game. I downloaded a free seven-day trial to pass the time during spring break.  That may explain the lateness of this update.  Speaking of which I have to go.  There's a city to save.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Tenth Weigh-In (St. Patrick's Day)


I seem to have bounced back from last week's shortened and disappointing week. In fact, I've mostly made up for last week, and earned a new achievement. That's right! I've lost a Phoebe. That is, I have lost as much as my daughter weighs. It's crazy that the two of us on the scale at the same time weigh less than I did by myself ten weeks ago.

Today is St. Patrick's Day and a perfect illustration of how I have been able to lose weight without denying myself. We had corned beef and cabbage and boiled potatoes. I even made Irish soda bread. I just used our awesome digital scale to dish up reduced portions. Three ounces of corned beef is very satisfying.

Also, just in case she wasn't the coolest wife ever, Mthr. M-G made me a knock-off Shamrock Shake (R). She used skim milk and non-fat icecream, but the substitutions did not ruin my joy at reuniting with my old friend. As you can see, the portion was controlled as well. Ten ounces of creamy green delight is just enough to scratch that minty itch.

Mthr. M-G, I think Uncle O'Grimacey would be proud.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Ninth Weigh-In

What's this?! It's not Saturday. Isn't it a little early to be weighing in?

Not anymore. I hereby announce the moving of weigh-in day to Thursday. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it is Mthr. M-G's weigh-in day as well. Now we are aligned and that does make a difference in meal planning. We can sync up our degree of strictness throughout the week. (Wednesdays are very strict and Fridays can be more lacks.)

The second reason for moving my weigh-in day is that Friday, our occasional date night, can now be more care free. Last week Mthr. M-G and I went to dinner and a movie. Imagine how much fun I had while thinking of climbing on the scale the next morning.

Finally, Thursdays are really important to our family this year. You see, by cosmic coincidence all three of our birthdays and our wedding anniversary fall on the same day of the week each year. This year everything falls on a Thursday. I know that should have nothing to do with my weight loss plan, but there is a psychological nudge. "I want to weigh so much on Phoebe's birthday." "Can I be under such-and-such pounds by our 10th anniversary?"

In addition to the mental encouragement I've taken on a physical aid. This week I took my new Nike+ running shoes out each evening. The plus in that last sentence was not a typo. The Nike+ line of shoes are build with a compartment in the sole that can hold a sensor. That sensor along with an iPod records and reports your workout information. Technology is awesome. Another thing that is awesome; Nike makes shoes in extra wide widths now.

For all of that I only lost 0.3 pounds this week. I blame Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner . . . and myself for eating five carb-o-rific cakes.

Back in seven!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Eighth Weigh-In

The time-honored tradition of adding a hole to one's belt as one loses weight played out once again in our kitchen. Additionally, a pair of jeans has been retired. They are being washed and dried in anticipation of their donation. Digging though some formerly "too small" clothes has revealed a couple pairs of "on deck" jeans.

Mthr. M-G suggested that we start putting away a weekly allowance to spend on our "skinny wardrobe". I have mixed feelings about that far-off day. It will be great to have arrived at my goal, but I HATE clothes shopping. (You know all about it, Mom.) Perhaps I can hire a team of fashion lovers interested in outfitting a middle-aged, math teacher with an affinity for LEGOs and Transformers.

I had another big loss this week.  I'm into a new "decade of weight". (The world needs a word for a period of ten that isn't necessarily attached to years . . . maybe not.) I now have less than a hundred pounds to lose! Yeah, I'm excited. Next week I should have a really neat new achievement to post. See you then.