myweightloss

Committing to writing a blog a few times a week is almost as tough as sticking to a weight loss program. I hate to call it a diet because those never seem to go well. People that are on programs seem to have good luck, I guess, so maybe my past failures have been because I was calling what I was doing the wrong thing. Wouldn’t that be just the way? You’ve been suffering through a lifetime of yo-yo weight loss simply because you called what you were doing a diet instead of a program? Let’s hope so!

I got a surprise in the mail Friday. Apparently my mother, who also is a multiple weight loss program veteran, signed me up for weight watchers…and even paid for the first month. My wife has been doing their program, see, another program, for the past couple of months and has had good success. I’ve been considering it but just hadn’t pulled the trigger on signing up. I definitely never expected my mom to sign me up, and certainly didn’t ask. Any hoo… I stopped by their office while I was out and about and am willing to give it a try. The one thing that I’ve determined already though is that it is hard as hell to eat that many points. I had a good breakfast, good lunch, good dinner, and snacks while still ending up with a 13 point deficit for the day and a 10 point deficit yesterday because I decided to have a beer with a friend after we finished construction on the new gazebo out back!

It’s almost dinner time on Sunday and I have 21 points left. I’m pretty much of the mind that the only way I could get all the points eaten, or even start to use any of the “weekly points” would be just to eat like normal and I can’t see how that it going to help, especially since I feel satisfied and am amply hydrated. I know, I’m not a doctor but if I can’t wrap my head around it then it’s probably not going to work in the end. I’ve been eating well, smart foods, and getting some exercise (I don’t even count those points on Weight Watchers). Ok, WW fans, time to pile on…

As I flipped through the Parade magazine in the Saturday paper, in the Washington DC area they put the “typical” Sunday stuff (ads, Parade, etc) in the Saturday paper (do they do that anywhere else), I noticed that there were ads for Weight Watchers, Nutri-System, and Jenny Craig. Geez, did anyone not make a lose weight resolution this year? It also made me think about the economics of weight loss, which I think I’ll go into in another blog, someone remind me, and how much money is being made “helping” people lose weight. I suppose it’s much like other businesses whose business is based upon some negative aspects of life, mortuaries come quickly to mind…do you realize how expensive it is to die in this country? Holy schnikees! Ah, a favorite quote from one of my favorite movies, Tommy Boy, and favorite funny people, Chris Farley. As everyone knows Chris sadly was not able to overcome his own issues with weight, drugs, alcohol, etc. I suspect that most of the other issues were heavily fueled by his weight issues, another future blog topic, celebrities and weight issues. Again, someone remind me…

I was worried earlier about having enough topics to blog on without sounding like some kind of pundit. Apparently there are lots of things to talk about that I hadn’t even considered. I hope that you all will provide some great inputs and even participate in some of my blogs. I really don’t consider them “my” blogs, I think of them as “our” blogs because I certainly don’t feel like I’m alone in my thoughts and feelings.  Thank you everyone for your feedback after my first blog. It was good to have some positive feedback and affirmation that what I had been thinking and feeling for so long wasn’t just me.  I have to admit that I have a warped way of looking at things and have this innate ability to make things seem funny. Too often the response from people is “you are sooo crazy”. Most things really are funny, at least to me and those around me, but my wife doesn’t always see it that way! Ha ha! As I heard the mother of the class clown in college tell us when we said how “funny” he was, “he’s not nearly as funny when he belongs to you”. I guess it’s that whole reflection thing, huh? I can’t help it, it’s either the sarcastic streak in me or just the way I look at things but it’s just me.

Well, it’s that time. I’ve reached the end of blog #2. I’m feeling good, not hungry, and happy with my numbers to date. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes.

Until next time…

Starting Weight – 337

Weight Lost – 5 (not sure where that’s from but hey, I’ll take it)

New Weight – 332

Weight to Lose - 137

Apparently I’m quite a bit like almost 30% of all Americans than I ever thought, I’m considered obese too. Not that I call myself that or really even think of myself and the term obese in the same thought. But apparently I am, not one of those borderline things where if I lose a quick 10 pounds I’ll be right back on the normal train, and not that I haven’t noticed.

Since I have a specific negative category to plug myself into now, geez, isn’t being overweight (a weight problem, fat retention, chubby, fat, tubby, pudgy, chunky, or whatever you prefer to call it) enough? Do people really find it necessary to tag on even more adjectives like morbid? No matter what state of denial about weight you may be in I’m pretty sure that when you look at yourself in the mirror you’re very well aware there are some extra pounds there. I hope it makes someone feel better that a “tag” has been added to explain it.

Just because I thought it might be interesting, and in some cases just to get it off my chest, I thought I’d make a list of 10 random thoughts on having a weight problem:

1.       You have to buy bigger and bigger clothes, sometimes more than once a year

2.       Even your head is getting bigger, and not because of steroids like a certain home run hitting baseball player that won’t admit he’s been retired. I used to wear a 7 ¼ but since I’ve gained weight I now wear a 7 3/8. What the hell is that about? As a sub-note to this one because your head is now bigger you also look like you have less hair…hadn’t thought about that one had you?

3.       I used to wear a size 9 ½ shoe. Having gained over 100 pounds now I wear a 10…my God, is there no end to how many ways the weight costs me money?

4.       What sadistic bastard comes up with the sizes of things that we use every day, and I don’t mean clothes? Restaurant booths (of course we ask for a table…and get “that look”); airplane seats are bad enough for “normal” people and then there’s the added insult of those damn seat belt extenders, right; turn-stiles at the ballpark, train station, etc; car seat belts that when you put them on automatically go into the lock mode so you can’t move, let alone reach for anything.

5.       Name the last time that you bought a clothing item that wasn’t from either the Big & Tall shop or from whatever chub club catalog mailing list we’re on? And since I’m kind of ranting here why can they not employ some REAL big guys to model the clothes rather than “normal” size guys and then just list big sizes?

6.       Everything that you do makes you feel like crap; playing with your kids (what’s wrong Daddy, are you ok); sex with your spouse (are you alright); walking up a flight of stairs (hey, give yourself a pat on the back if you don’t have to stop and rest along the way); turning down your friends when they’re going to play ANY sport other than Xbox; even eating…tell me you don’t feel bad when you leave a restaurant because you either over-ate or were wedged into a booth for so long you turned blue.

7.       You don’t like to eat at restaurants that aren’t buffets or all-you-can-eat places. Everywhere else they give you a little-bitty portion, right?

8.       Wondering when they’re going to make being over-weight a “handicap”? We make accommodations everyday for people who have problems they cannot control, what about my weight?

9.       You will try anything, and I mean anything, to try and lose weight. Juice Diet, Zone Diet, Hollywood Diet, Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet, Cabbage Diet, Cookie Diet, Oprah Diet, Tuna Diet, Grapefruit Diet, Master Cleanse Diet, Pasta Diet, Subway (Jerod) Diet, Slim Fast Diet, Scarsdale Diet, etc. Do I need to go on? Then of course there are the diet organizations, and we all know we’ve belonged to more than one, currently belong to one, or have a family member that belongs…I’m not making fun of any of these everyone one of them does the best they can to help people like us lose weight…of course they make money at the same time but just the same take a look if you think it might help you…Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, TOPS, LA Weight Loss Center, Nutri-System, etc.

10.   Last but not least…and you know you’ve been asked what happened to it…your wedding ring is squeezing your finger like a friggin’ vice. You have to take it off or risk losing a finger. Been there, friend.

Being overweight isn’t fun, or funny, it’s painful, depressing, and is a life-long battle. Not only do we have our own weight to deal with most of us have at least 1 family member with the same struggles, right? Well, I’ve finally reached the point where I HAVE to do something about my weight. After giving it a lot of thought I came to the conclusion that nothing would be more motivating than having to write about my successes or failures on the internet for all to see.

I’ll post 2-3x per week, with any luck, and keep you all up to date on my progress…one way or the other. Ill also include my numbers so you can see how I’m doing. Please feel free to email me any time to offer your support, to tell me I’m an idiot, to let me know about your own battles with weight, or anything that you want to get off your chest about the “great weight debate”. My email for this project is   myweightlosspodcast@gmail.com.

Until next time…

Starting Weight – 337

Weight Lost – 0

Current Weight - 337

Weight to Lose – 142