You're never too old...

...for your mom to nag you! [:)]

I have been in the habit of posting my Largest Loser blogs externally too - so that my family and non-Intel friends can follow my progress. So...I came to work this morning, checked my email, and sure enough, there's a note from my mom saying,

"Time to update your blog. You're still ranting and raving on it. You're
down 10 lbs since your last blog.
Mom"

LOL

I love my mom...she's so rarely wrong. And she's living proof that people can change. A few years ago, my mom was a certified "technophobe", barely able to use a computer. Now she's on facebook and reminding me that I haven't blogged in a while.

What does this have to do with anything? Lots. First, people can change. No, really. I mean it. When the Largest Loser competition started I felt thoroughly and completely powerless and defeated regarding my weight. I've managed to do a lot of cool stuff through hard work and determination, but despite all my successes, I had zero confidence in my ability to take control of my weight and wellness.

But like I said, people change. I certainly have. About 6-8 weeks into the Largest Loser competition I noticed a change in my attitude. I've lost over 25 lbs so far (from 319 to 294) and am absolutely certain that I won't be putting that weight back on. Ever. Why am I so confident? Because I've gotten this far by making changes I can live with. I've got a risk-mitigation approach to this whole process. Others are making (much) bigger gains; I'm focused on doing only those things that I can comfortably do forever. I've found that MWF morning workouts fit nicely into my schedule, and I'm not denying myself anything when it comes to food - just being honest with myself about what I'm eating and owning responsibility for making sure I'm on target for my daily caloric intake. If my wife makes snickerdoodles (she has) and I want some (I do!) then I need to eat a little bit lighter throughout the day (I have).

So...if you're reading this and are feeling like you just can't do anything about your wellness, I hope this puts a crack or two into the walls you've put up. I used to feel intimidated by an ideal weight that was 75 lbs away. Now I can say with confidence, "25 lbs down, only 50 to go". Only 50. I'll be there by mid-year at the latest.

Oh...and I'm only 13 lbs away from my skiiing weight. Should be skiing with my kids by winter break.

Don't be encumbered by the past. Go out and do something wonderful!

Begin rant

Oh, for God's sake, what the hell is going on here? AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!.

End rant

Ok...got that off my chest. For those faithful readers out there that weren't in FM2 this morning for the weigh-in, I stepped on the scale and was rewarded with 301.6...which is exactly the same weight I was at 2 weeks ago...and about 4 lbs more than last week.

Ugh.

For the last 4 weeks my weight has been bouncing around all over the place. It's annoying as hell...and has gotten me pissed off about it, which, for me, is a good thing.

Ok...first, my bountiful list of excuses and justifications:

1. I went to Disneyland and drank a ton of diet soda & ate a bag of sunflower chips (sodium intake spikes, gain water weight as a result)
2. Got back into drinking water when I returned to work (sodium intake goes down, shed water weight)
3. Forgot to take my blood pressure medication yesterday (it's a diuretic...skipping it makes me retain water weight)
4. The sun was in my eyes
5. There's a hole in my glove

Ok...now some admissions:

1. I have not yet completed our trainer's weekly homework assignment to do 50 crunches, push-ups, and squats each day on the weekend.
2. I only met my calorie intake goal three days last week.
3. I missed my net calorie target twice last week

.....

ok...just got back from a walk from 4th floor FM7 to 4th floor FM6 and back (311 calories burned )

So...I had a rant, made some excuses, got honest with myself about my behavior, and took a walk to burn off some stress. What's next?

First, pat myself on the back for...well...not self-correcting, but at least self-diagnosing. Second, another pat on the back for all the work that got me this far. Third, a kick in the arse, which seems necessary at this point. Now that I'm good & pissy about where I'm at, I'm committing to doing all of the following:

1. Meet or exceed my caloric burn target daily for a week, starting today
2. Be at or under my caloric burn target daily for a week, starting today
3. Increase the intensity of my M/W/F workouts (time to add a few pounds to my weight lifting routine)
4. Do my 50/50/50 assignment on saturday and sunday
5. Walk the FM6-FM7 circuit at least once each day, M-F
6. Eat a piece of carrot cake tonight
   

Some of you may be wondering about number 5. At first glance, it seems stupid and/or counterproductive. Here's my thinking - I think a big part of my problem has been making excuses about why I'm eating more than my daily target of calories. So today I'm demonstrating for myself that I can have my cake and eat it too . I'm gonna eat a piece of cake, wash it down with a glass of milk, log my calories, and by God, I'm hitting my caloric target too. I had a light breakfast and lunch today, I've got plenty of calories left over to accomodate a snack, dinner, and dessert.

I think I relaxed a bit...started taking my weight loss for granted a bit. As I like to say, it's time for me to "get your head in the game or get off the field!"

Bottom line - for me, or anyone else out there that feels like progress towards their own wellness goals has stalled - now is not the time to be discouraged, or to entertain thoughts of defeat. Now is the time to take action - take an honest look at what you're doing and figure out what you're going to do differently. Because you already know what you're going to get out of what you're doing now!

"Don't be encumbered by the past, go out and do something wonderful!"

-Robert Noyce