Previous Weight Loss (November 28-September 4): 32.4 pounds
Weight Loss: September 4-October 2: 2 pounds
Total Weight Loss (November 28-October 2): 34.4 pounds
End of Year Weight Loss Goal: 50 pounds
Remaining to 2017 Goal: 15.6 pounds
So much for boot camp in September! It was my lowest weight-loss month since I began this journey. But to my credit, I did overcome some adversity. Three weeks ago, I had already lost two pounds, getting September off to a good start. Then two weeks ago, I had a couple of cheat days in a row, complete with Italian Cream Cake one day and an entire pint of Haagen Dazs Rocky Road the next. A few days later, I had gained the two pounds back, plus two more. Last week, though, I rallied and got back to my two pounds down range.
I’m proud that I salvaged what could have been a real setback. Still, I know that September was a missed opportunity. October will be better. Count on it. Being accountable to USR readers helps keep me more honest than I’d be otherwise. But the end-of-year deadline I set for myself looms large. I have three weigh-ins left until January 1. It’s not quite fourth down and half a football field with ten seconds on the clock, but meeting my goal will be a challenge.
Now that I’m struggling a little, a few well-meaning people are subtly giving me diet advice. One friend keeps talking about how his diet of Cheerios and a banana for breakfast, a turkey on wheat sandwich for lunch, and a salad for dinner keeps him fit. I love this friend dearly, but his bland, limited eating habits are not especially inspiring. Nor does he realize that he’s actually consuming more calories in his Cheerios/banana/glass of orange juice breakfast than I am when I eat two scrambled eggs with a little green onion, red bell pepper, and a touch of cheese thrown in, a slice of turkey bacon, and half an English muffin with a teaspoon of jam. For one thing, as a grown man, he has to eat more than one serving of Cheerios not to be hungry before lunch. I, on the other hand, find my two-egg breakfast extremely filling.
What’s more, eating the same thing all the time doesn’t bother him because he’s not really a foodie. I, however, would find his eating routine too limiting. I want a variety of delicious, bright, cheerful, satisfying foods. Cheerios? I believe I can get more bang for my food buck.
And yet, I’m learning to take such things in stride. My friend isn’t to blame for my weight-loss issues and is simply trying to be supportive. He was just born with the genetic good fortune and willpower not to have to concern himself with calories. In contrast, people who struggle with weight loss know how many calories are in every morsel. We know what foods to eat to lose weight and how much. It’s that sometimes we just don’t bloody want what’s good for us and choose the Haagen Dazs deliberately. I will probably continue to do so. The question is whether I can develop enough willpower to bounce back immediately after the Rocky Road. (I think there’s a metaphor in that. The “rocky road” of weight loss.) I realize that it will be a lifelong struggle to stay vigilant.
I continue to work out every single day. Today is 183 days straight of exercise. I’ve still only missed two days of exercise in 2017, so the total number of days I’ve exercised in 2017 is 273.
Keep your fingers crossed that October will be a solid weight loss month. Next check-in: November 6.
