Monday Check In

Mornin, world.

Just a very short blog post today to check in and keep on track. After being back on plan for a little while, I'm seeing my weight creep slowly back down a bit, as expected.  Returning to better eating habits means shedding some water weight right off the bat. The trick now is to keep on target again and keep motivated, exercise, walk, etc.

I'm hoping to have some new recipes up online to share soon too, as we have a beautiful new kitchen at the house and I am eager to get into more home cooking again.  We made a fish recipe recently that was good apart from me underestimating the power of the new oven and overcooking it slightly.

I've got a whole new set of walking routes now that we moved too, so I'll have some photos of that to share as well.  I am going to get a post up in the next few days talking about some of the other things I've been up to lately.

Haven't got much else to say today so.. here is a pic of some clouds. Kaybye.



Dukan Reboot!



Click for Ze Big Version



Last week I started the Dukan Diet all over again, from the ground up.  Since ending my strict adherence to the diet in January this year, I put about 10 pounds back on and knew it was time to get back on track.

I didn't weigh in yet this week but expect to see that number dip down lower as I shed water weight, since I am back on a no/low salt diet.  I'm  not worried about putting 10 pounds on, since I know I have all the right tools and motivation to be able to lose it.  I also have the privilege of a lot of support from family and friends, and my very small number of blog readers (thanks for being here, sorry, there's no free beer.)

Putting things back into perspective is a good start for me.  I weighed 340 pounds at one point. Now I'm 260, and slowly falling. I've still managed to shed 80 pounds.  That's nothing to sneeze at.  Let me see.. how to best put that into perspective? The average weight of a thanksgiving turkey from the store is about 15 pounds. Let's call it 20 to be generous. That means.. if I wanted to replicate what it was like to be me at my heaviest right now, I'd need to..



Pick up 4-5 of these at once and lug them about 24/7!!!

Alrighty!

I feel sufficiently motivated now. :)

I have another tool in my arsenal, a new grill we bought after moving. I'm learning my way around it still - it's much better than my trusty ancient one I ditched during the move. Grilling is a fantastic way to cook healthy veggies and meats, no matter the time of year.  This one took about 4 hours to put together, has a nice little side burner. Nothing fancy, but it makes me happy.

We also haven't quite gotten to housewarming yet and a grill is downright necessary for that IMHO.

Over and out - wish me luck in round 2!

Some guy

Two Fiddy

Mark - Minecraft style.

I have a very short blog post today - but a very important one to me.
I hit my first major long-term goal on this plan, this morning.

250 pounds. :)

Since embarking on this change, I have therefore dropped 71 pounds - but it's more like 90 since I really started attempting to lose weight by joining my sister at a local gym way back in January of 2010.

It's been quite a journey the last four and a half months.  I've had so much support from friends, family and co-workers and I can't thank people enough for all of it.  I am feeling very good and looking forward to the rest of this year, and hopefully achieving my next big goal - losing a full 100 pounds on this new plan, which I'll do when I hit 221.  I'll call it 220 just to round things off.  That won't be the end, but it'll be what I initially set out to do.

Apart from numbers on a scale, I have learned to respect food in a new way, and to be selective when shopping, snacking and going out to eat.  With a better understanding of nutrition I don't feel like I am 'on a diet' any more.  I feel like I am in control of my eating habits, for the first time in many years.

This is the last blog post I am going to be making for awhile, too.  Dawn and I are off to Maui this Sunday and gone for a week.

Anyone who wants to see where we'll be can check this out:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=221+S+Kihei+Rd,+Kihei,+HI+96753&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.621153,113.818359&oq=221+S&vpsrc=0&hnear=221+S+Kihei+Rd,+Kihei,+Hawaii+96753&t=h&z=17

Aloha.  I'll be back with more recipes, inane antics, and such when we return.

I never made a blog post about Christmas day, even.

Such a slacker, sheesh. ;)

-Mark

( -__- )

Pre-Vacation Weigh In

Click for Ze Beeg Version™

I can't claim to have been particularly attentive to my diet the last few days - I had french fries a couple of times, and some biscuits the other night, and even munched on some french toast with syrup. Somehow, I've still managed to lose a couple of my holiday pounds and that's a good thing.  Down to 252 this week, lowest I've managed to get yet.  That puts me one pound shy of losing 70 pounds since the start of my Dukan-based diet.

Next Sunday, we're headed out to Hawaii.  It's the first time we've been and we're both super excited about it and making all sorts of plans.  I'm sure while I am there, I'll sample assorted foods and do some drinking, but hopefully the damage will be minimal. We'll see.  Leslie was all excited about trying 'Loco Moco' which is a dish they have all over that sounds like someone's focused, deliberate attempt to put every single thing I have avoided eating on this diet onto one delicious, fat, carb and calorie-clogged plate.

I'm so looking forward to it.

Here's the first image you get from google if you look for "Loco Moco"

Eggs, Beef, Gravy, Rice, noodles, mac salad... and red dye #3

Apparently in Hawaii, everything you eat also comes with a scoop of macaroni salad.  I was somewhat familiar with this thanks to the local presence of L&L Hawaiian BBQ in Lynnwood, which has very tasty mac salad.  Curious about this, I tapped into the mighty power of the intertubes and asked, "why is macaroni salad so popular in Hawaii".

This is what the intertubes taught me.

I'll sum up for you though. As with most comfort foods - that shit was easy to make, and cheap, and abundant, so now it is everywhere.

Alrighty, over and out.

Time to fess up

Alrighty, it's time to put this up here so I can move forward.  December was awesome - tons of fun stuff going on - but it really marked a halt in the battle of Mark Vs. Mark.  A cease fire.. a lapse.. a... well...

I like to think of it as a momentary truce time for the holidays.  I neither gained nor lost weight, and the Germans had time to retrieve their dead from the battlefield.

I've got a vacation looming mid-January which is going to be awesome, too - but probably a serious food temptation. And while I have noble goals of exercising while in Hawaii...

Yeah. ;)

So my current battle plan is to come back from that action and dig into things again. I've let off on the throttle a little the last month to see what happens.  I'm actually pretty psyched to see that I will be able to maintain my weight level.  That said, I've got 50 or so pounds to go still on my weight loss and they are going to be much harder to shed than the ones I've already dropped.

This is just a short, start-of-2012, here we go - motivation time sort of post!

One more thing. Here's me in September 2011 - versus January 2012. 

42.3 BMI

33.6 BMI

Since starting this lifestyle change, I have been out walking and seen more of the world, I've participated in a charity 5K, I've been able to fit into chairs and booths at restaurants, I've had enough energy to feel antsy and want to get off my ass and do stuff on the weekend, and I have learned to cook a bunch of really awesome, tasty, healthy food.

I am excited to see where I can go next and very thankful for all of the support from people in my life, and for the small but mighty few of them who read this blog I've been writing.  If you are one of them, why not leave a comment on this post and tell me to get off my ass and back in gear for 2012. I could use the motivation. :D

<3

Mark

Monday Weigh-In + Weekend Stuffs

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Good morning, humans.

I had a pretty decent week, sliding down another few pounds. My low was 252 even yesterday morning, but this morning I was back up a tad. Hey, I had a nice steak dinner last night, sue me! :)

I had a particularly sinful meal this weekend while company was over, some delivery Chinese food from the place down the block. I had a small portion of rice and noodles, and then some Mongolian beef, a potsticker, and a portion of sweet and sour chicken.  I wanted to see what was going to happen in the wake of it. The answer? Not much. As predicted in the Dukan diet book - having an off-plan meal occasionally is just fine, and I have definitely kept it very occasional.

I did experience something this weekend for the first time in months, though, which surprised me.  The return of the urge to snack.  Up until now, I have not really felt that very much.  If I had to guess, I would say it came back at me due to a combination of eating meals at improper times (I had late breakfast one morning, and very late lunch yesterday) - and also my metabolism is in a slightly higher gear, I might not be getting enough calories. Time to re-check that.  I added something new to my diet recently too, occasionally - the Clif Builder's bars. They have a pretty solid amount of protein in them and lots of vitamins, they are a good once in a while addition to things.  I've been looking for the best deal on them too and it looks like of all places, Amazon might be the one - you can 'subscribe' to them, and have some delivered on a regular basis, and they become cheaper than at any store around us (even Trader Joe's.)

We had a pretty social weekend.  Friday we went to hang out with the Bhargavas, and Jason.  It was a pretty chill evening, primarily comprised of sitting around playing Saints Row 3 and getting Leslie to giggle.  The day after that, Jason and Ron came over to hang out and we had the Chinese food I mentioned above, watched some movies, etc.  Dawn and I managed to get the rest of our holiday shopping done and now we're able to just relax this week heading into Christmas.  I had a fun moment when we were at the Fred Meyer in Lynnwood - a co-worker of mine who is at a different office bumped into us and gave me a very funny look and said, "Wow. Did you lose a bunch of weight recently? You look great!" I'll admit it feels pretty awesome hearing something like that.

And now, a video of my bubble lights, because they are awesome. Thanks for reading, peoples.

An even week. Weigh in time.

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So I have been doing this crazy new diet/exercise thing for 15 weeks now.  I am pretty in tune with what will help me and what will hinder me, and when I deviate more towards the latter these days it is will full knowledge of what I am up to.

That was this week, but a couple of reasons. One of them was I wasn't feeling very good Monday - I had major aches and pains in my chest which travelled to my shoulders, neck, and arms.  Soreness I earned by deciding to run the couple of days right before that.  I'd like to say it was worth it but I was miserable because of it. That made it easier to give myself a pass on walking when Friday rolled along and we had a party for work, where we spent all day down in Seattle. No walks that day. I did eat responsibly for the most part.

Oh hi, non-diet-compatible food.

Then we hooked up with Jason and went out to get Indian food, and I indulged in rice, naan bread, sauces, etc. Followed it up with dessert at home, some chocolate brownie ice cream.  Next day, hanging out with Jason we hit up a diner, and I decided I'd get a chicken sandwich that had feta cheese on it, and of course, buttery grilled rye bread.

No walks Saturday, either. Kept it easy and mellow.

At one point this week I was down to 255, but then I had those couple days and settled right back up at 257-258, where I started out.  No loss, no gain.  No biggie.

Back on track in the new week!  There's an insurance company phrase called 'accident forgiveness' - I think I will give myself some 'Nomming forgiveness.'



Be happy, tree hat guy! It's Christmas!



We also ended the weekend in a proper healthy manner - by doing the 2011 Jingle Bell Run/Walk down in Seattle, a 3.2 mile (5K) walking course through the streets of Seattle.  Parul took fantastic pictures, so I will just send you over to his flickr site to see them.

That said, he's one of my favorites ->

There were tons of people there with some awesome hats and stuff. I challenged Parul to find someone wearing a super-festive hat, but who looked grouchy about it - he definitely won that challenge with this shot.

All in all it was a busy week and the weekend was busy as well.  I guess I technically did walk Saturday as Dawn and I ran a bajillion errands, including a foolish trip to the Alderwood Mall where we walked and mingled with the sea of humanity which was there.  Not a good idea.

I feel much better this week, and I am ready to focus again and keep battling myself.

Over 'n out.

Monday Weigh In + Jingle Bells Walks and Donations.

Click for Ze Beeg Version™

Good morning, peeps.

My weigh-in this morning is 257 even, it was another successful week where I shed about 4 pounds and had some fun new things happen which I shall discuss.  It's looking more and more like I might hit my mini-goal of 250 by the end of the year. I'm pretty stoked about that, 7 pounds to go and about 26 days, yeah I think I can do that.  Here's a little peek at my numbers as well for my total health plan.  I still can't quite believe them but I am enjoying the results every day:

I have a pretty long way to go still and it is going to get much tougher from here on out.  I think my metabolism is in proper working order now, and I definitely have my appetite under much better control.  I'm going to guess that my weight loss will start to slow over the next few months as a combination of holidays and vacations kick in, and it gets colder and nastier outdoors and harder to get out there and walk.  I'm going to have to hit the gym again in order to keep it going, which I have been wanting to do for a while now anyway.  I'm sure it'll just become another part of the routine like anything - I did it before, I can do it again. This time with more energy and certainly much more focus.

Ducks on the golf course, having a bath.

I did a personal experiment this weekend when I did my walks on the college trail - both Saturday and Sunday.  I tried jogging part of the trail to see  how it would go.  Saturday, I wan the whole leg of the trail along 207th, and then ran the paved part of the trail which dips into the college parking lot. I'd say that's about 1/4 of the total trail overall.  Sunday, I walked the opposite direction and did the same.

Result? Ouch. I am feeling it - my left hip was aching a bit yesterday, and my muscles are awake and letting me know they are aware I upped the game this morning.  But both days, I was about to do the 2.5 miles in about 38 minutes, not bad. On average it means I'm doing a 15-minute mile.  Jogging the entire path has definitely become an appealing goal, but I am not quite ready.  Fortunately, it's less because of being out of breath etc. and more because my body needs a bit more fitness (which the gym will help with) - to make it realistic.

Saturday this weekend, I went down to West Seattle with Dawn, Jason and Leslie and we did something pretty awesome. More on that in tomorrow's post. :)

We also got our Christmas decorations up - 90% of the way, I still have a couple more small things to do.  Here's a picture of the tree, Dawn always does a fantastic job with it and this year was no exception.  We have family over for Xmas every year.

Time for something a little more serious + fun, too:

The Seattle Jingle Bell 5K Walk/Run

I have a walking event coming up thanks to Leslie + Parul. This weekend is the Seattle Jingle Bell Run and I am going along for the shenanigans.  I will be walking 5K - about 3.2 miles, with jingle bells tied to me.  This event is held every with the goal of raising funds in the name of preventing, controlling and curing arthritis. 

If you feel so inclined, it is possible to make a donation to support my fundraising goal which I have set at $100. If you'd like to do that, please check out the following link, but that is certainly nothing I'd pressure anyone into.

http://seattlejinglebellrun.kintera.org/mkrepela

Here's a map showing the route!

Weigh In, Five, and Weekend Shenanigans.

The chart™

Morning, peeps! I didn't blog all holiday weekend but a lot of stuff sure happened.  First here's my Monday check in:

261 pounds. That means I'm exactly 60 pounds under my starting weight - a goal has been reached. :)

That also means I am a mere 40 pounds from my goal weight, and once I get there I don't plan to stop, I'm going to just have different goals beyond weight loss by that time.  I'll update my goal sheet and share that sometime soon too, but here's a fun look at my overall weight progress, both on my current push and overall. 

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving. I am going to devote a separate post to that tomorrow, since I have to hijack some awesome photos from Dawn's digital camera to spice it up.  To sum up though, it was very fun and food-friendly, too. I had some turkey, some green beans and mushrooms, and a little bit of a pretty righteous cake Dawn made for dessert. More on all that, later.

Friday, I did a short little bit of work in the morning, just for an hour or so.  I mostly popped by the office to see if it was busy enough that I needed to be there.. at the time it sure wasn't.  While I was there I learned that a co worker had some stuff which prevented really doing much for Thanksgiving.  That doesn't work for me, so after I left the office I went and got some apple cider and a couple of different types of cookies from the deli, and brought them back for the people working that day.

The Bhargavas in action.

Leslie and Parul dropped by mid day and we all went out to eat lunch at a Mongolian grill in Lynnwood.  Then the two of them went out walking with me on the good old college trail.  Thanks to their advanced gadgetry, I now know that the college walk is 5500 steps, and 2.5 miles. It was cool having the company and it was a beautiful day for a walk, sunny and dry.  As you can see in this photo, these two are just melting away!

Saturday, Dawn and I took care of some chores around the house and then she decided to go walking with me.  She's recovering from a hurt knee and bronchitis - but nonetheless, she walked the whole college trail with me, quite a trooper! I would put a picture of her up here too but generally speaking, I value my life enough not to post pictures of Dawn without her consent and signature in triplicate. Love you honey!

We went out to eat at Five in Edmonds that evening, a favorite hangout of ours. We shared some hummus and then ordered a few small pizzas for dinner.  I made a crack that it was going to be the most bread I've eaten in months.  I couldn't help but recall how we'd been at the same place several months earlier, at which time Parul ordered a pizza (he's a known pizza fiend) and made a comment about how he was breaking his food plan on purpose for the night. The parallel is amusing to me.

It's worth it:



Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella



Pear and Gorgonzola



Sunday, we started the day out with some serious laziness and it never got better for me, I didn't take a walk or do much of anything that particular day.. but, whatever. ;)

My brother and his daughter came by mid-afternoon and we all went out to grab some sushi from Blue C at the mall,  which Tessa likes.  I sneakily parked us a small distance from the restaurant so we could get in a minor little walk, haha. We rounded out the day and I made a healthy meatloaf for dinner, and Dawn made some of her righteous vegetarian soft tacos.

One other thing happened too.  I mentioned I have a holiday party coming up on 12/11 and I needed to decide what to wear, and was worried my clothes don't fit very well at the moment.  I tried on several sweaters and jackets from my closet, found out several are too big, one was too small, one is okay.

Then I tried on the button shirt that I wore for my wedding, and which I had worn to a few other holiday parties. A shirt that used to barely fit, and was super uncomfortable, tight, made my very self-conscious. Expecting it to be snug, I was utterly stunned when it floated on me. As in, I could pull it five or six inches out from my chest and stomach and the sleeves are too long.

I had to tell Dawn, "Sorry, I'm having a moment here. A 'Go Mark' moment. Hell yeah!" :D

Monday, Thanksgiving Looms, and Hike Plans.

Click for Big Size™

Gooood morning. My Monday weigh-in is 264 today - down 4.5 pounds from last Monday.  I was actually down to 262.5 at my lowest, yesterday morning, kinda freaked me out a bit to me that much lower than I was on this past Monday.

I had last Thursday+Friday off, and the 4-day weekend was awesome. Leslie did my walk with me Friday, and I ate pretty responsibly at the party she held Saturday evening.  She had some of that good chili going on, and I had some veggie crisps.

Yesterday, I had some leftover turkey tacos for lunch and in the evening, grilled up a couple of low-fat burgers, chopped fresh pickle and tomato, and lettuce, and I tried some 100-calorie whole wheat sandwich thins for buns.

I didn't get out walking Saturday or Sunday - gave myself a pass for the weekend as I was caring for Dawn in her sickness, and kind of busy.  I wonder if that, combined with adding a little bread back in, accounts for me fluctuating, weight-wise.

I don't really care, still making good progress.  :)

Here's a summary of my progress at the moment, looking pretty good. Over halfway now to my goal weight of 221 - psyched to be on the downhill!  I still look in the mirror and think, "Oh look, a fat guy." I think I'll be dealing with that for quite a while, I'm not used to there being less of me yet. It's pretty good motivation if nothing else.

Now, in truth.. I'm getting a little scrawny on the arms and chest department, and I have bony hips going on, it's a little weird for me.  Definitely about time to get my ass (also bony) to the gym and see about adding a little bit of weight training to the cardio I've been so good about.  I don't need to 'buff up' or anything, but I want to be more fit so when the time comes, I am able to do stuff like running, climbing, etc.  To me, that's the real 'phase III' of my plan.

I figure I need a goal, for that.  I think I have one, too.  Since I've been walking so much, one of these weekend days when the weather is cooperating, I am going to try hiking from my place over to the Alderwood Mall, and then back.  There are 2 viable routes. The one I'd probably take to avoid waiting at a ton of lights is 3.7 miles, making it a 7.4 mile hike.  I'm guessing that's about an hour each way, at my walking pace. Call it 1 hour, fifteen minutes with wait times for lights maybe.

I'm psyched to do it - and I'm psyched that I'm psyched to do it.  I think it'll be fun.

Now, I just need a weekend day where it isn't pouring down rain or snow. We'll see. ;)

Thanksgiving is this week and that is going to be very fun, we go to my sister's house for that every year and people bring good eats.  We deep-fry a turkey, and oven roast another - there are a lot of mouths to feed!  We'll be making sure there are Dukan friendly foods there too since several of us going are on good eating plans at the moment.  It'll be interesting to see how it goes.  I know I'll eat smart and have a wonderful time.

One more thing:

My burgers from last night.  93/7 beef, sliced tomato, chopped pickle, 100 calorie whole wheat sandwich thins, mustard, Heinz reduced-fat ketchup.

Nom nom. About 350 calories, with the bun in.

Monday weigh-in, the big Five-Oh, and German Chow.



Click for Ze Big Version

 Goood morning, peoples. I was a little too busy (and then too preoccupied) to blog over the weekend.  Instead, I did something else - passed the 50 pounds lost milestone on my diet! Passed it and never looked back.  My official (Well, you know, as official as a weigh-in which consists of me and a scale at 6:45am can be) weight this morning was 268.1.  I had to check it about three times, I was so psyched.

Numbers do not lie.

To recap some numbers, since this is a numbers-y post, that means I have come down a total of 52.9lb, losing a cool 6.4 pounds this last week.  That's one of my biggest loss weeks since the start of this change, probably motivated by knowing I cheated the week before.  In the longer-haul, that puts my overall total loss at 71.9lb as you can see on this amazing Markmade™ chart.

While I will be the first person to tell anyone bored enough to listen that your weight on a scale is but one of many things which matter when losing weight and getting healthier, I think that's pretty damned awesome. :)

This weekend I did something I would have never even considered a year ago.  Dawn went off to Seattle to a photo class, and I knew we had a wedding reception (Congrats again Ted + Amy!) that night.  We didn't have a card yet... so I decided I'd just head out the door and walk to the store. Not the store 6 blocks down either, but the one about 1.5 miles from home.  After I got to the store and obtained cards: MISSION SUCCESS! -- I found it was pouring rain. So I walked 1.5 miles home in the pouring rain.

Guess I'll have a good story to tell them young whippersnappers some day. "When I was your age..."

Last night, Dawn and I did some grocery shopping and stopped at that same store when we finished up and I said, "I think I am gonna just have you leave me here, and I'll walk home. Yep, I'm serious." And off I went. :)

Amazing what you can do when you start to feel better.



Rollin' em up..



In other news, Christmas is just around the corner, about 6 weeks now. We always have some people over, a nice family and friends feast. That means this year, those coming to my place for Xmas chow get to eat food prepared by a vegetarian and a high-protein, low-fat diet enthusiast!

Dawn has decided in the wake of a kick-ass trip to Leavenworth this August that we're making German food for people this holiday.


Cookin 'ems!



She tried a few experimental recipes tonight as practice, and I was absolutely psyched by the results. Sure.. a little off-plan for me, but so tasty. And it's for the sake of the holidays.. so it's OK, right? Right?



She made some sauteed red cabbage with balsamic vinegar,  some spaetzle (egg noodle pasta) with meatless meatballs and mushroom sauce (Yes we used 98% fat free soup!), and a Rouladen (German meat-roll up) which I later labelled a meat zeppelin.  Oh, it was fantastic.  Thinly-pounded round steak brushed with Dijon mustard, diced onion, paprika + spices, and a few strips of turkey bacon, rolled up, cooked in a pan and served with gravy.

Yeah, I am not giving away more since this is an Xmas thing for peeps this year, but I had to share a few pix.  The cabbage was also pretty good but we think we'll try another recipe for that.

Anyway - in honor of passing the 50 pounds lost waypoint, I thought I'd make a little picture by way of celebration. So, here are 50 little pixel Marks. ;)

And the fallen shall rise.. temporarily.

Click for the big version.

So, last week was quite a challenge for me.  To put it mildly.  It was a week filled with fun stuff, but also with a bit of cheating on my diet for the first time.

Part of my blog here is to cop to that - and I did. I gave myself a pass when I took Dawn out to dinner for her birthday and it was the first of several times I cheated on the food plan this week.  I had a little birthday cake, a handful of Cheetos, and I even had a fast-food burger Sunday (though, no cheese, etc.. pretty plain.)

Probably to me - the worst cheat though is I didn't get a walk in on Saturday.  I just didn't have enough time early in the day (though I busted ass doing tons of house chores the evening before and that morning, so I dud burn some calories).  And the day was a long one filled with company, no real time to get it in there.

As you can see on the grand old chart, there were predictable consequences to this stuff, I put a pound on this week.  A chart that just goes down is boring anyway, right?

Right?

Yeah, OK. I can't but that either, and I'm the one selling it. ;)

So this week is 'get back on track' week for me.  I'm not worried about last week, because it gave me a chance to re-evaluate my goals, re-examine my behavior and tell myself, "Well, well, well. You sort of screwed that up there, dude. Way to go. Now, can we please get back to being responsible?"

I did get in a very nice long walk Sunday, I took some mail Dawn had down to the post office on foot, then walked over and walked the college trail back, and that felt really great.  It's getting mighty cold outside, in the mid thirties these past few mornings.. I'm not seeing many people out on the trail now.  Soon it will just be me and my headphones.

Monday Weigh in (Week 9)

I love autumn around the Pacific Northwest.

It's another goal achievement week for me! To cut to the chase, my scale weight this morning is 273.5, putting me past my 275 goal.  I did quite a bit of exercise this weekend and it has rewarded me handsomely.

My 275 goal reward was a new winter coat - going to need one soon enough too at the rate things are going. Check out that beautiful fall foliage and fog!

However, I am fitting into some older clothing lately and that includes about three jackets I have never worn very much, so I am good to go for a little while longer before taking the plunge and getting a nicer heavy-duty coat.  Got to decide, too.. go for another leather jacket? Or try something else this time.. hmm. Decision time.

My next goal weight is 260, and realistically I am expecting to be on target for that sometime in December.  I have the hurdle of Thanksgiving (and possible vacation time) to go through before then - but I survived Halloween (Well, almost!) without cheating, except for a nibble on a piece of cheesecake Dawn brought home the other day from a lunch out with friends.

Run for your lives!

Plans are already brewing for some things next year too, since a few of us are getting in better shape this year.  I'm thinking about jumping on board for these too - seems intimidating right now, but something to work towards? You bet.

The awesomest sounding one is "Run for your lives!" - a 5K run where you are chased by zombies, and have to navigate obstacles. 

Leslie and Parul also want to go Sky Diving. I dunno about that one.  I've got no fear of heights, but the idea of tossing myself out of a plane taps the little part of my brain which says, "Life is finite, the skill of parachute makers may not be." So we'll see about that one. ;)

Either way it seems clear to me that the future holds more variety in terms of activities, and they are a fun and healthy thing to work towards.  I would really like to feel that I can get off my ass and go do whatever I want without thinking ahead of time whether it's too tiring, too uncomfortable... yeah.  Think I will start small though. There's a track near our home.  I wonder, in a few months, how quickly I can do a mile? I remember hating that in high school, but I was a chubby kid then too.  I think the only time in my adult life I wasn't was during college when I was a lot more active.

Hey wait.. being active makes you healthy?

Who knew! XD

Alrighty, one other little thing to chat about here.  This is regarding the Dukan Diet.  Technically I am on "Phase 2" or the so-called "Cruise Phase." I am supposed to be alternating pure protein days with protein+vegetable days.  I'm gonna go on record here and state that I have not been playing by the rules very strictly for a few weeks.  I haven't done a pure protein day since early October, and I don't seem to be suffering a bit for it. That's just ME mind you - if anyone else is on this diet, don't use me as an example.. we're all different.

I am getting by by making smart food choices, and smart choices about what to do with my free time when it crops up.  I do keep a mantra from the Dukan Diet pretty strongly in mind when shopping for food.

"Low or no fat, low or no carb, low or no sodium.  Starches begone!"

Alright, that's admittedly the first time I've said that, but it's pretty much how I think when looking at product labels.  The main think the diet has drilled into me is to consider what is in the food I eat.  I'm going to revisit one of my earlier blog posts sometime soon, my ten eating sins, and check in again on how that's going.

My little mantra there would sound a LOT cooler in Italian. Let's see what google translate can do for me.

"Basso o nullo contenuto di carboidrati grassi, basso o nullo, basso contenuto di sodio o no. Amidi Vattene!"

OK, here's the goods.

Clicky Clicky

Monday Weigh-In

Clicky Clicky

A couple of pretty cool things happened this past week.  First, Leslie was nice enough to toss a new scale at us - which measures in tenths of a pound, and seems much more accurate than the other one we had hanging around for years.  The older scale, I would step on it 3-4 times in a row and get variances by as much as two pounds.  I'd have to do it several time to 'calibrate' it. Hahaha.. well, it was good enough but I am going to trust the new one now.

The other, I have broken through that 280 barrier, down to 278.5 as of today's weigh-in. That puts me at a total loss so far of 42.5 pounds. I'm creeping up on being halfway towards my weight loss goal which is pretty cool, but I know it is going to get much harder from here forward.

The combination of darker, colder days and less opportunities to be outside doing things will present a challenge.  Being stuck indoors more also leads to more temptation to relax on the diet too,  and there are still several holidays, big birthday parties, etc. to get through and not cave in to temptations.  So far so good. :)

Yesterday I took a small left turn from my diet for lunch.  We went out to the mall to Blue-C Sushi, a favorite of ours locally.  For the first time since August I had rice (albeit a small amount) and also on my salad there were a few skinny slices of chicken that had some breading on them.  The food was delicious, but man I could really taste how much salt there was in some of the items, since I've been on a low sodium diet. It really was interesting.  I used to dunk sushi into soy sauce, now I barely dipped pieces.

Rounded off the day with more of the chili lime marinated chicken which has quickly become a favorite for me, and I have some left for lunch today too.

Dawn brought along her digital camera, so here are some lovely pix of the 2 items (apart from my salad, which is mostly lettuce and carrot shreds) that I had for lunch. :)



Seared Tuna with miso dipping sauce



A lobster roll with cucumber and soy sauce.



Monday weigh-in - and picture time.

Happy Monday, my very small scattering of blog readers. It's time for another weekly weigh-in and I decided it was about time for some new pictures, since the other ones were from about a month ago. Dawn was kind enough to take a few of me yesterday.  Without further ado:



October 16 front pic

October 16th side pic



This morning I weighed in at 283.  That means since August 29th I have dropped 38 pounds.  I'm at a slow and steady weight loss rate now which is to be expected.  Most important is that I am feeling great! I have more energy, and I am much more active. I'm fitting into clothes which have hung unworn in my closet for years.

I'm still not sure if I am hitting correct calorie counts.  Leslie got on me about that again, and rightly so.  I'm putting together a list of the things I seem to eat the most often lately and their nutrition content, so I can get on top of that. Insufficient calories can greatly slow weight loss and isn't healthy for you for a number of reasons.

I really appreciate the encouragement and support of my friends and family, it really does make a great difference in my ability to stick to my guns.

The grand old chart:

Click for full size