Like an Unlucky Englishman...

...I'm going to lose 20 Pounds

But first...

This week I lost 4 lbs! Awesome! That makes today, December 26 2009, a great day. To have been losing weight for a year now and to still be losing 4 pounds a week speaks very highly of my consistent efforts!

Wait a sec, it’s actually 2008 and 4 lbs is the total for my first week of attempted weight loss. Fuck.

I'm really disappointed. However, I'm not going to focus on being down, I'm going to examine why this week wasn't as productive as it could have been.

- I only attended 3 work out classes (Fri, Mon, Tue), of a possible 5.

- I wasn't really active at all the rest of the week.

- I ate too much Sunday night.

- I did what is generally unthinkable to me, which is essentially binge in front of other people, last night, at Christmas dinner. I ate a light breakfast at 10 or so, and then didn’t eat anything else until we had a late dinner at 9pm. Big fucking mistake. I was so hungry I had two HUGE helpings of salad with lots of fattening dressings, followed by two HUGE helpings of ham (which I don't even normally even like), 3 HUGE helpings of scalloped potatoes, 3 HUGE helpings of sausage stuffing, 5 rolls, followed by a late night pre-bedtime hamburger, and two pop tarts. Side note, if your morbid curiosity ever prompted you to wonder how someone can even get to 600 lbs, there you go. Then, repeat. Daily.

- I didn't drink very much water the last few days which at this weight leads to a fair bit of water retention.

So, in summary, I wasn't as successful as I would like this last week because
1) I didn't drink enough water
2) I didn't work out consistently enough
3) I didn't regulate my eating well enough.

Wow, shocking findings.

But really, it is valuable to me to evaluate the last week because I can see specifically where I fell down and where I need to shore up my efforts this next week. So, with that in mind, below are my goals for this next week:

1) Drink 6 liters of water daily.
2) Go to the strength/step class at least 4 times.
3) I got a dumbbell/barbell set for Christmas! So, use those for a workout session at least 4 times.
4) Go for 20 minute (at a minimum) walks at least 3 times.
5) Start writing what I eat daily on this blog.
6) No binges.
and last, but certainly not least:
7) Lose 20lbs

I guess I should address the realism of that last goal, and whether or not it is a healthy goal, as it may not seem like it. I do want to do this weight loss/getting healthy thing the right way; for the first time in my life, I really do. And I know that I have in the past put WAY too much emphasis on big weekly numbers. However, I weigh 614 pounds. A person starting their weight loss journey at 614 pounds, if their first week has regular exercise (even 20 mins. of walking daily), reasonable amounts of healthy food, and plenty of water, can expect to lose that much weight.

I know this because of the tragic fact that, like so many fat people, I know how weight loss works. I've done it. I've gone from 350 to 300 in 2 months, from 430 to 370 in one month, from 550 to 370 in 4 months, etc. And while all of those efforts had many things wrong with them, including me taking my food and exercise efforts to an unhealthy extreme, my first week in all of them was just eating right and exercising regularly and I dropped between 10-25 pounds every time.

This time I want to do it right and I know that part of that is creating a lifestyle change (instead of just "dieting") so that I can sustain my health FOREVER. For now though, I think 20 pounds feels right for this next week. So, I've set specific goals, and the most important goal is the overall target to simply exercise consistently and eat right.

Also, I believe that it's key not to beat myself up, so in that interest the sarcastic portions of this blog will be where my self-judging on this last week ends. Conversely, I believe it's equally important to recognize the successes in my struggle, both large and small, so on that note, congratulations to me for working out 3 times last week, for eating right most of the time, and for losing 4 pounds. I've been gaining for the last few months, so while the number wasn't all I wanted it to be, I am finally going the right direction again. That feels good.

*Bonus Game* - Try and guess how much weight I'll lose this upcoming week. Whoever has the closest guess wins the whole jar of gumballs, a second hand Asia Greatest Hits CD, and of course, a Stages of Change windbreaker! Good luck everybody!!