A Journey through Weight and Thyme

Everyone needs a goal. Whether it’s at work, or in a hobby, or in their personal lives. If you don’t have a goal, you tend to drift, like a ship without a rudder, or other cliches as appropriate. I recently got my ass back in gear, because my endo handed my a significant chunk of it, and not on a shinny platter. It might have had some chew marks on it.

So what is the significance of #877? Well, I can’t tell you that yet, but it means something very specific, and very tangible to me. When the time is right, I will reveal what #877 is. I now have a very good reason to loose this weight, and keep it off, for good. Stay tuned!

It’s been a while since I have blogged, mostly because, well, many reasons, but none really that significant. There have been some changes in my life, positive ones for sure. I left my employer, and started my own consulting firm. Thanks to my wife, it has a name that encompasses two of my biggest passions. The company name is Aerodog Solutions. I’ll have a web page posted soon, once all the legal stuff with the state gets settled.

I already have some work coming in, so that makes me very happy. But with all that going on, my diet suffered. I didn’t make good choices, there was a lot of stress, and I over ate. But that is in the past now. Thanks to a tech savvy endocrinologist, I now have a new app on my phone, called “my fitness pal” and it’s helping me get things under control. It has logging of what I eat, exercise I do, and one thing I really like, is that it has a bar code scanner. That makes it really easy to add new foods, you just scan it, and all the nutritional info fills in. And it has a large user group, so things like a slice of papa john’s pepperoni pizza are in there (yes, I already used that). So enough of the sales pitch, it is a great app, available for android, iPhone, and via the web at my fitness pal.

If you get it/use it, you can create a social network on there, so let me know, and we’ll loose weight together.

Day 4 of better choices. So far, we have tried three new recipes, all of which turned out well. Added bonus: lunch for the next day, instead of going out and buying it. So there is some savings in here as well. This morning we had French toast, bacon, and canned peaches. Not bad, I must admit. I feel better too. Mi don’t feel quite so fat. Yes, it’s possible to feel that way. And here’s the strange part, eating more, to loose weight. I haven’t felt so full in a long time. On Wednesday well see how I did.

This morning I had enough. The pants have gotten tight again, there are several jeans I don’t fit into, and it’s time to get re-focused. I can give all kinds of excuses: I was traveling like a mad man, I had no time to eat right, it’s to damn hot to ride a bike with the dogs, etc, etc, etc. It all boils down to one fact: LAZY!! So, while I can’t overcome that inner demon overnight, I can make an effort to do right.

This morning, I stepped on the scale for the first time in months, and it reflected what I felt like. For months now, I pay for Weight Watcher’s e-tolls, but didn’t use them, for things like recording my weight, what I eat, my water intake, etc. It seems overkill, but it works. I know it does, because it worked for me before. The thing that always gets me is I need to eat more then I do, and while I understand the concept, the execution is a little difficult sometimes. Eat to loose weight. But of course, don’t eat just anything and everything. Portion control, good choices, and discipline are the answers, along with exercise. If only i had the money to hire a chef to make good choices, a butler to serve up proper portions, and an exercise coach to keep me moving. That would be sweet! I need a raise!

Beth says I shouldn’t “start over”, the connotation being that I failed. Well, I didn’t fail, I just didn’t succeed. So, this is going to be one day at a time, and hopefully the results will be positive.

It’s been a while since I have sat down and put thought to keyboard. November 22 seems like it was a century ago. Since then, Christmas and New Years came and went, and I am happy to say, I maintained my weight across the holidays. There’s something to be said for that!

Shortly after new years, I had a small medical issue that put me in the hospital for a few days. My heart decided to see what it feels like to beat at 260 beats per minute. I can tell you, it’s an interesting feeling, kinda like large marbles rolling around in your chest. Turns out, I had a short circuit, or more correctly, an arcing circuit on my heart. Thanks to modern medicine, that issue has been fixed, permanently!

Now, like a Phoenix out of the ashes…well, not really ashes, but anyway, I am back on track, made it through Superbowl Sunday with only a medium stomach ache, and living each day with a little more appreciation of life. I know it sounds cliched, and I didn’t think I was dying, but still, having someone mess around with your heart, cause something isn’t working right, does tend to refocus you a bit. My wonderful wife, who was a trooper while I was in the hospital, is also embracing the need to be healthy, and together, we are cooking more at home, and discovering new meals and foods we really enjoy. It’s also showing in our finances…it’s amazing how much going out all the time really cuts into the cash.

So, these are my not so deep thoughts for now, and going forward, I hope to be posting more again. There are travels in my future, to some near and not so near places, so things will be interesting.

Wow, That’s not bad, considering all the hotel food and catered food I ate. Four weeks of high stress in New York, with a quick week at home somewhere in there, and two weeks in Kenya. Overall, I am pleasantly surprised. I am only 1.4 pounds of my lowest weight since I got serious again in August. Now the holidays are a commin! Let’s see if I can use this as a spring board into a good holiday weekend.

I can’t even say I took one step forward this week. A lot of work stress, compounded by a broken washing machine at home led to some bad choices. I did a quick check on the scale this morning, I am up over 2 pounds. Yes, it’s disappointing. Did I know it was going to happen? Yeah, I was pretty sure it would. The bread bowl with baked potato soup last night probably didn’t help. Am I going to let it derail me?

HELL NO!!

I am back on track, and making better choices. The next few weeks are going to be a real challenge, but thanks to some folks, I have been getting some good suggestions on how to deal with being out of my comfort zone.