New Plans Same as the Old Plans

I’m on the second week on the new lifestyle which was the most recent lifestyle only there is no contest now.

Finished the 10 day portion of the cleanse and am on the same eating schedule I was on for the 3 previous months.

This will sound sad to you but I’m kind of glad.  I can see that I am not good at making smart meal decisions and after the weekend of dubious eating choices I feel more comfortable with the shake for breakfast, the salad for lunch and the steamed vegetables with chicken or fish for dinner.  I’m also not as uptight about it now.  With no contest looming in the distance I don’t kill myself emotionally if I eat a donut at work or a cookie or a dozen.

The key for me is not making a misstep into a binging week.  Have a cookie, don’t eat cookies nonstop for a week.  Believe or not that was how it used to be.  Even better, say you eat a little too much on Wednesday thereby blowing your diet and think to yourself “oh well, I’ll start again next Monday” or next month or next year.  That was the old philosophy.

Every minute is a new minute.

The Numbers….

	6/1/2012	6/8/2012	6/15/2012	6/22/2012	LW
Neck	17.00	17.50	17.00	17.00	-
Left Arm	14.50	15.50	15.50	14.50	(1.00)
Shoulders	54.00	54.75	53.00	54.50	1.50
Chest	50.75	50.50	51.00	50.00	(1.00)
Waist	48.00	46.50	47.00	45.50	(1.50)
Hips	44.50	44.00	43.75	43.00	(0.75)
Left Thigh	25.00	24.00	24.50	23.50	(1.00)
Left Calf	17.50	18.00	18.50	17.50	(1.00)
Left Ankle	10.00	10.00	10.00	10.00	-
Left Wrist	7.50	7.50	7.50	7.50	-
BP	137/84	136/86	132/79	150/89	-
Pulse	67.00	73.00	69.00	69.00	-
Weight	272.40	272.00	271.60	265.60	(6.00)

So it was a good week for the numbers.  Six pounds down so there is no plateau at 270.  Maybe 260 will come faster than I thought.

I’m now concerned that I won’t be able to wear that fancy cashmere sweater this fall because it will be too big.

Also, I have to ask about getting some new shirts from work because the old ones are billowing tents on me now.

Still not exercising much at all.  I am filled with energy and dash up and down the stairs at work but none of this is translating to a desire to sit on a stationary bike, trod on a treadmill or climb on an elliptical machine.

I have been playing video games a lot, blowing away the stereotype of gaining weight by sitting around on the computer.

My book title “How I Lost over 100 lbs playing WoW” and then cashing the checks.

Really, I’m not sure why it helps.  Sure it’s messy to eat pizza and hammer a keyboard, but I did it before.  However while I am playing games I don’t think about food.  Unlike watching TV or movies or reading where my mind wanders and I get bored and I eat, playing games keeps me engaged enough to take me away from food.

I’ve come to realize that most of the time I eat it’s because I am supposed to eat more than I am hungry.  I know that waiting until I feel hungry to eat almost always ends with me eating too much to compensate.  So eating on a schedule regulates me and helps me avoid the “starvation/binge” eating that hit me all the time before this plan.

So I am eating right, working hard and playing games.  So far this is all working well to keep me on the right course for me.

Diary of a Fat Kid

 I wonder how growing up with a working mom and dad affected me and my brother growing up.

Dad wasn’t a 9-5 office worker during any significant portion of my life.  He worked in real estate, insurance, then for the government in a management capacity.  So he was home a lot during the day.

Mom worked nights in a factory job.  I think she had periods of time not working but after the move to Germany she was a regular 9-5 worker and always had a very blue collar kind of attitude.  Have a job, do your job and don’t lose your job.

Dad was always looking for a way to make money that didn’t require actual work, physical labor or long hours.  I’ve learned since then that people he looked up to as examples actually spent most of their waking time working for what they had, but not my old man.  He always seemed to expect things to work out for him.

I do not share this view of life.  I never expect things to work out for me.  I am always thinking of the things that go wrong.  It’s worked well for me since I am checking work for problems and looking for issues that might prevent business from working out for my company.  My life is prewired for risk management, contingency planning and accounting.

My brother went the other way.  He’s more like my dad than he’d ever admit.  He’s never been good with the 9-5 job, taking orders from others or being a lower cog of the machine.  He seems to think it’ll all work out without any hard work.  He’s not there yet.

All that points out just one thing, maybe I am lucky to be wired for the hard work, the planning for the worst and the discipline.  Got me through college, kept me working through the boom and bust and it should get me through the rest of my life.

How you eat is a job and you have to work at it, if you don’t you won’t get anywhere.

Just like my brother.

Later.