Expectations

Today is weigh in day! I had great expectations for this weigh in period but more on that shortly. I did lose one pound (1.0) since my last weigh in on May 12th. To date, I have lost 5.2 pounds.

I should probably be happy with those results. When I really think about it, losing one pound in just three days is not too bad. But my expectations, while perhaps unrealistic, were that I would lose more.

Expectations can kill a weight loss journey. Expectations can lead to disappointment. Disappointment can lead to giving up. I had expectations because I have totally changed my eating habits and started to ensure I get a set number of steps daily. In my mind, this is such a radical departure to how I had been living that I would surely see some mind blowing number on my first weigh in.

I have been through this before. I know that this is not about one single weigh in. I know that this is going to be a long process filled with highs and lows. I don't really find that discouraging. In fact, I find it encouraging because I know that I don't have to win every single battle. I just have to win more battles than I lose.

It also helps to have great people in my life. I have a high school friend that is on the same journey helping me to stay accountable and vice versa. I have a roommate that will also keep me accountable. My kids will remind me to keep on the straight and narrow. My coworkers will not let me cheat on work lunches. My advice if you are on a similar journey...tell people! They will hold you accountable to your goals but also give encouragement and praise when you are doing well. At least they will if they are really true friends.

To summarize, I manage my expectations by realizing that this is just one step in a very long journey. Personally, it is easy to get in the mindset that I just need to do this until I lose a certain amount of weight. Perhaps I am better served by realizing that my life can never really go back to how I was living before even after I lose all this weight. It really does need to be a lifestyle change. That is not to say I cannot enjoy a few meals now and then. But rather, on the whole, I need to be more disciplined in my overall choices and how they impact my body.

I always find it encouraging to hear from others so feel free to drop me a few lines here on the blog or on Facebook. It is always my hope that the blog will in some small way help others that are on the journey. I know that when I was blogging about losing weight before, it was always encouraging to take a look back from time to time and learn from myself. Thanks for reading my blog! Until next time, goodbye.

Annual Wellness Checkup

Today I went in for an annual wellness checkup. The truth is that I don't even remember when I last had a checkup. My employer offers free money to my HSA (health savings account) for doing it and so I guess I couldn't pass that up anymore. Fortunately, I am in good health considering that I am over 350 pounds.

That being said, I really am tired of carrying around all this extra weight. I cannot stand for extended periods of time on hard surfaces. I am usually alright if I can walk around but just standing kills me. I had actually started to pay a bit more attention to my calorie consumption when I weighed in on the 30th of April. I weighed 358 pounds on that date. Since then, I have lost 4.2 pounds. My current weight is 353.8 pounds.

Again, I have really just had enough. For those of you that are unaware, I had lost close to 100 pounds between October 2012 and August 2014. I had reached 258.4 pounds back in July of 2014. I began that journey at 350 pounds so as you can see, I gained it all back and then some but I am determined to get back to losing some serious weight. I don't plan on doing that too fast as that can be somewhat unhealthy.

I hope that some of you will choose to follow my progress and if you like, drop me a line of encouragement from time to time. I was always amazed by how many people were following my journey. I feel like I let many of you down last time and I am sorry for that. I also let myself down and my family down. I am going to have to make time to blog my journey. I am confident it will be worth it. Hopefully it will be somewhat entertaining and if I am lucky, maybe inspirational to someone out there that also wants to shed some pounds. Check back soon! I plan on weighing in again on the 15th. Goodbye for now.

Delay of Game 4

This is a first! I am posting two catch up blog posts in the same day. This blog update is for January 25th. My weight for that weigh in was 355.2 pounds. That was a loss of nearly a half pound (0.4) since the previous weigh in. My total weight loss through this date was 1.2 pounds.

Once again, not going to spend too much time writing about this blog post since I am still trying to catch up. I have been weighing in on time. I have just not always made the time to update the blog. Check back soon for more!

Delay of Game 3

If you have been following my blog then you probably already know that I am posting these older updates in order to try to bring the blog up to date. I weighed in on January 20th. My weight for that weigh in was 355.6 pounds. That was a gain of 1.8 pounds since the previous weigh in. My total weight loss through January 20th was only 0.8 of a pound.

I have not really been writing too much in these catch up blog posts but I will say that I did turn things around since the 20th. I will try to get another blog post up soon. Thanks for checking in and stay tuned for more!

Delay of Game 2

I am still really late in posting these weight loss updates. I did weigh in on January 15th. My weight for that weigh in was 353.8 pounds. That was a loss of one pound since the previous weigh in. Total weight loss through January 15th was 2.6 pounds.

I don't really have much to say since I am so late in posting this update. I will elaborate more on how I am doing in a future blog update. Until then, take care!

Delay of Game

The last two blog posts have been titled around a football theme but they are also relevant to the blog. This time, I am really late in posting this update. I weighed in on January 10th as I had mentioned that I would. My weight for that weigh in was 354.8 pounds. That was a loss of two pounds since the previous weigh in.

I am not going to write anything more since I am so late in posting this update. I will elaborate more on how I am doing in the next blog update. Until then, take care and check back soon!

False Start, Offense, Five Yard Penalty, Repeat First Down

I can't sleep. I woke up at 3:50 AM this morning. I have been feeling a little down lately. There are several reasons for that, but one of them has to do with not starting my weight loss journey when I said that I would. That is mostly because I don't like to say I am going to do something and then not follow through. The holiday season is a tough time to start a weight loss program. Still, if I cannot exhibit self control at that time, why should I think I can any other time? So, I take full responsibility for that. I apologize for the false start.

I will just cut to the chase here, I gained a little under a half pound since my last weight loss post on December 18th. My current weight is 356.8 pounds. That is a gain of 0.4 pounds.

I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, gaining under a half pound over the holiday break doesn't seem all that bad. On the other hand, I was somewhat active over the break, getting in some decent step counts on some of those days.

Either way, the journey starts in earnest today. I am confident that I can lose some of this weight relatively easily just by cutting out soda consumption. I have not been eating an inordinate amount of calories, I have been drinking them. Well, that is not 100% true. I don't want to give the impression that I have been eating well. There are times when I certainly consume too much food as well. I just mean that if I had to select the biggest reason for my weight, it would have to be soda.

Today I will be logging my calories and keeping track of my steps. I am excited to get back on track. I am tired of being overweight and yearn to get back to a more healthy lifestyle. Now comes the hard part. Losing weight is not easy, but it is time to get started. Thank you for following along. The next blog post will be January 10th. Goodbye for now.