Reaching my goal

As I mentioned in a previous article, one of my New Year's resolutions was to absolutely lose thirty pounds this year, no matter what. I joked about how much it was gonna hurt to have to cut my leg off sometime around Christmas.

Well, it turns out that won't be necessary. This week, after dieting intensely for 12 weeks, I officially reached the forty pound mark!

Besides dieting (if you need to know, I signed on for the NutriSystem diet, which happens to work great for me, but this isn't a plug for it; your results may vary), I stopped drinking beer and scotch (for the first month anyway, and then only drank one or two alcoholic beverages on rare social occasions), bought and used an exercise bike an average of 30 minutes a day, drink about 128 oz. of water daily (yes, that's a gallon; one day I counted my bathroom trips: fifteen!), and basically cut out anything that wasn't absolutely healthy.

One thing I've learned is that the second most boring thing in the world (other than reading about it) is listening to someone talking about their diet. I quickly learned to respond with "yes, thanks" if someone asked if I'm losing weight, and I now only get into details if they follow up with an inquiry for more info.

Otherwise, I would see their eyes glaze over when I described the sheer bliss of munching on fresh cantaloupe for breakfast, or the wonders of listening to the birds chirping while working out at 6 in the morning on my screened-in front porch. So, if you decide to abandon this post right here, I won't take it personally.

BTW, this will be my only "diet-related" post, so if you want to discuss it or if you have specific questions, feel free to email me (email address on sidebar) or leave a comment on below this article.

Giving up the booze was easier than I expected, especially for someone like me who really loves the stuff. The initial few days of the diet was a real shock to the system, but as my body acclimated to it, I began to be hungry less and get fuller on the small portions. I learned that fresh fruit and salads taste awesome, and now I eat plenty of both every day.

I began with the required 64 oz. of water per day, but learned on the Nutrisystem discussion board that a better amount of water for losing weight is 1/2 oz. per pound of body weight. I found that if I took out four of the 1/2 liter disposable water bottles, I could drink them, then refill them and drink those to get my gallon per day. Also, I drink it at room temperature. Freezing cold water from the fridge doesn't seem to go down as easily. You do get used to it. Besides the water, pretty much the only other thing I drink is my morning coffee, black with a little Splenda in it. I simply cannot function sans caffeine!

By reducing my daily caloric intake from the roughly 3,500 a day I was consuming to around 1,600, plus working out, there was no way that I couldn't lose the weight quickly. Of course, nutrition is critical, so I made sure I got enough sources of vitamins, protein, low-glycemic carbs, some fats, and fiber. The eating habits I'm learning now will hopefully last a lifetime.

One thing I noticed is that I froze all winter! My body wasn't generating the heat it used to, and there were times I couldn't type well because my hands were blocks of ice from the 63 degree temperature in our house during the heating-oil months. Boy, you can't imagine how fucking happy I am that Spring finally got here! Working out also warmed me up. But there were times when Joyce would get home and I'd be sitting in front of the computer wearing a knit hat and ski gloves! Don't even bother trying to work a touch pad wearing gloves!

This week I see the doctor for my 50,000 mile tune-up. The last time I saw him he recommended that I start losing weight (actually, I'm convinced that every doctor says that to everyone.) I can't wait to leap upon the scale and see his reaction!

I'm hoping to top fifty pounds at some point before switching onto a program of maintenance and healthy eating. The real challenge of course is going to be keeping the weight off. Hopefully, the mindset I've adopted will stick with me and I'll continue to behave like a "pseudo-Republican", in that when it comes to eating food that's bad for you, I've become "The Party of No"!

(c'mon...you didn't think I could be serious for an entire post, did you?)

And now, back to our regularly scheduled mediocrity...