It has occurred to me that I have said that I lost 80 lbs on this diet. I did NOT however say how long it took me to do that. I have included the chart above. Not only did I lose more on this diet than any other diet I have been on, I lost it faster. I started on July 17th, 2008 and by November 6th, 2008, I had lost 76 lbs. So in total, about 16 weeks to lose 76 lbs or about 4.75 lbs per week. Since November, at times, I have weighed as little as 199 lbs. I fluctuate within about 202 and 206 lbs depending on how much exercise I do and how well I maintain the diet. I have been in this range for about 5 months now and am still going strong.
Day one of this diet was not real tough. Aside from the headache I got briefly that first afternoon, it wasn't too bad. The fact that it was a Friday helped a lot. There were lots of distractions to keep me from thinking about the diet. Day two was a Saturday. This was not going to be quite so easy. The weekend is the toughest time for a diet. We have a big family with lots of gatherings. This means one thing. Lots of food. Heaps of food. Plenty of beverages to wash it down with. This is where you separate the fat men from the skinny boys. This was crunch time.
I got up that morning and drank the shake. That's right...you got it. One suck. I felt kind of strange. I had this weird energy. It wasn't something I was used to because Saturday is a day I like to sleep in and really relax. I couldn't do it that morning. I felt like a had to go do something. So I put on the exercise stuff, strapped on my MP3 player, and went for a 2.6 mile walk. I hadn't planned on going this early but it couldn't hurt, hell, it was just a walk. So I did that. Came in sweating. But I couldn't stop...so I mowed the lawn. My mower is a push mower, not a rider. Not like you could tell from my adorable pear (bowling pin?) shaped frame. I looked like "Kung Fu Panda" pushing the thing...which I did for about 2 hours. I drank quite a bit of water doing this, but the diet said to do that...so cool. I finished mowing. "Gotta do something else here. What has gotten into me?" So in the corner of the garage was a ton of cardboard boxes I had intended to cut up for the trash. I had intended it LAST summer. So I went and got my boxcutter (which, incidently, until 9-11 I referred to as a blade knife) and began to slice and dice. By noon, I had walked, mowed, sliced, diced, drank water...my wife came outside looking for the alien pod that had spawned me.
I finally felt a little tired and went inside for my 8 oz lunch. Ate in about 5 seconds.
I took my shower and heard the phone ring. It was the in-laws. A usual summer gathering at one of their homes was being quickly put together. These usually went from mid-afternoon until...ugh...basically until you were kicked out. This should be a challenge (to my patience)...since I can't drink. I mentioned this in a previous blog but, just in case, drinking is verboten on this diet. So I packed my evening dinner. One can of spinach, one can of tuna, one apple. I brought a shake in case this party went the distance. I couldn't remember the last time one didn't!
There are occasions when you have an epiphany because you are so bored stiff that your brain does some extra handiwork and comes up with ideas. This was one of those afternoons. I went out to the patio and sat down at an outdoor table. The food started flowing...and flowing...and flowing. OK, maybe I was extra conscious of the food. When you can't eat it, everything looks like food. Even waxed fruit. So the table was full. Dip. Chips. Veggies. Veggie dip. Coolers of beer. Mexican cheese and bean dip. It started at 3PM. At 5:30PM the table was cleared for the food (?, seriously) as the grill was emptied. Steak, burgers, hot dogs...you name it. Potato salad, salad, corn on the cob. The whole time, the beer was just flowing.
This must be what it is like when you are paralyzed and in the hospital. You just watch everybody doing their thing and, well, you just watch. The dinner finished and then out came desserts. Brownies, cake, pies...did we really do this weekly? This was bigger than most people's Thanksgivings. No wonder I am as big as a house.
Somewhere in this smorgasborg of activity, I ate my spinach and tuna. I ate the apple when I was done...for some reason eating seemed like a natural reflex. But I didn't eat anything else...no cheating.
When dessert was done, the dips and stuff came back out. At no time from 3PM to 10:30PM when we left did the table appear barren. Never. Nothing that had to do with food got by me on that day. I had my last shake at 9PM. Hey, if I could get through that day, I could do anything.
I told my wife about my observations on the drive home. This was the beginning of my reformed fatty period where I would be telling everyone why overeating was just wrong.
I had done it. I would do it again. Over and over. For 16 weeks.
In retrospect, it was all worth every moment.
Day one of this diet was not real tough. Aside from the headache I got briefly that first afternoon, it wasn't too bad. The fact that it was a Friday helped a lot. There were lots of distractions to keep me from thinking about the diet. Day two was a Saturday. This was not going to be quite so easy. The weekend is the toughest time for a diet. We have a big family with lots of gatherings. This means one thing. Lots of food. Heaps of food. Plenty of beverages to wash it down with. This is where you separate the fat men from the skinny boys. This was crunch time.
I got up that morning and drank the shake. That's right...you got it. One suck. I felt kind of strange. I had this weird energy. It wasn't something I was used to because Saturday is a day I like to sleep in and really relax. I couldn't do it that morning. I felt like a had to go do something. So I put on the exercise stuff, strapped on my MP3 player, and went for a 2.6 mile walk. I hadn't planned on going this early but it couldn't hurt, hell, it was just a walk. So I did that. Came in sweating. But I couldn't stop...so I mowed the lawn. My mower is a push mower, not a rider. Not like you could tell from my adorable pear (bowling pin?) shaped frame. I looked like "Kung Fu Panda" pushing the thing...which I did for about 2 hours. I drank quite a bit of water doing this, but the diet said to do that...so cool. I finished mowing. "Gotta do something else here. What has gotten into me?" So in the corner of the garage was a ton of cardboard boxes I had intended to cut up for the trash. I had intended it LAST summer. So I went and got my boxcutter (which, incidently, until 9-11 I referred to as a blade knife) and began to slice and dice. By noon, I had walked, mowed, sliced, diced, drank water...my wife came outside looking for the alien pod that had spawned me.
I finally felt a little tired and went inside for my 8 oz lunch. Ate in about 5 seconds.
I took my shower and heard the phone ring. It was the in-laws. A usual summer gathering at one of their homes was being quickly put together. These usually went from mid-afternoon until...ugh...basically until you were kicked out. This should be a challenge (to my patience)...since I can't drink. I mentioned this in a previous blog but, just in case, drinking is verboten on this diet. So I packed my evening dinner. One can of spinach, one can of tuna, one apple. I brought a shake in case this party went the distance. I couldn't remember the last time one didn't!
There are occasions when you have an epiphany because you are so bored stiff that your brain does some extra handiwork and comes up with ideas. This was one of those afternoons. I went out to the patio and sat down at an outdoor table. The food started flowing...and flowing...and flowing. OK, maybe I was extra conscious of the food. When you can't eat it, everything looks like food. Even waxed fruit. So the table was full. Dip. Chips. Veggies. Veggie dip. Coolers of beer. Mexican cheese and bean dip. It started at 3PM. At 5:30PM the table was cleared for the food (?, seriously) as the grill was emptied. Steak, burgers, hot dogs...you name it. Potato salad, salad, corn on the cob. The whole time, the beer was just flowing.
This must be what it is like when you are paralyzed and in the hospital. You just watch everybody doing their thing and, well, you just watch. The dinner finished and then out came desserts. Brownies, cake, pies...did we really do this weekly? This was bigger than most people's Thanksgivings. No wonder I am as big as a house.
Somewhere in this smorgasborg of activity, I ate my spinach and tuna. I ate the apple when I was done...for some reason eating seemed like a natural reflex. But I didn't eat anything else...no cheating.
When dessert was done, the dips and stuff came back out. At no time from 3PM to 10:30PM when we left did the table appear barren. Never. Nothing that had to do with food got by me on that day. I had my last shake at 9PM. Hey, if I could get through that day, I could do anything.
I told my wife about my observations on the drive home. This was the beginning of my reformed fatty period where I would be telling everyone why overeating was just wrong.
I had done it. I would do it again. Over and over. For 16 weeks.
In retrospect, it was all worth every moment.
Next: An Inspirational Break
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