Archive for December, 2007

Saying Goodbye to 2007

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I’m approaching New Year’s without the typical guilt that usually accompanies this annual reset of the cosmic trip odometer. For the first time in my life, I weigh less on December 31st than I did on the previous January 1st. That in and of itself is an amazing achievement. However, when I look back on 2007, weight loss won’t be the only thing I have to look fondly back on. Read more…

It’s My Birthday!

32 and still breathing. For the first time, I weigh less on my birthday than I did on the one before. Pretty sweet, but I have a long weigh (pun intended) to go.

Low-Carb and the Holidays

With Christmas in our rearview mirror and New Year’s in less than a week, we’re about to close the book on 2007. The end of the year means a lot of things to a lot of people, but to your average person trying to lose weight, the holiday season is all about dealing with temptation. After all, this is the only time of the year when people actually decorate trees with candy. Holiday parties are always awash with high-calorie treats, and well-meaning friends and family fill our mailboxes with boxes of cookies, candy, and other edibles. What can you do to enjoy the holiday season without blowing your weight-loss progress?
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Weigh-In: 379 Pounds!

Last week I looked at the possibility that I might be able to hit the 375 pound mark before the end of the year. I had 8 pounds to lose, and a little over 2 weeks to lose it in. With a little over a week to go, I now only have 4 pounds to go. It took a lot of discipline this week, what with people bringing in gifts and candy and several departmental holiday “parties” around the office, not to mention our monthly company luncheon, but I managed to lose 4 pounds despite it all. At this point, I’m down 56 pounds, which puts me at 22.4% of the way to my goal weight. I’m overjoyed at my results so far. I feel better, I sleep better, and I’m just overall happier. Everything about losing 50+ pounds and reducing my BMI from 54.4 to 47.4 has been a positive for me. All I had to give up was carbs, and I don’t miss them at all.

Will I Weigh 375 Pounds Before 2008?

I’m not a big fan of attaching time limits to weight loss. As I say all the time, as long as the weight at my weekly weigh-in is equal to or less than the one before it, I am headed in the right direction. However, since I’m currently at 383 pounds, an interesting question pops into my mind. When I hit 375 pounds, I will have lost a total of 60 pounds since beginning my low-carb lifestyle on October 14th. There are 15 days left in the year, and I have eight pounds to lose before I reach this milestone. It would be great to ring in the New Year by being 60 pounds lighter than I was on Columbus Day. So for a short-term goal, I’ve decided that I would like to be 375 pounds by midnight on New Year’s Eve. I’m not going to do anything drastic to get there, though. Since I’ve been losing 4-6 pounds a week, this goal should be achievable without doing anything unusual. We’ll see what happens. Whether I make it or not, as long as the scale says I’m making progress, I’m still happy.

Weigh-In: 383 Pounds!

Another milestone falls as I pass fifty pounds lost. I’m down 6 pounds from last week, and have now lost 20.8% of the weight I want to lose. On my metaphorical cross-country I-40 journey (first referenced here), I’ve travelled just under 532 miles, which would put me in Harriman, Tennessee (population 6,744). Harriman is interesting because it was founded in the 19th century by activists in the Temperance movement, which advocated making alcohol illegal and eventually led to Prohibition from 1920 to 1933. Harriman’s founding fathers started their own college, American Temperance University, in 1893, however the school closed after just fifteen years of operation, presumably because even at the turn of the 20th century, college students though a school dedicated to the idea of making alcohol consumption illegal was just a bad idea. However, that’s enough history for now. I continue to marvel at my progress – the idea that I was 50 pounds heavier just over two months ago boggles the mind. I don’t expect this rate of weight loss to last, and to be honest, I’m somewhat scared that I might be losing weight too fast, but I am feeling incredible and am excited about getting started on the next 50 pounds.

Spinach and Sausage Frittatas

Eggs are a staple of any low-carb diet. They’re tasty, available darn near everywhere, and cheap. Here’s a recipes I cooked up for a simple spinach and sausage frittata that serves two to four people, depending on how hungry they are. If you’re like I used to be, you’re probably a little scared of your broiler, since you don’t use it that often. Don’t be. It’s a pretty handy addition to your kitchen arsenal once you know how to use it. As always, the recipe is after the jump!
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Low-Carb Texas Chili!

I’m not the world’s best cook, but every once in a while, I hit on something that works I recently hit a bit of a home run, kitchen-wise with this recipe I came up with for a low-carb Texas chili. Texas chili has no beans, so it’s much better carb-wise than the chili many of us grew up eating. Texans will tell you that beans have no place in chili, and after you wolf down a few bowls of this masterpiece, you may tend to agree. The recipe after the jump feeds 6, and has roughly 7 grams of carbs per serving (which can be reduced by cooking with water instead of beer) Enjoy!
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Long Term Planning Requires Short Term Goals

Sometimes I feel like we make the process of losing weight overly traumatic, because instead of focusing on all the things that a healthier weight can bring us, such as success in the workplace, a longer life, and even a better sex life, we focus on the things we are deprived of. I think that short-term thinking is built into our nature, and that this tends to short-circuit our efforts at things that require long-term planning and commitment. This can be seen in all aspects of people’s lives, from people on the cusp of retirement with no savings, to professional athletes who live as though their careers will last forever despite the statistics that say otherwise. The people who are successful at any endeavor, whether it be weight loss, graduating from college, or something else, are those who can control the impulse to think for the short term and direct their efforts towards longer-term goals. Read more…

Weigh-In: 389 Pounds!

I’m looking forward to my weekly weigh-ins more and more each week, because it’s the easiest “scoreboard” to measure my progress by. Fitting into smaller and smaller clothes is nice, and having to make new holes for my belt is a fun way to see how far I’ve come, but there is something about having the numbers there in front of you that really makes the results of your efforts more real somehow. The week, those numbers were 389, which is down five pounds from last week. When I hit 385 pounds, I will have lost my first 50 pounds, and will be 20% of the way to my goal weight. If you had told me on October 1st that I would lose 50 pounds by the end of 2007, I would have tried to have you committed, and plenty of other people would have scoffed at the idea. With just over 3 weeks to go in the year, I have just 4 pounds to go. I am astounded, flabbergasted, amazed, astonished, surprised, ecstatic, overjoyed, and more. 2007 is looking like it will be the first year of my life that I will end weighing less than I did at the beginning. The best part is, I’m just getting started.