4XLT

Today’s Weigh-In: 305.6 pounds

Another short post. This weekend’s been really enthralling reading hasn’t it?

Today’s Weigh-In: 308.6 pounds

I said I’d post every day until my birthday and I hit 299.8 pounds. This counts, dangit.

Goodnight.

Today’s Weigh-In: 309.0 pounds
Next Goal: 299.8 pounds
Pounds to Go: 9.2 pounds
Days to Go: 11
Total Weight Lost: 131 pounds!

As I mentioned yesterday, I needed to hit exactly 309.0 to stay on target, so I was extremely pleased to see the number pop up this morning. I bet this happens to others, but it always takes my body about ten-fifteen minutes after waking up to bottom out in its weight. I can get on the scale thirty seconds after I open my eyes and be a good two pounds heavier than just a couple minutes later.

Kinda weird.

In keeping with Friday’s routine, I’m going to see Battlestar Galactica at the Bagdad Theater with a couple hundred other geeks and brace myself for the horrible fact that next week’s two hour series finale is the end of this awesome show. After geeking out, a friend of mine is in town for the weekend, so there will be some hanging out there, but as part of my big pre-birthday push I’m not going to drink any alcohol and keep my diet strict.

Tomorrow’s goal: 308.2

4XLT is a Top Twenty Weight Loss Blog

I got a cool email from Sarah at How to Lose Weight HQ this morning telling me that my blog was “chosen as a top blogger in terms of helping people lose weight.” How cool is that?

So, please take five seconds to go to HowToLoseWeightHQ.com and vote for 4XLT!

Today’s Weigh-In: 310.0 pounds
Next Goal: 299.8 pounds
Pounds to Go: 10.2 pounds
Days to Go: 12

Being under the two week mark to my birthday (the 24th) and in a race to get under 300 by that morning, I am going to (not try, do) show some discipline to get back in both the health and blogging habit by writing here every day for the next two weeks. Even if I’m only able to write a little blurb of how I ate and what/if I did anything to be active (weight training, HIIT at the gym, or sprints in the parking lot), I’m going to make myself be accountable here.

Yesterday’s Recap

I’m down 0.6 pounds from yesterday. A loss is a loss and is good, but I’m not quite on target, being 0.2 behind where I need to be. Though to be honest, yesterday was mediocre at best, from the health front. Nutrition was about a 4/5 until late in the evening. I got home from work and ate a can of tuna and a few handfuls of almonds. No big deal, and not enough calories – I knew I’d have to be smart about my late meal.

I decided to go to church instead of the gym or spending time reworking my portfolio and other job hunting insanity. Frankly, I just thought it was a necessary choice to help preserve my mental and spiritual sanity. And it was. But, some friends went out to eat after service to celebrate a birthday after service and invited me to come along.

I wouldn’t say the wheels fell off, but the tires certainly skidded around the corner. (Does that metaphor even make sense?) I dropped by Safeway to hit the ATM and grab something to drink, but while I was there I ended up justifying buying two small cake donuts (“Oh, I’m running way below my caloric limit. If I don’t get anything to eat at the restaurant or just a bowl of soup, I should be fine.”) Well, the soup plan gives way when I see that McMenamins’ Imbrie Hall is serving sweet potato fries. I love sweet potato fries. I end up going with a tuna salad sandwich (taking half home) and a good helping the fries.

Not the best at all. But that’s the way it is. I’ll probably reflect more about it later. But as far as today goes, tonight is going to be a big push on my portfolio, so once I get home I’m locking myself in – no time for the gym tonight. However, I’m going to try to get a few sets of parking lot sprints in to make up for it.

To stay on track, I need to see an even 309.0 pop up on the scale tomorrow.

Today’s Weigh-In: 310.6 pounds

Thanks to Rip for calling me out on not posting yet today.

Yesterday was an interesting animal. I woke up late and so sprinting through the shower and tooth brushing barely in time for my carpool buddy to pull up. I arrived at work with no cash in my wallet, so I didn’t eat anything until lunch. By that time, I was so hungry and then stressed about layoffs and trying to find a job in Oregon’s crappy job market that I ended up getting mentally lazy and just ordered a full-on Wendy’s meal (super sized) and then three cookies from the grocery store on top of it.

Yeah, that sucked. I was so pissed that I spent the rest of the day trying to control the damage. I was working on redesigning my portfolio (I’ll share the link soon – hopefully this weekend) while I got home, so I didn’t have time to spend the hour and a half that driving to and from the gym, my weights routine, and then the shower would take.

But I didn’t want to let myself down – and I didn’t want to have to write here that I failed. So I went to the gym and busted out 20 minutes of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training – 30 seconds sprinting, 60 seconds jogging). It was probably the first time I did dedicated, hard cardio work apart from the occasional sprints in my parking lot during commercial breaks a few weeks ago.

And let me tell you what – they sucked bad. I sucked bad. But, gotta get back up on the horse somewhere and somehow, even if it’s a Shetland Pony. I got home from the gym, feeling pumped and wore out all at the same time. I hadn’t eating since the lunch letdown, so I grabbed a few handfuls of almonds and called it a night.

Two Weeks Till my Birthday

I have exactly fourteen days until my birthday. In December, I had planned to be grabbing a 275 weigh-in by the throat, but now I’m fighting to hit 299.8 by then. That factors into 0.8 pounds a day, as my scale goes in 0.2 pound increments.

I know what to do; I just need to quit talking about it and do it. That’s what my weight loss battle really boils down to. Eat right, stay under the calorie limit (2200 a day or less), and try to do it in plenty of smaller meals. Drink a ton of water. Do HIIT. Take the stairs. Do sprints in the parking lot if I don’t have time for the gym in the craziness of soon being laid off. Get to the gym and get back to weight training – even if I can only get in twice a week right now.

But most importantly: get pissed and be mentally strong. Time for me to get angry at my own laziness and obesity again.