Cautious Optimism

Well, my back's not really any better. Don't know what I've done to it.

And it's not bad enough to completely shut me down. I mean, I can walk, sit up, etc. But everything hurts, and no position is comfortable. I'd almost rather be completely down.

Almost.

Anyway, one thing I've been able to do is get myself back under control food-wise. The last couple of days have been very good - at least I think they have. At this point, I've almost given up trying to figure out things.

But, I've gone heavy on the grilled chicked salads from Zaxbys. If I end up losing a ton or two, these salads will have played a huge role in it. They are to me what Subway was to Jared.

Understand, I love salad. Love veggies. Always have. But I've never been a salad-as-a-meal guy. It was always WITH a meal.

But these are different. Somehow they're more filling, and I've been eating 2-4 of them for lunch every week of this journey. I've had three in the last two days, so I'm hoping that plays a big role in helping me get back on track.

Interestingly enough, this is the week that divisible by 4 - Week 16. Remember the other weeks - 4, 8, and 12 - were all zero weeks for me. I'm hoping to break the streak this time around.

I really need to get to the 50 pound mark. With the 3-pound setback last week, I'm nine pounds away. That's a huge landmark for me, one that seems like it's never going to get here.

So needless to say, I'm looking for a couple of really good weeks here to get over that mental hurdle.

We shall see...

You Think I Felt Bad Before...

Being limited to just sitting and walking gingerly over about a four day span was NOT what I needed, as you will see on this week's scorecard:

Week One - Lost 9
Week Two - Lost 3
Week Three - Lost 3
Week Four - Lost 0
Week Five - Lost 9
Week Six - Lost 5
Week Seven - GAINED 2
Week Eight - Lost 0
Week Nine - Lost 5
Week 10 - Lost 1
Week 11 - Lost 3
Week 12 - Lost 0
Week 13 - Lost 7
Week 14 - Lost 1
Week 15 - GAINED 3

Rut Roh, Raggy....

Somehow I have injured my back.

It's been hurting for a few days now, which has limited the bike riding. But all day today and this evening it's been difficult to move.

So, I sit a lot. And when I sit for a long period of time, I want to eat. It's a reflex, and not a good one.

Doesn't bode well for Wednesday.

I just hope it doesn't get any worse.

Catching Up

Sunday night, and just got off the stupid bike. Sometimes I think that if that's the key to losing weight I'd be better off fat.

But we all know that isn't true. I think.

Anyhoo, I think I'm going to make the pre-weigh-in day weigh-ins a regular part of my routine. Seeing that scale more than once a week seems to have provided a spark in motivation.

Whether it helps with results remains to be seen.

One other thing I did this week was buy a bunch of veggies and make a huge salad I'm keeping in a tupper ware-like container in the fridge. Mixed greens, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded cheese, shredded carrots, diced onions, banana peppers and small bits of ham.

When hunger pains have hit, I've dipped into the salad and eaten a bowl.

Good thing I love salad.

Just Scraping By

Weigh-in day today. Asked for the Rocky music earlier in the week, and it worked. Barely.

Lost 1 pound this week. That's 44 in the first 14 weeks.

Not great, and I'm not satisfied with the result. But at least it wasn't a zero. Or worse.

So, the scoreboard:

Week One - Lost 9
Week Two - Lost 3
Week Three - Lost 3
Week Four - Lost 0
Week Five - Lost 9
Week Six - Lost 5
Week Seven - GAINED 2
Week Eight - Lost 0
Week Nine - Lost 5
Week 10 - Lost 1
Week 11 - Lost 3
Week 12 - Lost 0
Week 13 - Lost 7
Week 14 - Lost 1

Self-Inflicted Wounds

Too much food has been available the last couple of days. Not nearly enough will power on my part.

Too much of the right thing is still too much.

I need a rally over these last four days before weigh-in time comes.

Que the Rocky theme.

Lucky 13

Today is Wednesday. You know what that means.

Hit the scales early this morning over at Clemson and got good news. I'm down another seven pounds this week. So that's a total of 43 pounds in the first 13 weeks.

That's a quarter of a year now that I've been on this journey. Maybe I will make it, after all.

Anyhoo, here's the scoreboard:

Week One - Lost 9
Week Two - Lost 3
Week Three - Lost 3
Week Four - Lost 0
Week Five - Lost 9
Week Six - Lost 5
Week Seven - GAINED 2
Week Eight - Lost 0
Week Nine - Lost 5
Week 10 - Lost 1
Week 11 - Lost 3
Week 12 - Lost 0
Week 13 - Lost 7

The Learning Curve Continues

Nearly 13 weeks into this process and I continue to learn things about myself.

Weigh-in day is tomorrow. The last two days I've gone over to Clemson to weigh anyway, because I wanted to get a closer look at how things are working and/or fluctuating on a daily basis. It appears I'm going to have a good week when the official weigh-in comes, but beyond that I've picked up some valuable information.

The biggest thing I've figured out is that I'm apparently a bigger danger to myself at home than when I'm on the road.

I never would have considered that, and to be honest I haven't spent much time thinking about it. At least until this weekend, when we spent three days and two nights in Winston-Salem for Clemson baseball.

What I discovered was part obvious, part subtle.

The obvious is simple: If I'm working I'm not thinking about eating. At least not as much. Long days at the ballpark, doing things to keep my mind occupied, means the hunger factor - real or artificial - isn't nearly as overwhelming.

But the thing that really hit home yesterday (Monday) was, well, home.

When I'm there, I can almost hear the fridge calling my name. Or my stash of sugar free snacks will beckon. Yeah, they're sugar free, but they're not calorie free. And I'll justify maybe dipping into them more than I should because they contain no sugar, while conveniently ignoring the calorie factor.

What I saw today justified that notion. My pre-weigh-in weigh-in Tuesday was one pound heavier than it was Monday. And while both readings would represent a good week, it still served as an eye-opener for me.

Maybe I'm a slow learner. I don't know.

I guess the bigger tragedy would be not learning at all.

Back On The Road

I'm in Winston-Salem.

Supposed to be doing baseball as we speak, but Ma Nature had other ideas. She dumped buckets of rain on us all morning long, kept it coming into the afternoon, until finally the yahoos here at Wake Forest postponed the game.

Doubleheader tomorrow at 11 a.m. Oh, did I mention that during that doubleheader we'll be playing under a wind advisory that expects to have gusts of 45 mph or better? And did I mention our broadcast location is outside? Under a freaking tent?

Did I mention any of that?

So I sit in the hotel room, drinking water and trying to convince myself I'm not really hungry. It's more habit than hunger, I tell myself.

I'm not sure self is buying into my mantra.

I'm going to try to circumvent the temptation here in a bit. After I do a radio interview in Columbia, I'm gonna head downstairs and see if I can do something constructive in the fitness room.

At least, that's what I'm telling myself.

Did I call it, or what?

Weigh-in day. I had a feeling. See below.

Week One - Lost 9
Week Two - Lost
Three - Lost 3
Week Four - Lost 0
Week Five - Lost 9
Week Six - Lost 5
Week Seven - GAINED 2
Week Eight - Lost 0
Week Nine - Lost 5
Week 10 - Lost 1
Week 11 - Lost 3
Week 12 - Lost 0

Disturbing pattern?

Tomorrow is weigh-in day. It will be the finale of Week 12.

Twelve, as we all learned in grade school, can be divided by four. And if you look at the other weeks so far that can be divided by four, the news isn't so good.

Week 4 - Lost 0.
Week 8 - Lost 0.

Get the idea?

We shall see if the pattern holds true. For some reason, I'm not feeling so confident this week.

Some days, I really hate this.