Losing a part of me

NEWS FLASH! After a week of faltering on my program and seeing my weight staying roughly the same (within a pound and a half), I was able to stick to the plan yesterday, eating only what is prescribed in my weight management guide, plus a challah roll with peanut butter, which replaced two meal replacements.

SCALE VICTORY! I crashed through that elusive 310lbs barrier! With a whopping 2.6lbs drop from yesterday, not only bringing me into that last 300-pound decade, but also back into the best-weight-ever territory.

Yes, it is entirely possible that the next time I see my wife (which will be in 27 days) I could weigh under 300 pounds… that terrible milestone that I have always hated, and that for the many years of my weight loss struggles I have viewed as the boundary between absolutely disgusting, and just really bad.

My scale app (it should surprise nobody that I have a Bluetooth scale that connects to my phone and tracks my progress in the cloud) has a field that I set for myself years ago – likely sometime during my 2020 weight loss attempt – that is my target weight. I set it at 210lbs, which might or might not be realistic. For the first time since March 7, 2021 (almost exactly a year and a half ago) I am less than 100lbs from that goal weight.

While it might be easy to see my next major milestone as being that century – I am 8.4lbs away from registering under 300 pounds – that would neglect one huge milestone that is between now and then. While I do not remember the first conversation I had with her, I know that Leslie and I started our training for the FastTrack team at Microsoft together on March 1, 2021. My best weight from that week was 305.6lbs, the morning of Wednesday, March 3. My next milestone is that… I am 2.6lbs away from my lowest weight since I met my wife. While she has seen pictures, Leslie has never known me weighing less than that. I am truly looking forward to her seeing me start to get slimmer than she has ever known me… and her watching me continue to shrink until I am at last in good and healthy shape.

It is worth mentioning, by the way, that according to my scale app my Body Mass Index (BMI) is below 40. In fact, it has been straddling the line around 40 since the beginning of the month. This morning it is neither 40.1 nor 39.9… it is 39.6, which is cause for note as well!

My goal for today is to do my best. Charlie is visiting with Princess Sophie for a couple of hours, and his mom asked me to not leave them home alone. I could drop him off at her apartment and go out, but I would rather not do that. Liz and Charlie have been so good to us that I think it is the least I can do to let them play together while she is out gardening. I will head to Lyle and Dorothy’s house after lunch, whether Liz is home or not… she should be. However, I do not have to go out before that… despite maybe wanting to go for a walk.

While this weekend (and the next few days) is scheduled to be pretty nice, I know that winter is coming. I have been giving more serious thought to a gym membership. I spoke with my former personal trainer today (who is also a Facebook friend) and asked if she gets any sort of bonus or recognition if she brings me in to the club, but she does not. I will likely go into the club Monday or Tuesday to sign up.

While joining the gym will give me access to the aerobic exercise machines that will take the place of my outdoor fitness walking, it will also give me access to anaerobic equipment, which will let me work on growing muscles. I do not want to be a body builder, but larger biceps and triceps would be great. I guess I should speak with my wife to confirm what she wants me to look like… I do not think she will want me to have a swimmer’s body, but if I am such a huge proponent of communications, it would be a good idea to ask!

Okay, enough procrastinating. It is time to go about my day. I am going to make lunch, and then likely I’ll head over to Lyle and Dorothy’s to enjoy a cigar smoking afternoon on the patio. With a forecast high of 20° Celsius today, it might be the last day of the year where that mark will be hit. The next few days are projected at 17°, and from there it just drops into mid-autumn temperatures… and precipitation. Today will not be the last good cigar smoking day of the year… but if it was not for my propane heater, it would be one of them.

Have a great day folks!