Losing a part of me

Category: Clothes

  • Day 646

    I have not been eating well these last couple of days, but I also have not been gorging myself. As an example: Leslie and I were at breakfast this morning. She ordered off the menu while I opted for the buffet. I went up once, took what I wanted (an omelette, an English muffin with lox and cream cheese, some berries, and a yoghurt), and went back to the table. When that was done, I knew I could have gone to take more. The old me would have done just that. I did not. I was not trying to ‘get my money’s worth’ out of it. I was sated, and although I could have eaten more, I did not need to… and I did not.

    I had two interactions yesterday that gave me pause to think about my life, and I want to share them here.

    The waitress at breakfast yesterday morning (Gladys) was talking to me. When I told her that my bride and I live so far apart she said, ‘That must be so hard.’ I thought for a minute and responded to this effect: “Gladys, I have seen a lot of very difficult and sad things in my life. From your accent I suspect you were born in Cuba which means that you have too. Would I rather live with my wife? Absolutely. With that said, my friends in Cuba who are grateful for the used clothes and half-empty bottles of shampoo and toothpaste I leave for them have a much harder life than I do. My friends and family in Israel who are at war, and the innocent people on both sides of that war have a much harder life than I do. While I do look forward to living with Leslie, I live a life that allows me to pay my rent and my bills and support my children, and I can still afford to fly to Dallas to see her every month. I can afford to eat breakfast in this lovely restaurant and still smoke the cigars that I want. That’s not a hard life… it is simply one that has some challenges and sadness.” She was surprised by my answer because she said that most people – especially her customers who have money and privilege – are seldom grateful for what they have. She is right. I try to be grateful… even though I do not always succeed.

    The second interaction was with a student of mine. He asked me if he could ask a personal question. ‘How do you deal with stress? In your career you have to deal with so much. Does your faith help you to deal? I think it is so difficult to have faith these days… it is almost seen as a weakness to admit you believe in G-d.’ I responded that it helps to put things in perspective, but that my faith was personal, and I have never felt the need to explain it to anyone. I do not shy away from it, and I do not hide it. With that said, I have never cared what others think about my relationship with G-d. As for dealing with stress, it helps to breathe… whether you do so out of religion in prayer, or just as meditation.” It was a deeper answer than that, but that was the gist of it.

    With all that said, I know I am gaining weight this weekend and I know that when we get back to Dallas I will start to get back on track. I am going to live my life, and I am not going to deprive myself of the occasional splurge.

    Oh, and despite that all I ordered two more pair of pants in the 36×32 size… they will arrive Monday!

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 644

    We arrived at our hotel safe and sound, and despite some minor issues (mostly to do with the Internet) there were no real hassles, and we were asleep before 1:00am. That may sound reasonable, but the 6:05am alarm I had set tells another story. Fortunately I am used to that life (even though I don’t really live it anymore) and am able to function quite well on five hours of sleep.

    My diet program is going to be on hold for a few days. That is not to say that I am going to go overboard splurging, but I am not going to pay attention to everything I put into my mouth. This morning I did not have as much time as I would have liked, and the options for breakfast were not great. I splurged on the buffet, which included an omelette, a bagel, and some fruit. I will try not to do the buffet again while we are here. It is just to tempting to ‘try to get my money’s worth.’ I cannot think like that anymore!

    We did not bring the bathroom scale with us so my next morning weigh-in will be Monday morning. If I can stay under 248 lbs. (which would mean a 3-pound gain over the next four) then I will call it a victory.

    (For my Facebook support group)

    I grew! I am two inches taller because of my weight loss! Okay, that is not exactly true… but it could be! The story:

    A couple of years after I got out of the Army, when I was gaining huge amounts of weight unchecked, I acted in a play. The wardrobe guy (I have been trying to remember the proper term) was fitting me for pants and he said ‘Oh right… fat people wear their pants under the belly. Normal people wear them up around their waists.’ Screw you, buddy. I never forgot that…

    After losing 150 pounds (and twenty-five years after that hurtful comment) I decided to try it… I have been buying pants with a 30” length for all these years. When I pulled them up to fasten my belt around my waist, they fit… but my ankles were cold. At least people could see my fun socks!

    I ordered a new pair of pants last week – with a 36” waist – and decided to try an experiment. I ordered 36×32. I put them on yesterday morning and… they fit perfectly! I was equally worried that the 36” waist would not fit comfortably as the 32” length, but both were perfect. I am so excited and am going to order a couple more pair… and when I get back to Canada, I am going to do another purge to deliver more clothes that no longer fit me to the charity drop-off!

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 643

    After speaking with my wife last night I made a decision. I have adjusted my weight goal on the app that ties to my scale. I am feeling so much better about myself than I have in so many years, and while I think I still have a little way to go, I also recognize that I want to be slim, but not sickly thin. With that, my new weight loss goal is 210 lbs., both for my well-being and for a number of other reasons.

    I had a stressful day yesterday and I did eat (and snack) a little more than I should have. I was a bit concerned about the numbers, but sure enough (after a half decent bowel movement) I had lost .6 lb. from yesterday morning. I am not back to where I was before my stumble began, but I have always said that down is better than up. I will call it a win!

    I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that now that I am wearing my pants around my waist and not around my belly there is a significant difference in the length. For decades I have bought pants in a 30” length. Since changing to the waist I have been showing off a lot more sock than I used to. Late last week I ordered my first pair of pants that were a 36×32… the smaller waist and the longer leg. They arrived at Leslie’s mailbox on Friday and were here when I arrived. I was afraid to try them on – not because of the length, but because of the 36” waist. I know I have a couple of pair in that waist that do fit, but I have several others that do not. This morning I tried them on. Lo and behold… they fit perfectly! I was (and am) so excited about that!

    One more thing that I realized a while ago was that my underwear has been much looser than it could be. I ordered several new pair, some of which arrived Monday. For the first time in I don’t know how long I am wearing Size Large! It has been so many years since I have worn anything that was not XL (or XXL or XXXL…) and it really feels great to be able to order some things in regular sizes. I am not going to say that I am over the moon about underwear, but it is a nice feeling to know that I can wear normal sizes.

    Today will be a very long day. I am teaching from 8:00am to 8:00pm, and then we are driving to Houston (probably a 4-hour drive). When we get to the hotel, I am sure we will both be ready to collapse into bed immediately! My workday tomorrow begins at 8:00am again, although it is mercifully much shorter. In the evening we are going to the Davidoff event at the Blend Bar – the entire purpose for our trip to Houston, and the reason behind the timing of this trip. Yes, there will be fatigue, and the anxiety of working from a hotel room, but it will be worth it. We will look like a million bucks together as we enjoy our event… and our weekend away together.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 636

    I mentioned a couple of days back (and not for the first time) that it is uncomfortable to discuss certain bodily functions such as bowel movements. I have thought it important to discuss these last few weeks because of the difficulties I have had, often for days on end, and then the pain resulting from my hard (and mostly minor) successes in that domain. This is why I am so excited to write that yesterday I had not one or two but three extremely successful (and not painful bowel movements. I literally felt like my bowels had been hoarding for weeks and finally decided to let go of everything. It was such a relief that I cannot begin to put it into words.

    I ran out to run a few errands yesterday and ended up picking up some farm-fresh eggs. I was so excited that I made an omelette for dinner, in addition to making one for breakfast this morning. I really can tell the difference between these, and the store bought eggs that I am used to. The result was absolutely delicious!

    I did not exercise yesterday. I did not even walk to the supermarket (as I mentioned I might). My legs were still feeling a bit wobbly from the previous day’s walk so I decided to take the day off. I might go this afternoon, but there are a number of factors that might interfere with that. We will see.

    With regard to the bathroom scale: I am back on track! Yes, this morning’s reading on the bathroom scale confirmed a new best weight ever. While I am only .2 lb. lighter than I was Sunday morning before my cheat day, I am a full three pounds lighter than I was the following morning. I’ll take that and run… and work hard to continue on track today.

    I am now the lowest weight I’ve ever been… and I am not sure if I have had a meal replacement in the past 4-5 days. I am thrilled that I continue to lose weight without any product. I am going to ride this without making any changes for a little while to see if I can continue to lose the weight doing what I have been doing, and if I can then I am going to put an end to the meal replacements. I have eleven boxes left which I know I would have no trouble selling should I want to do so. I am not ready just yet… let me see if I can continue eating two meals per day (plus cutting out all food after 7:00pm) and still lose weight. If so, then sometime next month I will sell off most of my remaining shakes. Leslie would be disappointed if I did not follow that up with ‘Do you know how many cigars that money could buy?’

    I have an appointment with a tailor today to see if she can alter my sports jackets and vests before I go to Dallas on the weekend. It feels amazing knowing that I need to do that in order for them to continue to fit well! I am not going to try to get my shirts altered, but the jackets and the vests would be nice… and she promised that I would have them back in time for me to take to Texas which is important because Leslie and I are going to a couple of events that will require a jacket and tie. Worst case scenario, I still have other jackets… but I would love to wear these.

    Okay, it is time for me to get a move on. Have a great day folks!

  • Day 635

    In the late summer of 2020 I optimistically bought several pair of pants in a Size 36. They did not fit me yet, but within a month of two they would. I was making great progress and I had no doubt that they would fit me soon. I do not remember how much I spent on them but the thought that they would fit me soon made me feel amazing. I had no idea that I was about to fall off a cliff from which I would never recover… at least, not until I had hit rock bottom again.

    In the early days of my weight loss journey I separated all of my clothes that did not fit into bins that were labeled by size. As I have lost weight, I have gradually gone from six bins down to one. This morning I decided to pull that last bin out of the closet to see where I was at.

    There were several pair of pants in the bin, and of course they would not all fit the same. Trying on the first pair there was no hope for them – my gut cannot be sucked in nearly enough to close the gap needed. Those would have to wait a while longer. I knew that the Levi’s jeans – there are three pair of them – will not fit yet. I did not even pull them out. I then tried on the last two pair – one Dockers and one Timberland – and… they fit! For the first time in memory I am wearing Size 36 pants… and yes, I am wearing them comfortably.

    If you remember back a month or so ago I wrote that I would no longer be wearing my pants under my belly, but around my waist as they are intended. I am certain that every pair of pants and jeans in that bin would fit just fine under my belly, but that is not how I will be wearing my pants going forward. I put those pair that did not fit back into the bin and will revisit them in a few weeks. For now, I am thrilled with this non-scale victory!

    After a 12.75km walk yesterday (which included a kilometre jogging at 5.56 min/km) I was hoping that my weight would drop more than a pound this morning. Hoping… but not expecting. I know, when I have bad cheat days it can take a few extra days to get back to where I was. I gained nearly three pounds overnight; it will take a few days to lose them again. The best I can do is to make sure that I stay on track the next few days so that I will lose them before I fly to Dallas in five days.

    I had trouble falling asleep last night, but there was no good reason for it. I got into bed and I closed my eyes… an hour later I realized that I was still lying there contemplating the universe. I suspect I had a cup of coffee later in the afternoon (or early evening) than I usually would, and I paid for it with my wakefulness. Lesson learned: no late-night coffee! This is not a new lesson of course, but no matter how much I dislike wasting things… when I realize at 5:30pm that there is coffee left in the decanter I would do well to throw it out rather than throwing it into a cup to heat up in the microwave.

    I do not have much to report today. I will stay on track! I will see how my legs are feeling before I embark upon another mammoth walk, but if I do not then at least I can walk to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions. I have a lot of prep work to do for my class next week, so that should keep me busy.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 633

    There is an episode of The West Wing in which Toby Ziegler (brilliantly portrayed by Richard Schiff) discusses with Tabitha Fortis (the U.S. Poet Laureate, portrayed by guest star Laura Dern) the satisfaction of crossing things off lists. In actuality it is she who discusses it with him; either way it is an episode worth watching not only for this interaction (which we are called back to at the end of the episode) but simply for the pure genius of the writing and the acting.

    TOBY: What are you doing?

    TABITHA: Crossing off the FDR Memorial, the Atrium, and the Folger Library. I like crossing off lists. It’s very satisfying. You like lists?

    TOBY: Yes.

    TABITHA: You like crossing things off?

    TOBY: I’ll let you know if it happens.

    To know the character of Toby is to understand that he is almost always fighting for the losing cause. His dry wit, along with his beard, smoking cigars, and his love of writing and the English language are just some of his qualities that I see in myself. (The Season 6-7 storyline in which his betrays his country by leaking state secrets to the press is where I get off)

    As does Tabitha, I too enjoy crossing things off. This morning, after a lot of failures that resulted in an extreme and disgusting seven-pound weight gain over Thanksgiving weekend, I was able to cross off another number on the list on my fridge. This morning’s weight not only takes me solidly into Best-Weight-Everland (as well as crossing off the next two-pound marker on my list), but it also allowed me to cross off another decade milestone… I am under 240 lbs. for the first time. I will keep going!

    The weather yesterday cleared up a little bit earlier than expected. When the forecast predicts a 40-50% chance of rain, especially in mid-October, we plan for rain. The rains that were predicted to stop around 5:00pm actually stopped much earlier, and it made for a lovely afternoon. I was hungry earlier than usual, so I prepared my lunch for noon instead of my usual 1:00-2:30pm. Following my lunch (the usual chicken with salad) I had a cigar date with my wife. After that my friend Eduardo came over and we enjoyed another cigar together. When he left, I took Her Floofness out for a walk. When I brought her home, I suited up for my walk. I knew it was going to be chilly, so a long shirt (and layers) and long training pants were the uniform of the day. I was sure that the extra weight and bulkiness of them would slow my stride somewhat.

    Boy was I wrong.

    I do not know if it was because of the chill in the air, or because I had pre-set expectations that the outfit might slow me down, or if I was just in better form than usual… but my pace (walking the whole way) was 8m37s per kilometre over the entire 12.65km of my outing! It is by far the best pace that I have ever recorded for a walk. There have been a few others under 9min/km, but those all involved at least some jogging along the way. I am chalking this up as a huge win, as well as a contributing factor to my remarkable two-pound drop from yesterday.

    This afternoon I am taking my son for lunch, and I have been on the fence about whether I will eat or not. I have asked my ex-wife to try to convince him that we should go for Greek food instead of his usual favourite, but I have not heard back yet. If he does agree to that then I can order a salad and be comfortable with it. If not, then I will not eat anything, and will come home to have a meal replacement afterwards.

    In the late afternoon and evening I am meeting with some people in Toronto, and I suspect there will be food involved. I will do my best to eat well and in moderation, but what will be available is an unknown to me. I will bring a meal replacement with me in the event that there is nothing that I can eat, but if there is something then I will stick to the moderation plan. At least I know that any food offered will be kosher.

    When Eduardo was here yesterday, I put on my Army uniform so that he could take a picture for me. It amazes me that not only does it fit, but it probably fits slightly better than it did the day I last took it off… nearly twenty-seven years ago. My last few months in the Army I let myself go a little, and was probably already starting to get pudgy. Aside from that, the only think that I noticed was that the buttons needed reinforcing… and that the IDF uniform (at least those from my era) were nowhere near the high quality cloth that the US uniforms are.

    As I have dropped below 240 lbs., my goal for this week is to drop a few more pounds to get below 235 lbs., so that when I fly to Dallas a week from today my wife will be able to see me at my absolute best. Of course, if I do not drop another ounce from right now then she will still see me at that – I have no recollection of weighing anything close to this low in the last twenty-five years. Nonetheless I still want to drop another few pounds for her.

    Okay, I am going to call my wife. Have a great day folks!

  • Day 628

    I was not perfect yesterday on my program by any means. In addition to my morning omelette I had another omelette and a turkey drumstick throughout the day. I also had a bag of chips. Yes, I fell that hard after my class last night. I was just not thinking right. The story:

    Realizing that I had finished the eggs I had in the fridge, at the end of my evening class I looked online to see if any of the supermarkets around might be open until 10:00pm. I knew that three of them closed at 9:00pm, but I decided to take a peek. It turns out that the website for one of them (Longo’s lists them as open until 10:00pm, so after taking Her Royal Floofness for her walk I got into the car to drive up there. The parking lot was empty and the sign on the door let me know that the website (or whatever site I checked) was wrong. 9:00pm closing. Okay, all was not lost. I was only a quick 2km drive to Walmart, so I headed out there. I was nearly at the store when it dawned on me… it’s Thanksgiving Day, and none of the stores will be open. Damn. On the way home I realized that one of the small convenience stores might sell what I was looking for. For maybe the second time since I moved into the apartment (over two years ago) I stepped into one of the smaller mom and pop stores in the neighbourhood. The other time or times I have gone in would have been during a walk/jog when I needed either water or Gatorade. They had eggs… and a bag of chips which I did not need. At least I only bought the one smaller bag, and not the two bags that I indulged in twice over the weekend.

    Despite the chips my weight was way down this morning. From Saturday morning to yesterday my weight jumped a disgusting seven pounds. As I mentioned yesterday, I ate badly and made poor choices… but even with that I knew that a lot of the weight was from salty foods and would fall right off after a day. Sure enough it was down 4.2 lbs. from yesterday. On the one hand, I am 2.6 lbs. up from Saturday morning. On the other hand, that is nowhere near as bad as it was yesterday. I will do my best to stay on track today, and maybe even go out for some exercise in the evening.

    I slept absolutely terribly last night. It was past 1:30am when I realized there was little chance of it happening, and so I went to my computer to do a little bit of work. I mostly did some administrative work on a computer that is usually off (and so had not checked in with my mobile device management solution since July) which needed a check-in, as well as some patch management.

    The warm weather is behind us and if I do plan to go for a walk this evening, I know that I will be wearing long pants as well as a long sleeve shirt. I have what I need, I just long for the warmer weather. I will be in Texas with my wife in a week and a half and will enjoy the warmer weather there. Oh, and I ordered three new golf shirts which should arrive there in time for me to wear. They are a Size Large! I am hoping that they fit immediately… I cannot remember the last time I bought a Size Large in anything.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 625

    This morning was an extremely bittersweet one. It was nice to see my weight was down from yesterday of course, and I am now within .6 lb. from dropping below 240. That is great, but for the moment not relevant.

    On Day 2 of my journey I wrote an entry called ‘My Weight Loss Goals.’ The last item on that list was this: “When I have lost 170lbs I want to take pictures of myself… wearing my Army uniform!” It was copied word for word from my original weight loss journal that I wrote during my first go at it in 2017… and again from my second journal from 2019-20.

    In April 2020 I moved to Westlake Village. This was the very height of the pandemic where almost everything was shut down. A group of us would sit in the park smoking cigars and we had a great time. During my recent trip a few of us were sitting around chatting and one of them said that the group was the best thing that happened because of the pandemic. I resumed my weight loss program at this time, and I made a bet with one of the boys that by New Years’ Day I would be able to fit into my uniform. Of course that did not happen.

    My phone started dinging earlier than it normally would on a Saturday. Israel was at war with Gaza. The Hamas-led government launched the largest ground and air assault into Israel that we have ever seen. Of course my first thought was that I wish I could be there and join the fight. I went about my morning bathroom routine, after which I stepped onto the bathroom scale (and was pleased to see a slight drop from the status quo of the last few days). I was about to get dressed but I decided to take a slight detour. I opened the bottom drawer of my armoire and pulled out my Army uniform. I decided to give it a shot.

    It fit.

    I do not mean that I as able to squeeze into it… I mean I was able to comfortably put on the shirt and pants! I took a picture – I did not tuck in or put on the belt, but I went to the bathroom and took a picture so that I can send it to my wife… and probably to The Westlake Cigar Boys (and especially Orrin).

    This is going to be a challenging weekend for my program. This evening I am going to a birthday party at a restaurant. I wish I could say no to the invitation, but I cannot. I will do my level best to be good. Tomorrow I am going to Thanksgiving dinner at my buddy’s house… or rather at his parents’ house. It has been a longstanding tradition that I join them for both Thanksgiving and Christmas (when I am in town), and it gives me the opportunity to see my godson and goddaughter. I plan for both days to go for a long walk/jog before the festivities and only hope that will negate the effects. I am going to do my best.

    Autumn is upon us and so is the autumn weather. The forecast high temperatures for the week to come are steady between 12-14°, which means that t-shirt weather is behind us… as is the certainty of being able to comfortably sit outside with a cigar. I have sweatpants and long sleeved t-shirts so I am not concerned that I will need to abate my outdoor exercises just yet, but in anticipation of that time I am glad I did not cancel my gym membership. I am going to take a drive down to The Running Room to see if I can replace the running gloves that I bought there twenty years ago… and which are ready to fall apart.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 601

    I was relieved this morning to see that my weight dropped back below 250 lbs. on the bathroom scale. While it did not get back to where it had been two days ago, it was close; tomorrow I will be back to my best weight ever… as long as I can stay on track.

    I was not able to say this yesterday, but I think I got a pretty decent night’s sleep last night. I was in bed by 10:30pm and asleep by 11:15pm or so. Most nights I do not fall asleep before midnight, and knowing first that my alarm was set for 6:00am, and second that today would be another 14-hour workday (with twelve hours of lecturing), I really wanted to get some rest. Mission accomplished. I woke up mostly refreshed and was even able to move my bowels before my shower and then shave. I truly feel like a new man. I am ready to face the day!

    Realizing that I am heading to California in a few days, and that I have not done so in a while, I am going to collect the majority of my dress clothes tomorrow so that in the evening I can take them to the dry cleaner. I want my wardrobe to be as fresh and proper as I am when I see my wife next week. I would do it today but I know that it is far too busy a day to fit it in. I am also thinking about trying a new dry cleaner that I passed during my walk over the weekend. I just have to remember that decision when I get into the car tomorrow before my autopilot drives me to the same spot.

    It is a lovely day outside which I will get to look at it periodically through the balcony doors during my breaks. I will be at my desk until 9:15pm so it will only be brief glimpses… and hopefully I will get to take Her Floofness out for a walk at lunch.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 585

    I was surprised that I was able to cross off another number on the fridge this morning. That makes three numbers in four days, and the seventh day straight that my weight has dropped. I once again feel bad for Leslie who was not happy with the number she saw on the scale yesterday morning, even though she is working so much harder at the program than I am. I also owe her a big thank you, and I told her about it yesterday when we were chatting as she waited for her much-delayed flight.

    We left the apartment at 11:00am to drive to Cambridge to see Ryan (and his sister) and smoke cigars. It was a lovely afternoon, except I made a mistake. I left the house without taking meal replacements with me. I had eaten my usual omelette in the morning but that was all. Leslie offered to share one of her remaining American meal replacements with me, which we shared at around 1:00pm. We left Cambridge around 4:30pm which would have me dropping her at the airport by around 5:30pm, so without any traffic I would be getting home by 6:15pm or so.

    I was not going to make it. I was hungry and I was not going to be able to make it until 6:15pm. As we sat in traffic on the Trans Canada Highway, I was thinking to myself that I could drop her off art the airport and then look for a convenience store to buy a bag of peanuts. Leslie would be at the airport, and she wouldn’t need to know. She was gone, and so was her scrutiny which had kept me honest during her visit. I started to salivate as I anticipated with gusto the snack I would be enjoying within a short half-hour!

    We were probably fifteen minutes out from the airport when she turned to me and said, ‘Okay… so what are you not going to do tonight?’ Without hesitation I replied ‘Cheat! I will not cheat!’ That was the answer she was looking for. Satisfied, we spent the rest of the car ride basking in our last few minutes of togetherness before she would walk into the terminal.

    Princess Sophie and I drove straight home making no stops along the way. As soon as we got into the apartment, I prepared my meal replacement. I then texted her to let her know that I owed it to her that I did not fall off the program… even if for a minute. I also told her that I do not know what will happen today or tomorrow… but my success on Sunday I owed entirely to her – first for sharing her meal replacements with me, and then for inspiring me to not cheat in the evening. For as many times as I have credited her support and encouragement for my success, this was one more time that it was a specific incident rather than a general helping.

    Over the last couple of days we also discussed my wardrobe, and I made an appointment with the Hong Kong tailor who will be in Hamilton for two days in September – the day I fly back from California, and the next day. Leslie suggested colours for shirts – navy blue, green, and purple. I am surprised she says I look good in green but that is likely because after the Army I spent so much effort avoiding that colour that I started thinking it was just because I did not look good in it. I trust my wife’s sense of fashion and style better than my own, so I will look for something green! I hope that I can be at my lowest weight ever by then (it is precisely thirty days from today), even though I will just be back from spending a week in California where I will try to eat well, but I will not be sticking to the program.

    With regard to my progress: I am now four pounds from my best weight ever, and as that number shrinks so too does the number of days when I weighed less. My spreadsheet shows thirteen days when my weight was lower than this morning’s; with the exception of a single day in April, all of those were between May 20 and May 31. It took me eight days to drop from 256.2 (what I weighed on May 19) down to 250 lbs…. and then just five days for my weight to jump back to 254.6 lbs… my weight on June 1. My plan is to not fall off this time, and to lose as much as I can between now and October.

    There is nothing particular about October 1… other than it is the beginning of a month. With that said, now that I might be back on track, it is not a bad time to try to set some new short-term goals.

    • This week: Stay on track! I am seeing my doctor on Thursday, and I would love to see my best ever medical weigh-in. I could, in theory, stay put where I am now and achieve that… as long as I stripped naked and stepped onto her scale the same way I do my own every morning. To be safe, I would love to continue with my current pace of .8 lb. per day, but assuming that unrealistic I would be thrilled if I could lose another 1-2 lbs. in these next few days.
    • Within the next ten days (that is, by September 7) I would like to drop below 250 lbs. for the first time in my post-Army life.
    • If I can maintain a weight-loss pace of 3.5 lbs. per week (or .5 lb. per day) between now and Rosh Hashana (the evening of September 15) then I would weigh just under 245 lbs. by then!
    • Maintaining that pace, the day I pick my wife up from Los Angeles International Airport I would weigh 242 lbs.!
    • Even if my pace were to abate somewhat, at a .3 lb. per day average drop (2.1 lbs. per week) then I would still weigh 246.8 lbs. when I pick Leslie up at the airport on the 20th. Even that would be a success!
    • Knowing that the week in California will be a difficult one to stay on track, I am nevertheless hoping that my weight the morning of September 27 – that is, the day of my appointment with the tailors – I should weigh between 245-250 lbs., which would be as much as a twenty-seven pound loss from my last visit at the beginning of March.

    How can I achieve these short-term weight loss goals? It is simple, but not easy. I just have to stay on track and not veer from the path.

    Sometimes it is fun to dream, imagining what I could achieve if I never veered from the program. I plugged some numbers into my spreadsheet to see when I would drop to 220 lbs. losing an average of .3, .4, and .5 lb. per day. At .3 lb. per day I would weigh 219.8 on December 20. At .4 lb. per day I would weigh 220.0 on November 21. At .5 lb. per day I would weigh 220 lbs. on November 4. All it would take is dedication without faltering, and no matter which way it goes by the end of this calendar year I would be a very reasonable 220 lbs. Not a bad dream, huh? How about we try to get through the next week or two without faltering… then we can look past that.

    I have a lot of studying to do this week so most of the days I will spend either watching videos of classes or else reading. If the weather forecast for the week holds up, then a lot of that studying will be done on the balcony. It would not bother me one bit if I could smoke a couple of cigars while advancing my mind… all the while preparing for a few exams I have to take and then a couple of classes I need to be ready to teach. It should all be good fun!

    My plan is to do just that… stay on track, studying on the balcony and smoking my cigars, preparing my meal replacements as needed (and properly timed). Tomorrow, I have to go out as I have a haircut scheduled, but there is no reason for me to leave the apartment today except for taking Her Floofness for a walk. I was able to stay on track yesterday, so there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do so again today. If I can stay on track today, then there is no reason why I cannot stay on track tomorrow. That is how I have to continue to think.

    Have a great day folks!