Losing a part of me

Tag: life

  • Day 14 – Achievement unlocked

    The achievement that I unlocked is not a weight loss milestone… although I probably hit a couple of those in the last days. I am proud of myself that I got through yesterday on five meal replacements – 800 calories on the day – and nothing more.

    I had a shake for breakfast, and then did a whole lot of organization in my bedroom, finally making real progress (I’ve only lived here three months!) to it being liveable and presentable. It was 2:30pm before I realized it, and I had a bowl of stew (which was better than I’d expected) and then a smores bar for a dessert.

    I went to the cigar lounge for a couple of hours and chatted with some of the guys there. I knew I was going to go to the bar in the evening, but I wanted to go home to see the new shelving unit that my son picked up and put together for me – it is an Ikea unit so there were no surprises, and of course he did a fine job of assembling it. I had a bowl of tortilla soup, and as I was getting ready to leave the house I decided to grab another meal replacement bar; I would not eat it right away, but I felt that it was smart to have in the car in case I got peckish before it was time to come home.

    My friend Al joined me at the bar after the cigar lounge closed, We smoked another cigar, and then as we left the bar I told him that I was looking forward to devouring the bar that was in my car, which is exactly what I did. It was delicious, or maybe just seemed so because I was so hungry.

    I got into bed at around midnight, I watched a little bit of television, and then I turned out the lights around 1am… without eating anything more.

    I was not sure how difficult the transition was going to be from 900 calories to 800 calories, and especially knowing that I had not been following the original program very well. Yesterday I proved to myself that I can do it… and I will continue to try to do the program without incorporating peanuts or almonds… and especially without plates of pasta from my favourite Italian restaurant.

    Today is the last day of my second week on the program. My weight is down about twenty pounds in that time which means that I am about thirty pounds from achieving my goal of fifty pounds by New Years Day. I know of course that the pace of weight loss will abate greatly now – otherwise I would be on track to lose more than sixty pounds in that time – but it should still be doable. If previous attempts at this program are an indication then I can still expect to lose 6-7 pounds per week for the next couple of months. That would get me to exactly my goal by December 31st.

    What angers me is that I regained all of the weight I lost the last time… and the time before that. I have to find a way to meet my weight loss goals, and then to stay there permanently. It will involve serious lifestyle changes that will have to incorporate both diet and exercise. It will be a challenge. I have never shied away from a challenge.

    Have a great Sunday folks.

  • Day 12 Screwup

    I was doing well through the first half of yesterday… and then I fell hard. After I took my son to the gun range (a very positive experience I will say) I ran a couple of errands, and then decided that a salad at my favourite Italian restaurant wouldn’t hurt. It likely would not have… except that it ended up as a salad and a plate of pasta with creamy sauce. What a mistake. I’ll be back on track today… especially knowing that my new meal replacements should be arriving today and I can try the soups!

    I paid the price of course… my weight was up over a pound this morning. Of course, had I re-weighed myself after my second trip to the washroom that might have been down some. I really felt it after a while, and hope to get back on track today, if only so that my stomach does not bother me like that again.

    Today is Friday, and I am looking forward to getting through to the weekend. The Montreal Canadiens are playing this evening, and I will be watching them at my local bar. I will not be tempted to eat there – at least, I have not been yet. I just enjoy sitting in my stool and watching the game with a cigar.

    I know I have only dropped about fifteen pounds, but I am tempted to say that my sports jackets are already feeling like they fit a little better than they were. That is progress. My short(ish) term goal is for the jackets and shirts that I bought fifty pounds ago start fitting me. Hopefully by the end of the year… but it is more important that I do it and stick to it than that I do it fast.

    Happy Friday folks!

  • Day 10 Reset

    My alarm went off and I reached for it to hit snooze. I must have missed the mark because nearly 90 minutes later my eyes popped open to see… just how late I was. I burst out of bed and cut my morning routine by 45 minutes. I was at my computer with a cup of coffee in my hand with about 22 seconds to spare, with my dog looking at me questioningly about the briefness of her walk.

    After the terrible cheating I did yesterday (two bowls of chocolate granola, plus a couple of handfuls of almonds) I expected my weight to be up this morning. In fact, after a .2 rise yesterday (the first rise since I restarted the program), this morning’s measure saw my weight drop by .4lb. . I was relieved, and I am going to look at it as my one gimme. I am not going to take any chances, today I am back on the program. So far, so good.

    Aside from having to wake up in the middle of the night for a few minutes for dog-related activities, I thought I had slept pretty well. My fitness watch disagrees. So far I am not as sleepy or as listless as I was yesterday, but I would be lying if I said I would object to being able to lie down for thirty minutes.

    Oh, crud… after that thought I had the sorry realization that not only do I have a meeting at lunch today (which means I cannot just lie down for 30 minutes), but I also have a meeting after class to mentor someone because a close friend asked me a favour. There will be no 30-minute naps today.

    I am hungry… but not hungry enough to need to break from the program today. I want to be back on track.

    Have a great day!

  • Week 2 begins…

    I did not weigh myself the morning of Day 1, so I cannot be certain of my exact progress at the beginning of the second week. It is approximately fifteen pounds based on my weigh-in the previous day, and the night. I’ll take it.

    I ate weird yesterday. I had my first two meal replacements as expected, but then was out for the rest of the day and so could not easily have my third and fourth. The peanuts are finished, so in lieu of the third meal replacement I found a package of unsalted almonds (1.5oz) which was a good substitute. I then sat at my bar until nearly midnight, and while I was hungry when I got home… I decided to skip my fourth meal replacement of the day and go to bed slightly hungry. Because of the nutrients required to stay healthy I know to not make a habit of this… but once in a while, it will not hurt.

    As I dressed to teach this morning I am wearing the same pants I wore yesterday so there is no difference there; my shirt is one that I was able to wear comfortably ten days ago, so I do not think that is an indicator. The sports jacket that I am wearing… that feels a bit looser than it did ten days ago in Indiana. Not only am I able to sit down in it comfortably, but I was also worried about the fit over the holstered firearm in my belt. Do I need to be armed while teaching? Of course not! I am wearing it because I am trying to get used to wearing it. I suspect that as I lose the weight it will continue to feel more comfortable, and I will need to carry it less.

    On a subject partially related to the firearm: I was excited that my new eyeglasses were meant to arrive today for many reasons, not the least of which is that I am hoping it will help with my aim. I also find that as I sit looking at my computer screens, I am squinting more than I used to. Perhaps that will be helped a bit. Well, I woke up to an email that said they are now due to arrive tomorrow. Will one extra day make a huge difference? It will not.

    My initial self-challenge statement was that I would lose fifty pounds from last Monday to New Years… something like 49 days. I am not posting progress charts on my fridge, I am simply doing my best. I know that Week 1 will always produce the most extreme results, so I am guardedly optimistic that I am now about thirty-five pounds from that goal with 42 days to go. These last three days the progress has been one pound per day, and that will not continue. Might I reach my goal? Perhaps. Will I be successful if I do not meet that goal by New Years, but continue to lose all of the weight I want to lose? Yes… but only if I can keep it off.

    Have a great day folks.

  • Day 4 – Morning

    I did something proactively this time around that I had not done in any of my previous kicks at the can. Rather than waiting, I began adding a tablespoon of fibre to one shake on Day 1. I remember some of the painful moments (and even days) that I have had on previous attempts, and I think I made the right call. In fairness, had I not found the fibre stored with my meal replacements, I likely would not have thought of it… but I did.

    I moved here three months ago and have been quite social in a small circle… mostly with the patrons of a sports bar where I have been hanging out. I have not had any success with women, and not for lack of trying. I have made a lot of female friends… but that is not the same thing. Last night I was trying to watch my hockey game when a very attractive woman sat down next to me and started a conversation. I was under no delusion that it was anything other than social, and I was fine with that. I have decided that until I can look in the mirror and really believe that my body might be attractive I am not going to try to date. I think it is a wise decision for a number of reasons… not the least of which is that dating often involves food, which is something I am trying to avoid for the time being.

    I am not sure if it is because of the fibre, but I had to take a break from writing to return to the washroom. Things can move quick sometimes.

    One of the reasons I am looking forward to losing weight is because of all of the clothes that I have that I cannot wear. My closet is full of custom-tailored suits, sports jackets, and shirts that have not fit me in a couple of years, and I am looking forward to being able to wear them again. It will take time, but I am not really in a hurry. That is not to say that I am patient… only that I am trying to work on that!

    There have been so many changes in my life over the last few years. I am not going to go into detail, but I will say that I am not happy with many of them. There have been several extremely stressful issues that have come up… and most of them are, for the most part, now behind me. Not all of them. I am not going to go into any detail. Suffice it to say that my decision a few years ago to be honest in all things has both bit me in some ways and kept me on track in others. I just wish that I had not allowed the stress and anxiety to lead me back down the obesity path. Now it is time to get past that.

    Today is Day 4 of my renewed efforts. Let’s see if I can get that to 220 lbs.

    I have a very long way to go.

  • End of Day 2

    I have not been posting religiously every day as I have on previous diet reboots. With that said, I am at the end of Day 2… although I do not even want to think about how many Day 2s I have gotten to the end of. It is not ‘Fall down seven times, stand up eight.’ It is more like my twentieth attempt.

    My son the elder is living with me in my new place. When I told him on Saturday that I would be starting the program on Monday, he asked me what he can do to support me. I told him that I did not know, but if I thought of anything then I would let him know. Since then I have:

    • Asked him to surrender my ‘large cube ice trays’ so that I could use them in my meal replacement shakes;
    • I told him that the larger of the blender cups, as well as the blade cover, needs to be available and clean. I did order more cups of that size though, so now it is only about the blade;
    • I warned him that there would be times, especially during the first week or two, when I would likely be in a very crappy mood, and that if I took it out on him then I would need for him to forgive me PDQ;
    • Over the first few days, while I am sluggish until the ketosis kicks in, I asked him for some help with my dog, especially the evening walks.

    He asked me a couple more questions: Would I still be drinking coffee, and would I still be taking milk in it? Yes… and sugar, although I am severely cutting down on the sugar. Would I be eating anything other than the shakes? Hopefully not… but in the event that I needed to, I would buy unsalted peanuts or almonds.

    I did nearly blow my top today, but he was not around, and it had nothing to do with him. I thought for a minute that I might leave my firearm in the safe for a few days, but I was extremely well-trained in firearm safety and discipline. I will not be drawing it unnecessarily.

    There are so many things I want to write, but it is 9:45pm and I just sat down at the computer because I was having my final meal replacement of the day, so I am not going to write essays. With that said, there are two things I want to put down before they slip my mind:

    1. I still have some of the meal replacement that I have always used left. I brought it from Canada, and I have a ten-day supply. They used to have an equivalent product (under the same trade name) in the USA, but from what I can tell it seems like they stopped selling it. I had heard about a year ago that they might have, but this was the first time I had to check. I will have to find an equivalent product, and fortunately there seem to be a few options which I can research later this week.
    2. I know I tried to start again in 2026, but it never really lasted very long. There have been so many changes to my life since I was last fully open and honest and transparent in this journal. Over the next few days I am going to try to cover some of what was going on.
    3. I do not remember the first time Connie emailed me offering her support, but she has been so amazing in trying to back me over the past few kicks at this can. I realized I know very little about her, but she has been the one constant and completely supportive cheerleader in my corner these past few tries. I cannot tell you how much her emails mean to me. We have never met or spoken, and I do not even know what country she lives in… but when I posted last week that I was planning to start again she emailed me, and it meant so much. I started to write a sentence that would have been perceived as a shot at someone and I do not want to do that. We all have to do what is best for us. I suppose all I will say then is thank you so much for your support Connie! You will never know what it means for me.

    I don’t know if I will write tomorrow, but over the next few days I’ll fill in some gaps.

    Have a great day.

  • 2026 Day 32

    My fitness watch is completely wrong this morning. It claims I got 4h00m of sleep from 1:35am to 4:35am, with only 7m of deep sleep. In fact, I was asleep at 9:15pm, and slept at least 3.5 hours very well and quite deep, until Her Floofness told me she needed to go out. That does NOT happen very often… in fact, I would bet that it has been at least two or maybe three years since she has asked to go out in the middle of the night. When she does… I listen. I got out of bed at 12:45am, got bundled up (the mercury read an even -20°) and took her out. She did her business quite quickly and efficiently, and we came back into the apartment to get back into bed. It must have taken me a few minutes to nod off again because I seriously doubt I was awake more than 30 minutes. In any even, the fitness watch only registered my sleep after the walk, and not before.

    That does not mean that I feel at all well-rested this morning. I have felt sleepy since I got up (before 6:00am), and know that I will be needing a nap (if not a full night sleep) before my class begins – yes, I start teaching (remotely) in Europe tomorrow morning, and I have to be online at 1:00am. I would be looking forward to the class, but only on the condition that I can get a few hours of sleep today.

    I fell right off the wagon yesterday. It was terrible, and I paid for it this morning. I will not go into the details of how badly I faltered except to say that my weight was up five pounds from yesterday. F&ck.

    My plans for today are to get a little work done, try to get a few hours of sleep, and do not go to the store where I am always tempted to buy things that are horrible for my weight loss.

    Have a great day folks.

  • 2026 Day 31

    What a relief it is to get a good night sleep… especially after the previous night of lousy and short sleep. Yesterday morning my sleep score was an abysmal 50 (based on 3h59m of sleep). Despite my best efforts I was unable to nap in the afternoon. This morning my sleep score was a delightful 94, based on 7h41m of optimally balanced sleep.

    • Sleep score: 94 (Excellent)
    • Duration: 7h41m (Excellent)
    • Stress: 15 avg (Good)
    • Deep: 3h02m (Excellent)
    • Light: 2h29m (Good)
    • REM: 2h10m (Excellent)
    • Awake/Restlessness: 6m, 26 Restless Moments (Excellent)

    I woke up refreshed and ready to take on the day… until I looked at the temperatures outside and saw that the mercury reading was -20°. For those who are unclear on this, let me give you a very brief synopsis. The mercury reading is the actual temperature. The Wind Chill factor will take that temperature down, either slightly or severely based on the wind, to what it feels like on our skin and in our bones. This morning’s wind chill was -28° when I took Her Floofness out for a blessedly short walk. She quickly and efficiently took care of the business that she needed to do, and then looked at me and said ‘Pick me up right now Daddy!‘ I feel terrible for her, knowing how cold her bare paws are on the snow and ice and concrete… but she has always refused to wear boots, so I take her out and let her walk until she asks me to pick her up… and then while I walk her into the building I try to wipe the snow and salt off of her tootsies.

    I was not expecting to be happy with the reading on my bathroom scale this morning… certainly not after two days of eating pretty badly. To be fair, yesterday I ate a lot of chicken, but that was the extent of it. Thursday, in anticipation of the extremely tough exam I was preparing to sit Friday morning I was much worse. As I prepared to step onto the scale I said to myself that I would be satisfied (or maybe relieved is a better word) with a weight gain of no more than three pounds or so from two days ago (I did not weigh myself yesterday morning before my early morning exam). I was certainly relieved if not elated to see a weight loss of one pound. Sometimes weight loss can be hard to predict.

    When I do eat during my program, I try to not consume anything after 6:00pm. Despite being hungry last night after my class was over, I knew that I had eaten a lot of chicken throughout the day, but at least I had two things in my favour. Firstly I had not had any carbs, and secondly I had finished the chicken at 5:45pm or so. I could have prepared a meal replacement shake, but decided against it. Going to bed slightly hungry is not the worst thing in the world for me. Waking up fatter may not be… but it is pretty bad.

    I have to go run a couple of errands today so I will bundle up and try to be back home as quickly as possible. I have some work that I want to get done this weekend, and with the weather being what it is I do not see myself being tempted by anything that involves my leaving the house, so this might just end up being a productive day! I have a few follow-up items to deliver based on a meeting I had with someone from one of the training organizations with; I have two upcoming classes to prepare for (although the course I am delivering this week requires no real prep, I will still spend a few minutes reviewing the material and labs; the class I am scheduled to deliver at the end of the month… that’s a whole different story, and I need to do a lot of preparation for that one). I am also hoping to do some work on the course that I am writing; while really I am waiting for feedback on the work I have already submitted, that should not stop me from doing more writing.

    All in all, this could be a pretty productive weekend… but if I do not remember to buy more coffee then I will be shooting myself in the foot!

    Have a great day folks… and try to stay warm!

  • 2026 Day 30

    This morning’s exam is behind me. I have no idea how I did it, but I passed. It is the eleventh straight exam that I passed (dating to May of last year), and extends my current streak to 32 of 35 exams passed dating back to November of 2017. The pass streak of eleven exams surpasses my previous best streak which was ten exams (nine of which were technical) from November/2017 through June/2020. I am also confident in saying that unlike that previous streak, this one included four of the most difficult exams I have ever sat. I definitely get to celebrate today.

    With that said, I am exhausted. I was in bed by 9:00pm last night (in anticipation of the 4:30am alarm that I set), but it took me three hours to fall asleep. My eyes popped open five minutes before the alarm (which is good) and I was out of bed and ‘at it’ with plenty of time to spare. According to my fitness watch my sleep score was an abysmal 50 based on 3h59m of actual sleep. I am glad that I did a few things last night that would otherwise have had to be done this morning – I cleaned off the table and set up my testing environment, and I prepared my coffee machine so that when I woke up I just had to press the button. I also ran through the pre-test verification procedures that are required before taking an on-line proctored exam. I would usually be more cavalier about that, but realizing that the testing platform was completely new to me I decided to not take any chances… and it turns out it was the right decision!

    Following the exam completion I wrote a couple of emails to people who needed to know immediately (which was accompanied by my morning meal replacement shake and half a cup of coffee), and then went to my neighbour’s to pick up Her Floofness. We went out for a walk that was longer than most from the last few weeks, but still much shorter than usual. I hope that within a week or two the weather will be consistently better and we will be able to resume our usual morning walking routine. As there is another deep freeze predicted for the weekend, I know it will not be before Tuesday… by which point I will be back to teaching overnight for the week, so that might have to wait for next weekend.

    In the meantime, while the winds are forecast to pick up around dinner time, the forecast high for this afternoon is a balmy -2°… which means that unless the forecast is wrong, or if something comes up between now and then, I will be able to sit outside on the balcony with a cigar for an hour or two. I have not done that since the cold spells began several weeks ago, and I am looking forward to it!

    I did not step onto the bathroom scale this morning, but I can’t imagine I would have liked what I saw. I was very bad yesterday. The stress of the exam I was preparing for (which, despite being related to information security, was quite a bit outside of my usual comfort zone) had me stressed, and I stress-ate. That included carbs and starches, in addition to more chicken than I normally would eat to make positive progress. I will do better today.

    Have a great day folks!

  • 2026 Day 29

    I stuck to the plan yesterday. I ate chicken for lunch, but nothing else that was not covered on my program. I lost about half a pound overnight.

    I slept pretty well, with a sleep score of 82 (Good). I slept just short of 7 hours, and it was not because I had an alarm set for 7:15am… my eyes popped open at 6:50am. Tomorrow is going to be a whole different story. I have to write an exam, and I have to do it before the end of the week. I logged on to schedule it yesterday, only to discover that I could either write it anytime tomorrow morning before 6:00am, or I could write it tomorrow night (after I finish teaching) from 10pm until midnight. Aside from the fact that I would not want to take the exam so late into the night, especially after having taught a completely different class just prior, I also know that if I pass it in the morning, then the people who are waiting on my results to take certain actions will have the entire day Friday… rather than losing the entire weekend. As it stands, I have serious doubts that I am going to pass this exam… but I will give it my best shot.

    While I was unsuccessful in the early morning, I just now was able to move my bowels. What a relief. If that sounds crude, then you likely will not remember when, a few months ago, I was completely stopped up and in agony from it. I am making sure to add a good helping of fibre to my morning shake every day in hopes of avoiding a recurrence of that. I do not remember exactly when it was – probably last summer or early autumn – but I remember being unable to sit or lie down comfortably, and how I resolved it. While I have proactively purchased the cleansing solution that I would need for that eventuality, I hope that the fibre prevents my needing to use it.

    As I mentioned a minute ago, I am not confident about tomorrow’s exam, so I will spend the entire day studying for it. I have already set my alarm for a ridiculously early hour, and I have arranged for Princess Sophie to have a sleepover with our neighbour so that I will not have to deal with her in the morning. Now it is time for me to get to work, and hopefully get in enough to actually pass.

    Have a great day folks!