Weighings

Fluctuations
It’s probably been said before, but I will add my own take here. My weight seems to fluctuate by a few pounds, most likely due to the cycle of intake and outtake. Friday I was 209 pounds, Sunday I was down to 205 pounds, yesterday I was back up to 208.2 pounds and this morning I was sitting at 206.2 pounds. I am not going to sweat it.

240 lbs. in early July

Obese
I keep reminding myself that I weighed a peak of 240 pounds back in June and July, when my wife Lisa and I took our trip to Chicago. That’s a Body Mass Index of about 32, which placed me well into the obese classification, which starts at 30. My wife, bless her soul, claimed that to her I still looked like the man she married. What a great fibber. I got serious and stopped eating all sugars, starches and any other refined carbohydrates like breads, potatoes and white rice. I ate like a pig at first, but none of my diet included those items. I still sometimes miss pizza, but less and less so over time. Even though I barely exercised that whole time, I still managed to lose about 30 pounds from early July of 2010 to early April of 2011.

Shame
I felt a great deal of shame about how I looked. I went so far as to doctor photos of myself before I allowed Lisa to post them on Facebook. To the left is a comparison showing off how easily I was able to lie using Photoshop. Notice my jowls and gut in reality. Not only that, but my resting heart rate was between 90 to 110 beats per minute, which is not good. I struggled with Gastroinestinal Reflux Disease, minor chest pains and sometimes cold sweats at night. All very bad signs.

Phase 2
This new phase will be even more interesting, as my goal is to lose about two or more pounds per week until my physical in June. I would love to eventually weigh 170–175 pounds and be somewhat stronger that I am now. The plan includes eating at least 50% of calories from fats, which seems scandalous to many who still believe the long taught low fat/high carb mantra.