Collingsfan's Blog

Day 245

collingsfan — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:05:33 +0000

Just back from a long holiday weekend in Colorado with family. Ate good resort food, more or less three square meals a day. Good amount of exercise also. Had s’mores literally every day. And still managed to lose a couple of pounds in 5 days. The bottom line is that remaining vigilant about what I’m eating, even when it’s not the highest quality food at every meal, matters. It’s the old Heisenberg uncertainty principle. You cannot measure velocity without changing position, and you cannot measure position without affecting velocity. The mere act of measurement distorts outcomes, and in this case, in a most constructive way. Simply knowing that i have to post on Twitter what I’m eating and to hear about it from my stubborn, critical friends, leads me to eat one piece of bread, not two. One plate of food at the buffet, maybe two, but not five.

Tonight’s exercise, after an evening of not sleeping at all because my son couldn’t sleep in a foreign place, is to write my post in advance for December 31, 2010, exactly eight month after commencing the public humiliation diet.

Eight months have passed. 50 pounds have vanished. I am an improved tennis and basketball player. I can comfortably run eight minute miles, one after the other. My pants are 34 waist, and sometimes 32.

Day One

collingsfan — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:47:29 +0000

I have lost momentum. Weighed myself yesterday and landed at a depressing 234.0. The human body does not lie. I’ve played it a fast and loose over the past week or so, eating fro-yo with oreos, chocolate chips, and nuts; indulging in large meals when we’ve gone out; even drinking a sugary lemonade that I didn’t particularly enjoy. My mentality has again shifted from “how much I need” to “how much I can get away with” or “how much I can eat that I’ll burn off later.”

I’ve lost the passion to exercise, having watched hours upon hours of basketball without putting myself on the Stairmaster. I know I’d feel better if I worked out. I know I’ll ironically eat better if I work out. But i haven’t had the desire.

My personality is such that I like to finish tasks. I love ticking through a list. If there were anything in the world I could do over the next week to lose all the weight I needed to lose, I’m damn sure I could do it. Not sleep for a week? Fine. Run an ultra? Fine. Not eat at all for 5 days straight? Fine. The hard part is the long, slow journey, not the quick explosive bursts. How do I, with all the chaos that life brings with it, trim 500 – 1000 calories a day for a very long time?

The 234 may be partially explained by my lifting on Saturday. When I lift, I retain water and gain weight. I should not read too much into one number. I’m traveling today and tomorrow. There will be cookies and brownies and chips everywhere. Chips in particular have been a real weakness. Sea salt and vinegar chips taste good, but are nutritionally worthless. Must walk away.

I’ll try a one-day experiment. How little can I eat without feeling ill? Pack some nuts. Don’t eat the damn cheese ravioli on American Airlines, etc.

Breakfast was cabbage and bacon leftovers from last night, plus half a banana. Very small meal, but I’m no worse for the wear after three hours of being up. Time to get much more aggressive about this. One day: how little can I eat?

(Given my usual consumption levels must be north of 4,000 calories, a drastic mentality will probably lead me to 2,000 – 2,500, which to say the least should not create any medical issues).

I owe it to myself and I owe it to others to take better care of myself. Today is yet another Day One.

Day One

collingsfan — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:46:24 +0000

Yet another start. How do I get to the point at which losing weight isn’t just self flagellation? I wouldn’t bjext necessarily except that it appears definitively not TP work.

OK couple of days. Yesterday started day with cabbage and bacon leftovers and half a banana. Was fine through lunch. Ate lunch on the plane a chicken salad of some kind. No cookie. Did eat nuts.

Dinner was steakhouse. Did not eat bread. Did, however, manage to wolf an entire riveted steak, a salad, and some potatoes an mushrooms. Had a craving for yogurt so ate fro yo with Justin an Brigitte. Sugar free but with chips, preps and peanuts. Delicious.

Today board meeting in Texas. Hotel breakfast of omelette and sausages and strawberries. Lunch was salad plus a half sandwich plus a few chips. Avoided the Brownies. Ate dinner at pappasito’s at dfw. Fish tacos and soup. Did not eat on plane. A mistake as I went eight hours without eating anything which is bad. Ate leftover chicken pot pie when I got home. With no remorse.

Day Thirty-Five

collingsfan — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:06:13 +0000

Have lost two phantom days along the way in this exercise.

Two eggs for breakfast yesterday, an apple and a banana before lunch. For lunch, had sushi and tempura. A substantial meal, but not outrageous.

Had dinner with wife at Spruce. Salad and soup to share to start. My bouche was amused by a small cheese popover, a nice coincidence given my popover destruction the night before. Shared a foie gras with strawberries with the wife. Had two small pieces of bread. Ate one of my two pieces of chicken. Had an entire serving of duck fat potatoes, which were delicious. Had a quarter of a strawberry shortcake. Bloody meal. I’ve done much much worse in the past (easily would have eaten my chicken and a quarter of my wife’s entree also, along with my own dessert), but that’s no path to the future either.

I now remember the prior day’s lunch. Large beet salad and a couple of decapitated sandwiches.

Day Thirty-Four

collingsfan — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:44:51 +0000

Losing momentum. Haven’t weighed myself in days because i’m afraid. Must get back on wagon.

Half bagel with cream cheese, two hard-boiled eggs. Lunch: salad, sandwich, chips. Don’t really remember. Dinner: sausage gumbo and popovers. Had five popovers and two large bowls of gumbo. Bad.

Work has been very busy. Tough confluence. Modest sleep deprivation, stress at work.

Day Thirty-Three

collingsfan — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 06:33:12 +0000

Scrambling all morning for work. 230. Hosted brunch. Ate a bagel with cream cheese, half of it with lox. An egg and cheese quiche, two pieces of bacon, and a pile of fruit salad. Bit of a train wreck of a breakfast, fell asleep around noon.

For a snack, had another half of a bagel with cream cheese.

Skipped lunch more or less.

For dinner, made myself a bowl of quinoa, some Italian sausage, some artichoke hearts, some tomatoes, olive oil, and salt. Tasted pretty good actually.

Day Thirty-Two

collingsfan — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 06:31:28 +0000

Started day with work. Ate something light in the morning (cereal?), followed by walk to the ferry building. I had a cucumber lemonade drink that I wish i’d passed on. otherwise, ate a little over half of two large tamales, and three beef tacos of manageable size. Then had two pieces of bacon and a half of a half of a French baguette. The baguette was strangely delicious.

Was bad in the afternoon. Hungry, so had sugar free yogurt from Tutti Melon…but loaded it with chocolate chips, peanuts, and Oreos. To be fair, the portions were very small.

For dinner, started with crackers and cheese. Ate for two. But not eight. We ordered take-out from Benjarong Thai. Had brown rice with chicken curry, some papaya salad, a tofu and vegetable dish, and some pad thai. Ate abundantly, but not ridiculously. Stairmastered, and weighed 227.5 immediately afterwards, which is of course fools’ gold.

Day Thirty-One

collingsfan — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 06:27:43 +0000

Breakfast was two hard-boiled eggs. Had a banana in the morning.

Lunch was evidently from “The Plant” organic cafe. I honestly cannot remember what I ate.

Dinner was supposed to be beef short ribs, but the slow cooker burned them. I nibbled at it, but we ultimately ordered take-out from Mezes. Had fried calamari as my entree. Also ate one spanakotiropita, one and a half zucchini cakes, and some pita bread with hummus and babaganoush.

Losing some mo on this blog, need to pick it back up.

Day Thirty

collingsfan — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:16:22 +0000

Fried myself (disastrously) three eggs to put over a medium-size helping of cornbread souffle.

Late morning, ate the two hard boiled eggs I always have.

For lunch, went out with two coworkers. Had some decidedly mediocre beef barley soup, an Italian sandwich (large), and a bag of chips. Need to cut one of the three.

For dinner, had brown rice pasta with sheep parmesan and pesto. Large serving. Quinoa with balsamic and carrots. Likely one – two servings of that stuff.

One and a half turtles for dessert.

Day Twenty-Nine

collingsfan — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:14:32 +0000

Two hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. Two pieces of fruit in the morning at some point.

Lunch was bad. Large sausage sandwich. Ate the whole thing. Put salad on my plate but didn’t eat it. Also had another sandwich of some kind and chips. Need to stop at one sandwich.

For dinner, had sushi and a pile of broccoli. Good quantity of sushi. Tons of broccoli, but no harm done. For dessert, shared a grapefruit with wife.