a milestone

Finally under 240. 239 to be exact. 17 pounds gone in 13 weeks. At least 27 more to go.

Setting the goal is difficult. At first I had the ambitious goal of 201. After talking with a personal trainer, that adjusted upward to 212. Now that I'm over 1/3 of the way to 212, that seems like it might not be enough weight loss. I haven't been 212 since some time in 1990 or 1991, so it's hard to say if that's an appropriate goal or not. Perhaps the trainer simply thought I would end up wanting lots more upper-body muscle.

Notable - I lost two pounds on a week where I overate on three consecutive days thanks to a colleague's gift of oatmeal cookies - the one sweet I simply cannot resist.

Onward.

As we enter August

and near three months of SLD, I'm down to 241 - total of 15 lbs lost.

Odd thought - when I started, I was nearly 10% above the weight on my drivers license. My goal is nearly 10% below the drivers license weight.

a setback

Not entirely unexpected.

Business trip in a locale with abundant tempting food and drink, no chance to work out, odd schedule and some minor injuries preventing much exercise. Up 2 pounds to 244. Back into the breach.

Appearances can be deceiving

Weighed in on Thursday at 242 again. Sounds like no change from last week, right?

Not so fast.

This week I made the mistake of weighing after my Sunday trip to the gym. Came in at 240. I used that as an excuse to go berserk on Monday at a charity function where I ate way too much junk food. After Tuesday's workout I weighed in at 245 again. Yikes.

Valuable lessons:
1. Shouldn't weigh in too often lest I get overconfident;
2. Shouldn't get overconfident and cut loose like I did Monday;
3. Shouldn't get discouraged, as there is still real progress being made, even in the face of momentary setbacks.

This week will be my biggest challenge yet as I have a four-day conference out of town that will prevent me from any gym trips, challenge my ELOO routine and present plentiful options for excess food and drink. Since I don't sleep as well when away from my better half, I'll try the middle-of-the-night ELOO.

Another week

and another pound shed. Not moving as fast as some, but those who lose weight faster are doing things that would be quite unpleasant. The added bonus is that the method that's worked so far should help me to maintain the weight loss once I get where I ought to be. Besides, fourteen pounds in 9 weeks ain't chopped liver.

Hooya!

Another week, another two pounds. I'm now at 243. Thirteen pounds in eight weeks so far, but the best part is the lack of any sense of deprivation.

Dinners I had in the past week include:

- 1/2 Roast Duck with couscous, vegetables, appetizers and 3 glasses of good wine;
- grilled steak with salad, garlic bread and drinks; and
- 2 pcs barbecued chicken with rice, garlic bread, corn-on-the-cob, pie and wine and cheese.

(I had dinners the other four nights too, but listing everything gets redundant.)

The SLD is definitely working as advertised. The way it works for me is that I use considerable restraint in what I eat and drink between about 10 pm and about 6 pm, aided by intake of ELOO. During the afternoon/evening window, though, I really do eat and drink as much as I want of whatever I want.

Hope others have the same degree of success that I have, or even more.

Weekly update

After seven weeks, I'm down to 245. For those keeping score at home, that's three pounds in the past week with a big assist to the gym. Then again, I wouldn't have joined the gym had I not first started SLD. Worked out on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have a few more sessions with a trainer. Found out that (as of Sunday) I have 38% body fat - nearly all on my torso. Apparently my goal of 201 is probably too low of a weight for my build, so the goal's been adjusted to 212. Now I'm 1/4 of the way there!