Still Here

Current weight: 271 lbs

Ah, yes. The dreaded blogging-about-not-blogging post has arrived.

I do have a semi-valid reason for the long break between posts. My wife and I have just relocated to that great, moss-covered city of the northwest: Seattle. As you can see, not much to report on the weight loss front. I basically just had a goal of holding steady until we were able to get through the move.

We have unpacked most of the boxes and are slowly getting settled in. In the next couple of weeks, I’ll be refocusing my efforts on weight loss. Mostly, this will mean getting back in a better routine with regard to where/when/what I eat.

Stay tuned.

Understanding the Painfully Obvious

Current weight: 270.4 lbs

From a NY Times article on exercise:

“We didn’t look at this, but it’s probably safe to speculate that it’s easier and more pleasant to exercise if you’re not already heavy.” I-Min Lee, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital

This is one of those statements that instantly provokes the “well, duh” response. Nevertheless, I still think it’s a fact that is overlooked particularly by people who are not overweight.

The simple fact is that when you are overweight, typical forms of exercise (e.g. running, cycling, etc.) are not enjoyable. And it’s not just the fact that you’re carrying more weight and thus tend to tire out faster. These activities are actually uncomfortable. Try sitting on a standard road bicycle seat for an hour if you weigh 250 lbs. Not only are you exhausted but you’re also in serious pain. The unsurprising result is that exercise tends to be avoided.

The article points out what anecdotal evidence has shown for years: exercise, without any accompanying diet changes, is not generally very effective for weight loss. (Note I’m only discussing weight loss here. No one is disputing other benefits of exercise  like improved cardiovascular health. ) Generally speaking, the best weight loss regimen stems from the old calories in/calories out formula. Eat less calories than you burn each day and you will eventually lose weight.

There does appear to be growing evidence that, once you’ve lost weight, regular exercise helps your body to metabolize food more efficiently and, in turn, helps to keep the weight off. Again, this is not exactly a ground-breaking conclusion. But this has nevertheless been a fact that I’ve been slow to understand.

When I began my weight loss efforts in earnest back in February, I knew I had to reduce my caloric intake to some extent. But I believed that I could achieve the majority of the weight loss through exercise as opposed to making significant changes to my diet. In my case, however, just the opposite has proven true. Although my exercise has been sporadic, I’ve been fairly strict in keeping my calorie count lower than what would be necessary to maintain my weight. The result has been slow (sometimes painfully slow) but steady weight loss.

Currently, my plan is to continue what I’m doing in terms of my diet. I do have a goal of returning gradually to a regular exercise program, but I’m doing that more for the cardiovascular benefits rather than weight loss.

Breaking News: Routines are Good

Current weight: 272.8 lbs

I wish I could say exciting things have happened since the last time I wrote a blog entry. But not so much. My weight continues to slowly fall. Much too slowly for my taste, but at least it’s still moving in the right direction.

I think the biggest thing that’s helped is to find a good routine. During the week, I pretty much know what I’m going to eat each day. This allows me to keep track of my calories without having to actually go to the effort of calculating calories at each meal.

On the weekends,  I allow myself a little more leeway – but not much. The idea being that this is supposed to be a lifestyle change. So, I don’t want to get in the habit of eating well during the week and then ruining my progress on the weekend.

I won’t claim that this has worked perfectly. I’ve slipped up a couple of times. But the important thing is to not let it be something that engenders mental defeat. Nobody is perfect least of all me. A person has to accept that any worthwhile endeavor will unavoidably be characterized by at least a few missteps before all is said and done. The trick is just to keep moving in the right direction and take things one day at a time. It sounds tired and clichéd, but there it is.

One Step Forward, Two Steps…

Current weight: 276.2 lbs

Two weeks after I briefly hit 275, I’m still hovering in that general vicinity. You can’t really call that slow and steady. Just slow. But, stiff upper lip and all that, eh, guv’nor?

Part of this is no doubt the result of my daily exercise regime being reduced to, basically, nothing. I’ve been extremely busy the past couple of weeks and the first thing to get cut when I’m trying to squeeze more than 24 hours into a day is exercise. This means fatigue is once more a daily reality which, of course, means irritability. I’m sure my long-suffering wife appreciates this.

Skipping exercise (and experiencing the mood swings that ensue) when you have a busy schedule is like passing a gas station in your car even when your tank is on empty. At some point, instead of saving time, you’ll be stuck on the side of the road mumbling incoherently. And it’s just hard to do that gracefully.

Needless to say, resuming my exercise routine is the first priority when my schedule once again gains some semblance of normalcy. I expect this to happen no more than 2-3 days months from now.

Security: Mac OS X vs. Windows

Seen on Engadget today:

Mac OS X is like living in a farmhouse in the country with no locks, and Windows is living in a house with bars on the windows in the bad part of town.

This seems like a pretty fair description of the state of security as it now stands with these two operating systems. I guess the pertinent question would be: where do you want to live?

Adventures of an (Un)Wise Man

Current weight: 277.6 lbs

Yesterday, I reached a new low number (275.2 lbs) in my weight loss saga. I haven’t seen that number on the scale in a long time and that made yesterday a very nice day. Today, I’m back up a couple of pounds, but I’m chalking this up to normal weight fluctuation. Everybody says you really should only weigh yourself once a week to avoid being driven batty by the day-to-day fluctuations that are common among homo sapiens. Fun fact: did you know that the Latin term homo sapiens literally means wise man? Those crazy Latin-speaking people!

I’ve chosen to ignore this advice because a) that’s just how I roll, dog, and b) I was actually interested in seeing how my weight responds to the various daily changes in diet and exercise. I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never paid very much attention to these things before unless you count watching in dismayed disbelief as the number on the scale gradually rose year after year as paying attention. I don’t.

I find if I view this as a sort of pseudo-scientific experiment it helps to avoid getting distracted by the mental aspect of weight loss. The reality is that, despite all my whining and moaning, eating less is not the gut-wrenching, soul-wasting death march I have sometimes described it as in the past. (The word “past” here being a term to refer to such ancient periods in history as last week.) True, I eat a little less than I’d like to each day. I drink tons and tons of water. I’ve pretty much given up my favorite snack/meal of chips and salsa. I’ve completely stopped drinking that which is the bane of programmers the world over, the wünder-beverage known as Diet Coke. As a grumpy Englishman might say, a rather droll list to be sure.

But it’s sobering to consider that a lot of people around the world living in less than favorable conditions would happily switch places with me in an instant. What I consider low-calorie they would probably consider a feast.

Really, is  keeping some perspective on the situation too much to ask?

Slow and Steady is Boring

Current weight: 278.6 lbs

I’m 5 days away from one full month actively working on weight loss. I have lost less than 10 pounds thus far which feels…rather mediocre. Once you’ve committed to the process of weight loss and all its attendant drudgery, you naturally want it to happen right now. Never mind that it took a couple of years a really long time to get here. I ask you: what’s so preposterous about losing 60+ pounds in a couple of weeks?

I may have mentioned that I’m keeping a spreadsheet to record my daily weight fluctuations. It’s been educational to say the least. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Seattle vacation really set me back. I think I’d have lost more than 10 pounds had it not been for that gastro-tacular weekend. (Try looking that word up on www.dictionary.com.)

Of necessity then, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this will be a slow process. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.