Weight Loss Update January 26th 2013

Yesterday is the first day I've broken out the measuring tape and surveyed the damage in over a month. Looking back on my weight from this Dec 8th, I'm pretty close, so it's not too surprising that the measurements are the same too.

My current weight as of yesterday is 202.2, which is just a hair under the 203.8 of last Thursday which will have to suffice, as I wasn't home to do the normal routine and measurements on Saturday.

I've gotten into a good routine the past couple weeks and it feels quite a bit like the really productive season I had last summer when the pounds and the lethargy just seemed to disappear daily. I think that the single most defining piece of my routine is probably remembering to drink enough water. When I do, I don't find myself craving food as often.

I'm handily winning the office weight loss challenge for the time being, but I've got some great, disciplined coworkers so I'm not planning on letting off on the intensity.

Short this time around, but I'm guessing that's due to the simplicity of what is needed. When I do what I know to do, this just works.

Weight loss update Week 18- Shiny Things and Bacon

I've had a pretty good week and am feeling good about my old nemesis discipline. When I look back through journal entries from the past few years, this issue of discipline has been constant. An old lyric by Derek Webb just popped into my head. "...the same old struggles that plagued me then are plaguing me still"

I don't know if this is such a struggle for you, for everyone or just for me. I've certainly met people- close friends even- who are amazingly disciplined and just do what they know is right with impressive consistency.

My resolve is so much more fleeting. I am so easily derailed and distracted by shiny things and bacon.

I've had a couple weeks of holding steady. My weigh in this morning was 196.3. I was hoping an all time low and hit it, but just by one tenth. My goal was for somewhere under 196. Either way, I'm feeling better week by week and my measurements continue to decrease.

I guess that the primary update to give you is that I'm not tracking my food as closely anymore. I've gotten into some pretty good habits at this point and feel like I don't really need to input every thing I eat to know how many calories it has. That being said, I may start back up again at some point if I feel like I've gotten off track.

This has been part of my long-term strategy all along as I don't want to be stuck counting calories the rest of my life. It's kind of like reading instructions or a recipe the first few times you make something. At first, you havent' memorized exactly how it works and need to check every so often to make sure you are still doing it right. After you have made the same thing 50 times, chances are you have the recipe/instructions memorized and can wing it.

So, all of that said, I'm not able to use autopilot just yet. I read a great post this week by Joshua Becker on his blog Becoming Minimalist that kind of addresses this. He is talking about getting to the point where you don't miss and long for possessions. That contentedness comes from recognition of what you are able to have because of what you've given up.

Cool. I'm gonna have to chew on that a bit this week.