Success!


In early 2011, I got within spitting distance of 250 pounds. That’s about sixty pounds more than I should weigh. My Body Mass Index fell solidly in the obese range.  To tell you the truth, I’d given up.

For exercise, I rode my bike–weather permitting, which ended up being a pretty subjective decision. Too hot. Too cold. Too windy. Looks like rain. You can see the trend. I didn’t ride a lot more than I rode.

I joined Weight Watchers in May 2011. My starting weight was 238. Counting points was a real education for me. I found out the healthy salad I had for lunch every day (with fried onion rings, cheese, grilled chicken, a butter-logged slice of Texas Toast, and two packs of Honey Mustard dressing) cost me sixty percent of my daily points allowance. Who knew? Okay, I should have known. But I didn’t.

This time last year I joined a gym. I’ve seen a trainer almost every week for thirty minutes, hit the gym for weight training once or twice a week, attended Zumba classes several times every week, and started running. Of those, the one I’m most proud of is running. Now I run three to five miles once or twice a week and am hoping to increase that as the weather cools. I might even try a 10K at the end of this month.

By the end of the summer last year, I was down to 224. Since then, I’ve stayed between 220 and 230.  I’ve lost that ten pounds 15 or 20 times in the last year. Still fat by any measure, though my BMI has fallen into the “overweight” category rather than obese.

Before we left for our vacation earlier this month, my weight FINALLY dropped below 220. Great. No way I was going to keep it off on vacation–not the way I love ice cream and fried seafood. Okay. I like broiled or grilled seafood, too, but I was on vacation, dammit, and I’m a grown-ass man so I’ll eat whatever the hell I want.

The first thing I did when we got home was step on the scale. Well, I guess the first thing I did was strip down to my birthday suit. Then I stepped on the scale and, even though it was late in the day when I tend to be my heaviest, the scale said 219. Could it be that I’ve finally broke through the plateau I’ve been on for the last year?

So yesterday was my weigh-in day. I looked down and the number between my toes was 217.5!  This morning it was 216. With this progress has come a renewed commitment to my fitness program. Success breeds success.

Of course, winter and my tendency to gain ten or twenty pounds is just around the corner. The good news is that though I didn’t lose any weight last winter, I didn’t gain any either. So I’m hoping that ten pounds I’ve been wrestling with for the last year won’t be turning up again here in…

My Glass House


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