Pound by Pound

Steppin on the scale

Watching the numbers bounce

That fucker will cry for mercy

If I gain just one more ounce!

Ooh ooh I got the overcarb blues!

OK, well maybe not THAT bad. Still, back in December I wasn't doing too well with my eating. It WAS a vast improvement over the previous year when I employed the following formula.

1. Buy something sweet and delicious, try 1 and put it in the pantry.

2. Love it so much that hey, 1 or 2 or 3 more couldn't hurt.

3. Keep to step 2 until the package was done before midnight.

I'm not kidding, I was really that bad in winter of last year! At the time, I had no idea why I was being that way, nothing in fact seemed wrong. Now, I have come to understand that with buying and moving into a new house the previous fall, my system was adjusting to a LOT of changes and the sweets were helping me cope...well, that and registering as pre-diabetic at my next doctor appointment!

I did get better in terms of eating habits, at least in terms of the sweets. Yet, the weight wasn't exactly melting like butter in a microwave. Skip ahead to December, when my school advertised a Biggest Loser Challenge! I thought, GREAT! If this is going by my high school dating record, I'm a sure winner! However, to my chagrin (cha meaning loss of, grin meaning grin), I discovered that it meant WEIGHT LOSS!

My first reaction was HAHAHAHAHA! I've tried this for myself several times, each instance failing after a little while. Then I found out there was money involved. This greedy bastard changed his tune quickly!

That hurdle out of the way, I needed a plan. As indicated, my previous efforts at weight loss were equal to trying to destroy the Death Star by tickling a stormtrooper....not a lot of laughs and quick failure. A few Facebook friends often posted about weight loss and management so I asked 1 for advice. This person, whom I had never met personally and had graduated from my high school 3 years after me, actually called and gave me some good eastern Pennsylvania-style advice ("Don't be a pussy, do it!") in the realm of low carbs.

So I made a plan: eat like shit for the rest of 2019 and get it out of my system! That really took hold on New Year's Eve! When school started back on January 6, I weighed in at 222 pounds. I had been a few pounds higher than that before, so I wasn't feeling too bad. 

Now, there is something about me, a kind of dark side. I tend to jump ass-first into things like an unsecured hammock (true story there), and my expectations of myself are so high that when failure occurs, it comes BIG and I have difficulty climbing out of that hole I dug for myself. That has happened to me many times in many different situations, and a shrink or two has made some good money off of listening to me ramble about them....well, they did if my insurance paid them their due! Anyway, I was about to do the same thing with the weight loss. Luckily, I have Vickie, that wonderful spouse of reason  (usually) who puts the kibosh on my rash tendencies. She saw it about to happen again and diplomatically told me to calm down or fuck off. Fourteen years and we are still that strong!

That first week was one of the hardest I can remember in terms of eating. My energy was sagging, ready to pounce heavily on the first M&M that came across my lips. Luckily, it didn't happen. I dropped all cereals and grains, and generally all sweets save for an occasional morsel likean Andes mint once in a while.

After a week, I dropped 5 pounds, then a little more each week until early March when I stepped on the scale and it read 202!!! I couldn't believe it!

Even more, my energy levels jumped up by late January. I did have a little bout of oily hair and really bad breath, but as it turns out that is part of the body hitting ketosis.

And that is another thing: the word keto. It brings so many things to mind. To me it is craziness and mucho bucks for anythng with that word on it. And then there are the recipes...way too complicated for my simple mind. 

The real key to it has been this :lots of protein (preferable lean), fats, and veggies. Nuts and cheese for snacks have really helped. Everyone is different, but that has worked for me. For a while.

Then the quarantine hit....and the efforts started to hit the fan. 

It is telling when the system is in stress, just like after our move, I have stumbled quite a few times. Luckily, my gains have not been too great, but the losses have not been regular and I've been in a general stasis. 

Pound by pound, I shall conquer!

As much as I can lose

But with all I gained through the years

I'm still paying my dues!