Almost two months since the last weight loss update and, as you can tell, it's been an enormous fucking plateau. And it hasn't been all flatlined either...It stayed in the upper 260's much of the time and was up to almost 10 pounds above current just last week. See chart:
I was dealing with the self-embarrassment and self-frustration of having to account for massive beer and wine calories every day. Yup, pretty much every day. The old "Miller Time" and "Weekends Were Made For Michelob" syndromes were crushing my will to stay on track. It's amazing I didn't gain more than I did. Of course, these behaviors eventually led to me abandoning the My Fitness Pal calorie tracking and I started to just let it all hang out.
There were Kitchen Sink Sacrifices on several occasions in late September. The largest was an entire 12-pack of Sam Adams which was NOT on sale. Ouch. $16 bucks down the drain. But these eventually stopped since I just didn't care anymore.
How did I avoid a total relapse after this? I'm really not sure. But last week I decided that enough was enough. A couple of weekends ago, I woke up hungover again for like the 4th day in a row but this time, there was a nagging vague memory of the previous night. Much of the memory had been blacked out...not unusual, I blackout frequently even if I only have a six pack. But what I remembered pissed me off to no end. I scurried to my wallet to verify my suspicion and there in the ceramic bowl where I keep my wallet was a receipt. I knew what it said.
Semoran Food Store
Time: 20:16
12PK HEINEKEN...$12.99
Having drank my way through my first 12-pack around dinnertime, I went and bought this, the second 12-pack, around 8:16 PM. Busy traffic, prime cop scouting time, 12 beers in me so B.A.L. (blood alcohol level) probably over .20 and, worst of all, IN MY NEW CAR!
Yup, I was already driving drunk in my brand new car, three days after I got it.
Never mind the fact that I'm just getting reacquainted with stick so my response time is a tad slow (but my drunk-self INSISTS I drive so much better when buzzed) and the total lack of concern for mine and anyone else's safety, if I did get stopped, I'd be essentially screwed to hell. Goodbye new car, goodbye job, goodbye freedom.
So I watched a BBC documentary to get motivated once again to stay off the dangerous and fattening adult beverages, and get back on track. It talked about the benefits of fasting, especially the 5-2 fasting diet. Now I do think that taking it too far, ie. trying to replace your daily eating plan permanently may be a bit difficult with something like this, but at least a simplified, modified approach where the focus of 2 days per week is to maintain really low calorie intake and on the other days eat wisely but not totally overboard. This plan could allow for the usually forbidden foods like pasta, pizza, Chinese, etc. without "giving up." I know that for me, anyway, I really can't be trying to incorporate drinking into this plan. For more than calorie control issues, I know I've got to keep away from that.
We'll see how it goes. It's helped in the past few days get the drop in weight back to 261 so it might have something going for it.
All I know, with Great Plateaus like the past couple of months and the threat of plummeting down into my own version of the Valley of the Dolls, the landscape isn't as bucolic as when I'd originally set out on this journey. There are plenty of obstacles and hazards to be concerned about, and, this trip is gonna be a whole lot longer than I used to think it would be. We sure the fuck aren't in Kansas anymore.
I was dealing with the self-embarrassment and self-frustration of having to account for massive beer and wine calories every day. Yup, pretty much every day. The old "Miller Time" and "Weekends Were Made For Michelob" syndromes were crushing my will to stay on track. It's amazing I didn't gain more than I did. Of course, these behaviors eventually led to me abandoning the My Fitness Pal calorie tracking and I started to just let it all hang out.
There were Kitchen Sink Sacrifices on several occasions in late September. The largest was an entire 12-pack of Sam Adams which was NOT on sale. Ouch. $16 bucks down the drain. But these eventually stopped since I just didn't care anymore.
How did I avoid a total relapse after this? I'm really not sure. But last week I decided that enough was enough. A couple of weekends ago, I woke up hungover again for like the 4th day in a row but this time, there was a nagging vague memory of the previous night. Much of the memory had been blacked out...not unusual, I blackout frequently even if I only have a six pack. But what I remembered pissed me off to no end. I scurried to my wallet to verify my suspicion and there in the ceramic bowl where I keep my wallet was a receipt. I knew what it said.
Semoran Food Store
Time: 20:16
12PK HEINEKEN...$12.99
Having drank my way through my first 12-pack around dinnertime, I went and bought this, the second 12-pack, around 8:16 PM. Busy traffic, prime cop scouting time, 12 beers in me so B.A.L. (blood alcohol level) probably over .20 and, worst of all, IN MY NEW CAR!
Yup, I was already driving drunk in my brand new car, three days after I got it.
Never mind the fact that I'm just getting reacquainted with stick so my response time is a tad slow (but my drunk-self INSISTS I drive so much better when buzzed) and the total lack of concern for mine and anyone else's safety, if I did get stopped, I'd be essentially screwed to hell. Goodbye new car, goodbye job, goodbye freedom.
So I watched a BBC documentary to get motivated once again to stay off the dangerous and fattening adult beverages, and get back on track. It talked about the benefits of fasting, especially the 5-2 fasting diet. Now I do think that taking it too far, ie. trying to replace your daily eating plan permanently may be a bit difficult with something like this, but at least a simplified, modified approach where the focus of 2 days per week is to maintain really low calorie intake and on the other days eat wisely but not totally overboard. This plan could allow for the usually forbidden foods like pasta, pizza, Chinese, etc. without "giving up." I know that for me, anyway, I really can't be trying to incorporate drinking into this plan. For more than calorie control issues, I know I've got to keep away from that.
We'll see how it goes. It's helped in the past few days get the drop in weight back to 261 so it might have something going for it.
All I know, with Great Plateaus like the past couple of months and the threat of plummeting down into my own version of the Valley of the Dolls, the landscape isn't as bucolic as when I'd originally set out on this journey. There are plenty of obstacles and hazards to be concerned about, and, this trip is gonna be a whole lot longer than I used to think it would be. We sure the fuck aren't in Kansas anymore.