Weekly weigh-in: 229.3Loss: 7.7 lbs
Total loss: 62.2 lbs.
Emotion: Little bit loco
Since beginning this incredible weight loss journey, I’ve made some substantial changes in my life and my lifestyle. I’ve sh*t-canned my diet soda addiction, creamed my coffee habit and tried my best to eat smarter, eat healthier and eat less.
More than a “diet,” I’ve been trying to make some sensible changes in my life that will promote my health while bringing my weight back to a more reasonable range. Build some good habits and behavior that will let me go forward confidently into the future without the worry that I’m going to wake up back in Obese City.
But this week, I experimented.
This week, I dieted.
I wanted to see what a *perfect* week would translate to on the scales. Turns out, it’s spectacular, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to live like I lived this past week.
My radar was set on “super-sensitive” all week. I examined every morsel, calculated every calorie. I craftily navigated through events such as a pizza party and office celebration. I made lame-o excuses to get out of multiple dinner invitations and a Friday night neighborhood block party. I had a force-field up and was prepared to deflect anything that came my way.
I fired up the intensity of my workouts, pushing myself until I was slinging sweat like an out-of-control lawn sprinkler. I pushed myself each and every day, leaving just enough in the tank to stagger back to the showers. I lied to myself, promising my weary body a “day off” tomorrow, knowing full well that that wasn’t going to happen, not on a week where we were settling for nothing less than *perfect*.
I put my hunger in a cage and poked it with a stick. I embraced that rumbling stomach and glorified in those meaty growls. As I write this, I fully realize that it would not be that difficult to slip past the line of common sense with this business. It’s almost an obsession itself, this crazy desire to drop the pounds. I know people cross that line all the time, and after this week, I think I can see why: there is a savage attraction that is hard to deny.
I have lost 60+ pounds now, and while I’m not done losing, I am done with seeking perfection. It’s not healthy for your head, and I suspect it’s not healthy for the rest of you in the long run. That kind of perfection is fool’s gold, and I’m looking for something much more valuable than that: a healthy lifestyle that I can life with.
It is pretty funky, isn't it? I spent a year as an anorexic as a teenager. You get reaaallly into the control thing. It's cool to prove you can do it. For me, though, the end-game is finding a lifestyle I can sustain happily for the rest of my life. Somewhere on the road between all and nothing.
ReplyDeleteWell written post!
Am I Really That Fat?
HOLY MOLEY! WTG Jack! That is an amazing week! Good Job! Off to the GoodWill store ya go! :)
ReplyDeleteha! well done on your massive loss but I know what you mean about losing your sanity if you adhere to strict 'diets'
ReplyDeleteI've had a really destructive relationship with food since I started developing hips, have yo-yoed up and down the scales for years, but one thing that has never changed is my obsession with food... it'd dreadful! So now, I'm losing weight sloooowly, making sure that I don't stray from 'normal' eating behaviour, I'm not dieting, I'm just making small changes, if I did go on a diet I'd go nuts, I'd be bored, I'd be friendless, I'd be miserable!!
It's got to be something you can sustain for a long time otherwise there's no point doing it, you'll end up skinny but miserable and then you'll be far more likely to put it back on, with interest, like I have done for the last 18 years!
You're doing great, enjoy your clothes, you've earned them, but don't drive yourself crazy in the process!! :-)
I'm proud of you for the loss, but I'm even prouder of you for recognizing the danger in the allure of "perfection". You've got a good head on your shoulders, and you'll do the right thing. Keep up the right things! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazingly impressive loss, good job. Goodwill will welcome you with open arms!!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats....
Helen
That's an amazing loss! I like that you gave strict dieting a try, and I like that you recognize how it can spiral into insanity (says the former HS anorexic). Good priorities, Jack.
ReplyDeleteSo now you can find a happy medium, I hope? Great loss and thank goodness you can wear clothes again!
ReplyDeleteAs a survivor of decades of "on a diet, off a diet" crap, I can say that sanity lies in finding a long-term, sustainable lifestyle that promotes healthful eating and adequate exercise. Anything else (at least for me) calls for an all-or-nothing, perfection or failure mindset. Balance, I've found, is the goal.
ReplyDeleteGood for you in seeing the folly of The Unsustainable.
My mom mentioned something to me a couple of weeks ago when I said something about never eating in a restaurant again for the rest of my life. She told me that changing my lifestyle to a healthier, life-long one is the goal, and the weight will fall off as a result of smarter eating and exercise. But to think I'll never eat in a restaurant again is unrealistic...what I'm doing now has to be something I'm willing to do for the rest of my life. So no craziness...just some thoughtfulness. I think you found that out this week. Congrats on the super duper loss though, no matter how you got there. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel like the "sanity" of my diet is what will keep me going and keep me successful for the long run. I read about so many people who adopt these insane lifestyles as soon as they decide to lose weight and I know that it will be impossible to maintain. Me, I have to enjoy what I'm doing to keep doing it, so that's the key for me, finding ways to make this a helpful, useful, enjoyable part of my life.
ReplyDeleteI can understand doing it for a week or two but at least you know it's not sustainable!
ReplyDeleteHowever, congrats on the very nice loss this week.
Holy sh*t. that is a loss and a half.
ReplyDeleteits understandable with losses like that people become obsessed with dieting and restricting themselves and not just living life. definitely with the weightloss business you have to do it with your head, your heart and sensible life changing choices, not fads. kudos on experimenting and woot on the loss.
I think it's really wise to start thinking now about what "real life" looks like after weight loss.
ReplyDeleteI wanted something I could live with the rest of my life. Sensible, and simple.
When you put something in a cage and poke it with a stick, the results aren't usually glamorous!
ReplyDeleteThe other thing you found out is that once you've reached your goal weight range, if you ever need to drop some weight you can go "boot camp" for a week and get it done. That's good to know.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your continued progress toward your healthy weight. The journey just gets better...
daaaaanngg!!!! what a loss that was! congrats on both dropping that weight but also realizing you're not willing to do that each week--too brutal!!
ReplyDeleteWow! That's amazing! Great job!
ReplyDeleteErrrr - I think the only good thing here is realising that that is not an option for life - that way lies either unhealthy obsession and as much of a loss of social life as being overweight (and it's also deeply unhealthy as the weight tends to come from the muscles rather than fat) or an epic crash and burn.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that I don't think it did any harm in that you showed that you can control when you need to and that that can be more moderately applied to all life situations, so a good lesson learned.
Awesome. You're flingin' fat off like an out-of-control sprinkler.
ReplyDeleteWell, congrats on that nice loss.
ReplyDeleteI think you nailed it perfectly. If it is truly a lifestyle change, it has to be one that you can actually live with.
I will always think of you from now on when I see a sprinkler. lol
It took me four years to get rid of "perfection" as a goal. You've obviously caught on quicker than I.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Jack. I'm with you - it's fine to have a crazy-strict week like that every once in a blue moon, but I'm a fan of losing the weight in a manner that I can LIVE MY LIFE. Grats on the loss, and on the revelation that life is too short to live like that!
ReplyDeleteWay to go! Goodwill will surely get a shock with a naked man coming in to buy clothes!
ReplyDeleteWell done on the loss!
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ReplyDeleteGreat post about moderation & living life. Although people would say I am crazed now, I have been really crazed in my younger days... not taking days off, not treating myself & such. Luckily I learned from my mistakes! I still am crazy but not as much. I take days off & I enjoy treats when I want them!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your weight loss, your thought process & understanding of life is to lived!
thank you jack, besindes being amazingly funny and smart you're very reflected and REAL. I have had my share of 'stupid' und unhealthy dieting, and I can see some 'not-so-sane' stuff on a couple of weightloss blogs. So thank you for putting things into perspective. Into a healthy one!
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Jack! I bet you're looking awesome in your new clothes!
ReplyDeleteFor heavens sake, put some clothes on, there are children in the room! (good job on the loss and the attitude)
ReplyDeleteHooray for new clothes!!! Oh ... and for the great loss and even better (and realistic) outlook!
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the crazy amount of weight loss this week. But I agree with you - I'd much rather lose it slowly and sanely.
Crap. That was like "Biggest Loser" style... those crazy fucks that lose tons of weight towards the end of their weight loss, and spend the entire time thinking about it...
ReplyDeleteI love the exercise part, but I am sure that your calorie restriction had to be painful... ugh.
Great loss!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm cringing thinking about your perfect week. Only because I know that I need a few more of them, since I keep doing not so well. We'll see how it's going come Monday morning. At least we know what we need to do to kick it into high gear, right?
ReplyDeleteI still pray to God every day for anorexia so that's probably the opposite of what this post is about, right?
ReplyDeleteYou da man!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya though. Probably not a good way to live you life daily, but at least you know what to do to see the scale move in the right direction.
Great job on the weight loss and an amazing week... I'm so jealous of stopping the diet coke addiction... I just can't let go! ! !
ReplyDeleteRemember when I asked you if you thought I could lose 12 in two weeks. You said it was possible but maybe a little much---then you told me to go for it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't, but you did. You just proved that yes, it is possible---But, but---it's also possible to do it in a fashion that doesn't drive us crazy trying to be perfect.
Great job and realization.
Sometimes I get in that zone too, Jack, but knowing there will be weak willed weeks later, I usually try to reap the rewards. Your comment about staggering to the shower was ripped straight out of my last week. On each walk and bike ride I finished on dead "E."
ReplyDeleteI know it can't be healthy, but it did rock out on the weekly weight loss chart.
You are awesome.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the awesome loss!!!
ReplyDeleteit is amazing what a little discipline will do! But you are right, I think I would rather lose it a little more slowly and gain something sustainable for life, than lose it fast and gain it back when I go "off diet".
ReplyDeleteI have to first say WOW at that loss!
ReplyDeleteAnd second...THANK YOU!!! I am not able to live that kind of perfection either! That's why after 18 months I still haven't hit my 100 lbs mark...I'm not even close to goal, just barely half way there as a matter of fact. I think though that as quick as the obsession is there, it can be gone just as fast. So that weight that you drop...so much so fast...can come back harder and heavier than before.
Welcome to the world of imperfection my friend!
7.7 pounds! That is great. Now how did you do on your dance routine...oh sorry, I am thinking of another show!!!
ReplyDeleteMaking sensible changes to your lifestyle is so......sensible! :-) I'm right there with ya on finding a lifestyle I can live with.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already, it seems like it's time to start saving for that trip around the world, buddy. You are more than half way there! Wow.
ReplyDeleteAt least you can buy some clothes now, although you may be wanting to show off your svelte body with a 7 lb loss. Whether you do last week forever or not, That 7 lbs is gone forever. Good job.
ReplyDeletehmm, i see a point being made. we can lose tons of weight, but can we keep up that lifestyle? the word, here being lifestyle. the good part about it is you know how to lose the weight if you make a big gain later. thanks for being candid.
ReplyDeleteas ever it goes to prove that all this stuff starts with your head first. Whatever your head is up for, your body will follow.
ReplyDeleteI agree about how easy it could be to become an obsession.
Like you I just want a healthier iifestyle that is tolerable and enjoyable
You are so right - no one can live in a "diet" mindset for long. That implies deprivation. Who can live like that? That's why they don't work. I think "lifestyle change". I've seen the benefits of thinking this way - not only in weight loss, but also medically. My doctor is amazed at how much healthier I am (cholesterol, etc). That's a mindset I can live with!
ReplyDeleteI think it was a good experiment for you, you know now what you are willing to live with and what you're not. I definitely think finding ways to change your lifestyle into something every day liveable is the way to go. I don't know you, but I'm real proud of you today. :-)
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work. You are a super motivationalist!
Well, on a good note, at least you can meet that goal of buying some new clothes & don't have to go around naked since you gave the rest away 10lbs ago. ;)
ReplyDeleteDude, that sounds like a b*tch of a week.
Yep, I can see the lure...oh yeah that is a huge 7lb lure...but as I read what you gave up (all the fun stuff - a block party? Really?) I applaud that you for stepping away from *perfection* & sticking with healthy plus a side of real life.
I agree, I agree, and then I agree. However, you might just have something there with a one week diet and exercise challenge. Can't we all do just about anything for one week? Well, YOU can.
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