Accountability and Affirmation, baby Part 3

Milestone alert!!

So I know I said on Monday I was not going to mark the 197 as official because it fluctuated all weekend, etc.

But this is the third day in a row, so I'm going to go ahead and stamp it.

I HAVE LOST 30 POUNDS IN THREE MONTHS (!!!).

Three days in a row, I've weighed in at 197. Wow. Just a reminder: three months ago, on April 17, I weighed 227 pounds. Man, let's GO.

I've gotten a comment/question or two along the lines of: "Wow, you lost all that weight because of a break-up?"

Well, no. Not even close really. And here's why I think this is an important distinction: I did this for me. Not for someone else. Not because of someone else. If I didn't do this for myself, I'm not sure it would be sustainable. Using internal motivation rather than external motivation will lend itself to more permanence in the long run, no?

My "official" start-date for this was April 17, which is several, several weeks before the break-up in question. The bottom line is I looked at myself and was profoundly unhappy. And I knew I needed to change a lot of things for and about myself if I was ever going to be happy with myself.

And I am increasingly proud to say I have changed them. You'll have to pardon me if I repeat myself a little during this post, but I'm going to ramble and brag a little bit. You've been warned haha.

I can barely contain my excitement over how much better my clothes fit. There's this great Louis C.K. stand-up bit about how when you get fat, all your pants just hurt. You get bigger, but you don't buy new pants. You just keep forcing your increasingly fatter ass into the same pants, and it gets painful.

As I look back, well, yes that's true. I have this one specific pair of shorts, and it used to hurt to wear them just three months ago. I can now pull them on and off without unbuttoning them. I am epic win.

My belt? Three months ago, I was on the second-to-last hole from needing a bigger belt. Now? I'm on the last hole in the other direction! Another few weeks and I may need to buy a smaller belt. Good problems to have, folks. I am approaching the "I need to buy new pants" point in this. Good times.

OK, but seriously. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here. Getting down to 197 is wonderful, and I am super proud of that. But it is still considered overweight haha. I'm only 5'9" -- maybe I could pass for 5'10". Still have a ways to go, but progress for the win.

What has worked for me? Many of these things are common knowledge, but it's different when you actually, you know, listen to them.

-- You can't really overestimate how awesome jut a plain old can of tuna is. Just crack open the can and grab a fork. It's only 100 calories, but it's 20 grams of protein! I've taken to eating a can of tuna after lifting days in the gym because it's hard to beat that protein/calorie ratio. Plus, cans of tuna are only, like, a buck and super tasty. No mayo necessary!

-- Be obsessive. Seriously, write down everything you eat. I like to go to Noodles and Company from time to time because I really like their mac and cheese. Sometimes, I'll get a Dr. Pepper because I love Dr. Pepper. Well, you better be careful, because if you fill that 22-oz. cup just twice, you're talking almost 600 calories. There are almost as many calories in two cups of Dr. Pepper as in the entire bowl of mac and cheese. But how many of you would be like, "oh it's just a cup of Dr. Pepper. It can't be that bad."

It's not that bad if you record it and take it into account for your day's intake. It just means you can't go as crazy on dinner and snacks. That may be worth it to you. Sometimes it is for me because I just like Dr. Pepper. But 600 calories is no joke, and it's one of the reasons why sodas are so dangerous.

-- Force yourself into a habit. I don't even think about going to the gym anymore. I wake up. I walk Allie. I go to the gym. If it's Monday, Wednesday or Friday, I know I have to run between 3.5 and four miles. If it's Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday, I know it's a lifting day. There are some exceptions. I might not lift if I have a softball game because I don't want to overdo it and hurt myself. But otherwise. Get it done.

-- Buy a food scale!! Seriously, pay attention to what the serving size is on the back of the box. If you're just eyeballing some pasta, you are most definitely going to end up eating at least three servings. One serving of dry pasta is just noooot that much pasta. And again, there's nothing necessarily wrong with eating three servings of pasta as long as you take it into account for the day. But it's just another example of how extra calories can sneak into your diet if you're not careful.

Also, I love turkey sandwiches. It's easy to put too much turkey on a sandwich. Weigh it out!

-- Cheat meals can be extremely important to helping you stave off cheat days or even weeks. One of the things I know I must avoid is pizza. My inner fat kid cannot control himself around pizza. I'm like Ron Swanson when it comes to pizza. "Give me all the pizza you have. I worry what you just heard was give me a lot of pizza. What I said was give me all the pizza you have."

But man, I was excited about my job interview on Monday, and there's a pizza place downtown I happen to enjoy, so I got a couple slices. I didn't order a large pizza. I just ordered some slices. Self-control. I has it. Sometimes.

And it helped! I didn't gain any weight. I didn't have a setback. I just rewarded myself and moved on.

So there you go. Thirty pounds is a lot! I know I'm ready to dig in and go the remaining 17 pounds now to get to my goal weight.

Some of you may think it's weird that I write so much about weight-loss, but here's my thinking. A little public shame and accountability is a solid way to keep yourself from doing something stupid again. The more I talk about this, the more people know what a bad state I was in, the less I want to get back to that state. And if more people know, they're more likely to ask how it's going, and it's just a system of accountability to make sure I'm sticking to my plan. Make sense?

Plus, you guys have been so unbelievably supportive and encouraging, and man. That goes a long way, too. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has messaged me with supportive words. It means the world to me. It really does, and I'm blown away. Sincerely.

Looking ahead:

-- Softball tomorrow night against Penn State, and then a doubleheader on Saturday against Richmond and Cornell. Maaan can't WAIT.

-- And hopefully some news about Monday's interview in the next couple of days. We'll see how it goes!

I'm out!

-BG