The Incredible Shrinking Brian

It's the little victories that make it fun to keep going. And, really, sometimes they aren't even that little. Today is the first real significant milestone, I think. Sometimes, I really do just want to order pizza or go to Taco Bell. But man. Days like today. Makes it worth it. It really does.

I weighed in today at 202 pounds. I started at 227 almost three months ago, and my goal to reach is 180 pounds. What does that mean? Well, it means I set out to lose 47 pounds, and I've lost more than half of that now.

That's right. I'm down 25 pounds, with 22 left to lose. I've crossed the half-way point of the race, and it's all downhill from here. From this point on, I will always have less to lose than I've already lost.

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.

Not only that, but this weekend I put on khakis and a button-down shirt that, just a few months ago, well, let's just say I was, unfortunately, straining the threads and buttons. This weekend, however, I could pull the khakis on and off without unbuttoning them, and the shirt was comfortable again, and -- dare I say -- I think it looked pretty good compared to how it used to look on me.

I mean. Let's GO. Let us go.

Also, and this is pretty shameful and embarrassing. But, you know, I write a blog that's mostly about myself, so how much shame can I really have? That's right; not that much. And besides, it's all about some accountability for the nonsense that got me into this in the first place, right?

In the winter, it got so bad I had trouble bending over to put my socks on. Seriously. I sit down on the couch, and I lean over my leg and pull my sock on. Seems easy enough.

Except I couldn't. I could not comfortably lean over and put on my socks. I mean, what the fuck, man?

Isn't it crazy how you can look back on yourself from a time not that long ago and just marvel at the mindset you had and the things you did? Christ, man. What in the shit was I doing to myself? I really wish I could go back in time and punch myself right in the face.

But! I say all that because it's in the past! That is obviously no longer a problem, but this weekend was the first time where I really thought about it.

I took a few progress pictures, and I can see some changes. Nothing I feel comfortable showing others just yet, but eventually, maybe I will. It's only been a couple of weeks since I moved into this new belt hole. It's starting to be a little loose though!

I'm maybe another couple of weeks from moving to another new belt hole. And believe me when I say I LITERALLY have no memory of ever having to use a belt hole that far back. Not since undergrad at least. So, like seven to 10 years ago. (Sidenote: Undergrad was that long ago? Punch me in the face. Jesus.)

I did decide to skip running today. I've been having a little soreness in a muscle on my upper back since Thursday, and it actually got really aggravated when I ran on Friday. It feels better today than it did on Friday, but I don't want to push it and risk making it worse. Especially since I still walk Allie four miles every day. It's not like I'm not getting any exercise if I don't run. All the same, I hope to get back to it on Wednesday.

Otherwise, running has been going great. I'm sticking to the treadmill still for health reasons. It's almost assuredly a mental issue at this point, but I'm just terrified of running outside and having my knee or hamstring hurt to the point that I can't run at all for a while. I can't have that. Not when I'm making so much progress and feeling so good.

So treadmill it is because I feel comfortable on it. Anyway, I've been running 5Ks on the treadmill three times a week, and I've gotten my time down to around 28 minutes. And yeah, that's not a fantastic 5K time, but consider this: I ran an actual 5K last September in around 32 minutes, and I could barely run two miles on the treadmill a couple months ago.

Like I said, it's the little victories.

And we have a softball game this Friday! And depending on the next couple of weeks, I could be heading to the beach with my family at the end of July, into the beginning of August. And then I might actually be able to hit up the Technician reunion at the beach on August 7. In the meantime, I'm sticking to the plan.

It just feels so good to work so hard at something and actually achieve some results. I remember when I first saw the 227 on the scale -- ugh, and just despairing at how difficult it was going to be to change it. Here I am now almost three months later and 25 pounds lighter.

Trust me when I tell you this: it is so, so worth it. It's worth cutting out the food you've grown accustomed to eating -- all the shitty food we all love so much: the pizza and burgers and cookies and doughnuts and enormous plates of pasta. It's worth waking up a little earlier and sweating it out in the gym. It's worth everything. And it makes me want to work that much harder to get the rest of the way.

That's really the key, too. It's hard work. There's no easy way. If you find an "easy" way to lose the weight, it's almost definitely unhealthy, and it almost definitely means the weight will eventually come back. It is far more rewarding to do it the right way. I haven't been less than 200 pounds in almost two years, and I'm probably two weeks away from it again. CAN'T WAIT.

Goddamn life is good, man. Life is good.

LET'S GO.

-BG