My current weight is 349 pounds as of Saturday. This is great considering from where I started but it's not good enough in my eyes. I've been hovering around the 351 mark since August 30th... I've been wracking my brain for a reason why I'm not making headway and I realized what changed from the beginning of September until now. Football. I'm not going to go on a rant about the NFL and it's effects on my waistline. Some insight on this is that where I'm at we don't have cable TV. Not even the local channels. We don't have internet either. I'm a rabid Pittsburgh Steelers fan. So to support my addiction, I have to go to a place with tv's or internet connections (Not so much the internet anymore because my laptop is a giant paperweight.) To watch the games at said establishments I must support said establishments. Buying beer at a bar is my pleasure. In the end we both get something out of it! The only problem is their bottom line isn't the only one being effected by this...
I have spent a part of my Sundays at the bar the last seven weeks. Sundays are mimosas for $2 (Lucky me!). A mimosa is calorically equal as a Bud light. Some weeks I'd have three or four. Others I'd have closer to seven or eight. It all depends on how many interesting games were playing and when the Steelers were on. Going on Sundays opened it up to also going on Monday nights and Thursday nights for the games then. Sometimes Pittsburgh, other times other teams. I even went to the bar to watch the presidential and vice presidential debates. Each time I'm tacking on 600-1200 calories on to my daily intake. This whole time I've been honest with myself. I don't lie and say "I'm doing great!" or "This will be my little secret!" Instead I calculate the damage then stop caring immediately afterward. The more I looked at the numbers (my weight plateau) the less motivated I was to get back on track. I'm glad that I've been able to maintain my weight but the name of this blog isn't the Neverending Journey to the Center of Myself.
To add to my grief, gas prices out here have peaked at about $4.70 per gallon so I've been to the gym less and less. To top that off I bent a rim when I took my roommate to work last week so I've been on a donut. Monday was the last time I was able to work out.
Another thing that discourages me is this running program. It's set up to increase the running time without increasing the walks inbetween. Running for a minute isn't taxing. Running for two is pushing it. Going three is damn near impossible for me. I didn't finish the program on that day from exhaustion.
So far, all you've read are reasons. Looking back on these paragraphs they look like nothing more than excuses. I've gotten used to being down on myself. Instead of trying to find solutions to my problems, I allowed myself to get caught up in the emotions associated with the problems I can't change (car problems, gas, lack of money for cable). So I'm going to fix this now.
- Beer and football: I can't get rid of them. I love football. The Steelers are the greatest. My fantasy team sucks this year but I enjoy watching my players rule/suffer. What I decided is this. I'll go in to the bar and I will buy everything up front. Two or three beers plus tip. No tap. No temptations. To add to that I will watch football only when the Steelers play. If they play on a Monday, then no bar Sunday. I've gotta be firm with myself or else I'll stay at 351-347 for the rest of the football season.
- The gym/transportation: Fuck the gym. We'll do this live! If gas is too high or the car is not working properly then I'll make time for exercise. There is no excuse. If I run at the beach in the morning then I'll take a bum shower at the shower station afterwards. People aren't at the beach until nine or ten anyhow. I'm going to have an emergency shower kit in the car to defunkify myself if I can't get home to shower before work. I've ran outside once now. There should be no excuse to not do it anymore.
- Running program: I've been running at 4 MPH. The program is designed to get out and running 2 miles in 30 minutes. This is a transitional program for me so I'll be doing two things. I'm gonna slow down and, if need be, I will repeat weeks. I will move on to the next week when I feel comfortable doing it. This is not a race. I have plenty of time. As long as the weight is coming down then I am making progress. On top of that, as I get lighter running will become easier. No matter how much I want to give up I just need to remember that it will NEVER be any worse than it is today.
- Calories: For a while now I've been doing things on my own with the MyFitnessApp program. I'm very good at gauging calories on my own. I decided that until I am down to my target weight I will continue to use the app daily. Even though I can guess accurately what something is and keep track of it in my head, it's always nice to have something else there to show me where I'm at. It will also remind me where I'm at and what I need to do to hit my goals.
There you have it! Changes are all about! If you don't see anything posted from me then get on my case. I give you all free range to call me out any way you wish. That's all for now!
Till the next episode!