I cursed at my scale this morning...

...because that's what I do sometimes when my emotions go unchecked. I know, I know, it's not the mature thing and I should set a better example and all that but every once in while it happens. Since about mid-March I've been stepping on that scale at least twice a day and this morning that #*&^%! showed 199.4 lbs!

Back in March it was groaning under 249 lbs and when I looked in the mirror I was not at all pleased with the guy staring back at me. Changes had to be made. One way or another I was gonna drop some of this weight. So, being the sedentary nerd that I am I looked to the internet for some ideas. Try this diet, take this pill(s), drink these shakes, eat only this, or don't eat that... I was reminded quickly of P.T. Barnum's famous quote “There's a sucker born every minute.” I remembered my company health plan included discounts for Weight Watchers so that's where I started. No meetings or meals just the basic Online Plan. It had an iPhone app (with a barcode scanner) and for me a daily routine where I could use my phone sounded pretty good. Paid for the minimum 3 month deal and got seriously disciplined about recording EVERY single thing I consumed. Due to the small database of bar-coded items (grrr) I ended up downloading the MyFitnessPal app. My original intention was to use it to crossover nutritional info so WW could figure the points but the ease of using MFP eventually led me to drop WW at the end of my 3 months and just record everything with the one app.

I had two major WTF moments when I started:
1. A dozen Entenmanns’s Plain Donuts were over 2000 calories! That was DEFINATLEY over my recommended daily calorie allowance.
2. The law of Conservation of Energy came back to bite me from High School Physics "The total energy of an isolated system is constant; energy can be transformed from one form to another, but cannot be created or destroyed." In weight loss shorthand that is to say calories in must equal calories burnt or else they get stored...

Besides the app I did not make any drastic changes to my lifestyle. First I just monitored what I was consuming with little regard to the recommendations of either WW or MyFitnessPal. It only took a couple of weeks seeing that instead of eating the entire sleeve of Girl Scout Cookies maybe I should consider eating 3-4. And perhaps walking with my wife 3x a week in the evenings would do me some good. She always walks so dang quick anyway I'll just try and keep up instead of yelling at her to slow down. A few more weeks passed and I was trying to stay within my recommended points and calorie limits but didn't really change what I was eating, just the quantities. Eventually I found choosing more "healthy" foods like veggies and fruit allowed me to eat more often and still stay within my counts. (Who knew, right?!?)

I then had the epiphany that if I exercised more I would be allowed to 'eat back' at least some if not all of those calories spent. Tried out a couple iPhone apps but couldn't stay motivated, so instead, I talked my best girl into starting a daily workout routine that seemed pretty popular with a lot of the weight loss devotees, Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. My thought was since it was a "girl program" I shouldn’t have too much difficulty with it especially since I had also started going for bike rides on the nights we didn’t walk. Boy was I wrong. But I have stuck with it, now on Level 3 day 4, except for a one day skip.

I also caved into my 10yr olds desire to learn how to run. Browsing the forums had reminded me of another app I had downloaded a while back called Ease into 5K and after some research into healthy running options for youngsters, I decided this might just be the answer for both of us. Besides, he'd probably get bored with it after a few runs and I could go back to more leisurely cardio choices. I told him if he didn't quit, ran 3x a week with me no matter the weather, and didn’t complain for 4 full weeks we would go and get him fitted for 'real running shoes' at a 'real running store'. Fast forward to last night, Week 3 day 3- I challenge him to race at the end of our programmed run, "Let's run until one of us has to stop!" 6 minutes in and I'm dying, he looks back and says "Dad, you know I could keep going all night, right?" Ornery little cuss is out-running me. ME! Formerly one of Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children!! After eight years of mandatory runs I had swore I'd never run again unless there were donuts at the finish line. But so many years have passed and way too many donuts had been eaten and that little punk was beating me. I eased up and gave in but with a quiet satisfaction that this was the furthest and fastest I had run in 20 years. Thanks buddy for getting me off the couch. You'll never know how much I appreciate it.

Today is day 140. For more than 4 months I've recorded every single item I've consumed, from allergy pills, bottles of water, steak, to the piece of Key Lime pie and glass of milk I enjoyed last night. I will continue to monitor and record my progress because I'm not yet at my goal but I'm also gonna celebrate a little. Even though my shirts fit a bit looser it seems I am a bit swollen this morning. Pride will do that.

Thanks to all of you for your support, encouragement, and advice. And very special thanks go to my best friend and wife. Thanks for never telling me I needed to or had to or should lose weight. Instead you simply smiled more when I worked hard and hugged me tighter when you could finally reach around me again. I love you more than I could ever say.