The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 42

42, the answer to life, the universe and everything. But what's the question? Why the hell can't I get up off my ass and get to the gym?

10 weeks to lose 12 pounds.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-41 Loss: 25 lbs.
Week 42 Loss: 0 lbs.
Current Weight: 212 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 40

Late again - no good reason this time, other than getting into a habit, I suppose.

What I enjoyed this weekend was seeing my weight at 210 lbs Friday morning, and STILL seeing it Monday morning. Seems like the weekend is good for a couple of pounds returning normally, but not this time!

I'm moving around at work a lot more lately, so I'm hoping that energy spent is burning a few calories!

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-39 Loss: 35 lbs.
Week 40 Loss: 1 lbs.
Current Weight: 210 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 39

Again really late in posting this one. RedFaery had sinus surgery, and I've mainly been focusing on making sure she has everything she needs to be comfortable and heals properly.
However, the good news is that I've lost weight. Probably due to eating less, not so much exercise or watching what I eat. I'll take what I can get, especially with less than 3 months to go!

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-37 Loss: 28 lbs.
Week 38 Loss: 7 lbs.
Current Weight: 211 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 33

Sticking to water only (well, 90% of the time) is working well for me again. I still haven't gotten to the gym yet.

I really need to lay off the pizza - I've had it three times this week. Damn the convenience of it! I'm surprised I lost as much as I did!

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-32 Loss: 21 lbs.
Week 33 Loss: 2 lbs.
Current Weight: 214 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 29

I'm thrilled to report that I am back to the lowest recorded weight I've been at when starting this plan - 213 lbs! Going back to the basics (portion control & more water) was all I needed to get to this point again.

I am kinda upset with myself for not getting to the gym once this last week. Going to try to make it in at least once this week - that's my short-term goal.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-27 Loss: 22 lbs.
Week 28 Loss: 2 lbs.
Current Weight: 213 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 28

I'm happy to be back on the trend of losing about a pound a week. Can't say I'm doing a whole lot different though. I've just been keeping the portions down, despite having pizza a couple of times this last week. And I'm trying to ignore that little "I'm hungry" tinge by drinking a bottle of water when it strikes - maybe that's all I needed to to add.

Still not much of an update, I know. But hey, I'm happy!

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-27 Loss: 21 lbs.
Week 28 Loss: 1 lb.
Current Weight: 215 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 23

Everything I gained last week, I lost this week. That simple.

I've eaten more salad than Bugs Bunny. Fortunately many of them come with grilled and sliced chicken breast, so I can still labor under the illusion that I'm eating something of substance.

I did have a moment of revelation this weekend when in the grocery store, shopping for food for the week. These thoughts hit me all at once:
1. A couple of months ago, I told myself I'd start drinking water from the Britta pitcher, instead of buying endless supplies of bottled water. In reality, I haven't.
2. A couple of months ago, I told myself that I could drink diet versions of juices (cranapple, crangrape, cranrasberry, etc.) and it would be the same as water, but with more flavor.
3. A couple of months ago, I plateaued. Hmmmmmmm...

I made the decision then and there to give up all the fruit juices and go back to getting bottled water. I'm a creature of convenience, and it's just more convenient to grab a bottle of that from the refrigerator than pouring myself a glass and refilling the pitcher. I figure that I'll give it a month and see if I can get back to the regular "dropping a pound a week" schedule I used to have.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-22 Loss: 17 lbs.
Week 22 Loss: 4 lbs.
Current Weight: 216 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 21

For such an active week, there wasn't much of a weight lost this time around. Bummer. However, at least it's going in the right direction again.

Managed to get to the gym a couple of times, back to my old friend "Mr. Elliptical Machine". I burn about 350 calories after 30 minutes on a regular basis, all while enjoying "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" on the little flat-screen monitor attached to it.

Sunday we walked around the Eminence, KY renn faire in 80 degree heat for about 4 hours. Any progress made that day was probably shot to hell by the pizza eaten that night at the wrestling PPV.

Seems like I've had more salad than ever this week alone.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-18 Loss: 21 lbs.
Week 19 Loss: 1 lb.
Current Weight: 215 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 20

The sickness I had earlier this week really made me apathetic to watching my weight. When you're feeling like crap, ordering pizza for delivery so you don't have to go anywhere is one of life's simple joys. Needless to say, I "fed the cold" a lot.

We finally got to the gym for the first time. RedFaery lasted longer than either one of us thought she would - about 20 minutes total between the elipital and the treadmill. I spent 30 minutes on the eliptical myself, surprised than the first 15 minutes were pretty effortless. Half of the machines at Fitness 19 have flatscreen TVs on them, and you just need to bring headphones to plug in. We'll probably go again tonight - if Red's feeling poorly after having blood drawn today and going to an interview, I'll probably go by myself.

Memorial Day we throw kabobs on the grill and had a ton of goulash. This time I ate like crazy simply because the food turned out so tasty! Fortunately, most of it was healthy, so even in massive quantities it wasn't too bad to my system (at least that's what I keep telling myself, HA!). The leftover uncooked meat and vegies I stir-fryed and refrigerated - should make for a good series of snacks throughout the week.

As expected, I gained a lot over this week. I'm happy to say that, while my weight did go all the way back up to 221 lbs at one point, it was only 216 lbs this morning. Considering how this week went, I'm considering myself pretty lucky!

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-18 Loss: 23 lbs.
Week 19 GAIN: 2 lbs.
Current Weight: 216 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 19

Probably the biggest news of the week is that RedFaery and I finally got a new gym membership. About 5 miles from my work is a new Fitness 19 workout center. This is good, because we can go together some mornings to work out, then she can drop me off at work and head home/out on chores, then pick me up at the end of the day. Until she gets a new job lined up anyway - otherwise we can go after work during the week. The hours are very accomodating to our needs.

It's not a huge gym like Gold's, but it has everything you need (except shower facilities sadly). And with their grand opening special, I paid about $150 up front, and we only pay $12 each monthly! That's cheaper than my City of Heroes membership! The other awesome thing is that we're not locked into a contract - it's a pay-as-you-go deal. If we ever want to quit, we just give them 30 days notice to stop the auto-withdrawl.

Otherwise quite an unremarkable week in my weightloss - I went up, I came back down, and ultimately no change. The one thing I've been lacking for a while now is steady exercise, so maybe I can start with the forward movement again soon!

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-18 Loss: 23 lbs.
Week 19 Loss: 0 lbs.
Current Weight: 214 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 18

Hello, my name is Ray, and I'm a food addict.

(Hello Ray!)

I had a moment of realization this weekend that drove it home very harshly. RedFaery and I ate at Applebee's on the drive to her mother's home in Michigan on Saturday. I ordered the Trio meal they've got now, and got boneless buffalo wings, mini cheeseburgers and mini chicken sandwiches. I even loaded the sandwiches with lettuce and tomato for more healthy crap.

I ate both the little burgers, one of the little chicken sandwiches, and 2/3 of the wings, and I was full. In fact, I'd probably eaten slightly more than I needed. My stomach was saying "No mas!" (I don't know why it was speaking Spanish - I didn't ask).

But I wanted to keep eating. I stared at the leftover food. I pushed it away and covered it with a napkin, and my hand trembled. When the waiter came by and asked if we wanted a box, RedFaery answered "No" for me. He took the plate and I broke out into a sweat. I lost the opportunity to continue cramming the lovely taste of vinegar and ranch dressing into my mouth, and I dwelled on that for an hour afterward. As I type this, I'm salavating.

I've had my ups and downs with my weight since starting this in January, and it's never remotely bothered me. I've always realized that it was going to come in it's own time, so long as more times than not I took the intelligent route when it came to eating choices. However, this was the first time I'd gotten truely MAD and EMBARASSED at myself. I don't like it, not one bit.

I've had a couple of days to think about it, and I've gotten over it for the most part. I did the right thing and I'm proud of that. I was caught unaware, and shouldn't be again. Next time, when that addiction rears it's ugly head, I now have a reference point to be prepared for how I'm going to feel about it, and I'll take it more in stride. If there's one thing I value more than tasty food, it's my composure and dignity.

With all that said, I happily hit a new low this Friday with 212 lbs! And despite the lavish meals RedFaery's family made over the weekend (fresh fried bass Saturday night, and jerk chicken Sunday - all very good!), I only gained 2 of those pounds back as of this morning. I think that's a fair trade.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-17 Loss: 21 lbs.
Week 18 Loss: 2 lbs.
Current Weight: 214 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 17

I noticed last week that I only seem to gain on the weekends. I tried to take that into consideration - I concentrated on eating smarter, plus added a couple of simple workouts and stayed active.

The result - I still gained, just not as much.

It was under control as of Sunday morning, as usual. I'm beginning to worry that my occaisional Japanese hibatchi is a contributing factor. More likely the culprit is not getting much sleep Sunday night - I always have a problem with that. Sadly, I don't think that's going to change much.

However, as long as at the end of it all I've still dropped, even slightly like this week, I'm not going to worry too much.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-16 Loss: 20 lbs.
Week 16 Loss: 1 lb.
Current Weight: 216 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 16

I really should update this thing on Fridays. That's when I seem to be at my best when it comes to my weight.

On Friday morning, I was back to 213 lbs. This morning - 217 lbs.

I'll admit being very sedintary this weekend - other than mowing the grass for an hour, I napped, or sat on the sofa, or ate. And nothing else.

I'm going to force myself to start jogging in the early morning hours, since we have light as early at 7:30am these days.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-14 Loss: 22 lbs.
Week 16 GAIN: 2 lbs.
Current Weight: 217 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 15

Slowly I lose, pound by pound, inch by inch...

That's what it seemed like this last week. After my big unexplained weight jump last week, I pretty much looked at my weight every morning. And one by one, the pounds dropped off again. Water-weight, probably. Annoying, definitely. Still not completely back to where I was before the big jump - I keep fluctuating between 214 and 215.

Didn't really do much different otherwise. Continuing to think about my dining choices, still trying to eat smarter, and still haven't done much for exercise other than an occaisional walk.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-14 Loss: 16 lbs.
Week 15 loss: 6 lbs.
Current Weight: 215 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 14

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

If you read an earlier blog entry, you read that I dropped to an all-time low of 214 lbs. (well, not ALL time - I was lighter when I was 18). I actually bottomed out at 213 lbs on Sunday morning. If the story stopped there, I'd be a happy guy.

Appearantly I enjoyed Sunday a little too well. Japanese hibatchi (spicy scallops) and half a roll of sushi, then Chinese bourbon chicken was all I had to eat, I swear! Maybe it's because I only ate two meals instead of 3-4 little ones. Maybe it was the oils in the food. And maybe it's because I was a bit constipated this morning when I weighed - I don't know.

But this morning, I'd jumped back up to 220 lbs. WTF?

Anyway, I was hoping to blog a bunch of happy news to continue the trend. I even considered going with the Sunday morning results in this blog - but then I'd be lying to myself. So we're calling this one at 220 lbs.

Karma better swing back my way this week, damnit!


Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-13 Loss: 20 lbs.
Week 14 GAIN: 4 lbs.
Current Weight: 220 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 13

Well, it had to happen sometime. I gained a pound this week.

As of Friday, I hadn't had any change. Then I worked a long Friday, came home and ate 5 pieces of leftover pizza right before bed. Couple that with eating too much when going out to restaurants with RedFaery's mom and grandmother who were down visiting, and all my poor eating choices came back to haunt me. I fell off the chuck wagon.

Another choice this week that I don't think was a smart one - my breakfast. I've gotten pretty sick of grits and oatmeal, so I tried to find something else. I finally settled on little microwavable chocolate chip pancakes. The serving size was 11 (how odd), and I'd make 6-8 of them, smear peanut butter on them and make little pancake sandwiches. In retrospect, while I tried to justify my choice by eating smaller than the serving size, flat-out carbs like that probably wasn't the best idea.

One really good thing is that the weather is starting to be nice again, so we'll probably take some walks in Iroquois Park. I'm starting to steel myself to the fact that if I want to get past this point, I'll probably have to add more exercise to my plan - portion control is no longer going to be enough.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-12 Loss: 21 lbs.
Week 13 GAIN: 1 lb.
Current Weight: 216 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 12

Yesterday we had a (hopeful) breakthru in RedFaery's health. She got in to an endocrinologist to talk about regulating her Grave's disease and thyroid levels. Unlike what she's been told by our family doctor, her thyroid levels have been high for some time now (at least since November when they were last checked, but probably longer). This is probably what's been causing her rapid weight loss lately (3 lbs. this week, and 5 lbs. the week before), along with other things like being jittery, pacing, body aches, etc. Her dose has been adjusted to see if it's the medicine, and her blood's going to be closely analyzed to see what else can be done. Maybe for the first time in nearly seven years she can feel "right".

I slacked off a little this week in having something for lunch. I just didn't really think about it. Plus relaxing in French Lick, I thought I would cram it in a little more. I was only partially right - I ate a lot of pizza Saturday night, but took it easy at the buffet Sunday afternoon. It was actually my first buffet since starting my plan, and I ate two plates of food (with half of the second plate being a salad), and for dessert I had two mini waffles with whipped cream and chocolate chips. Considering what I used to cram in, this was a success!

As I reported last time, my weight is all over the place throughout the day. Yesterday morning I weighed 216 lbs again, but an hour later (and after time in the restroom) I managed to shave off another pound. I need to get serious on this again, otherwise I'm going to plateau.

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-11 Loss: 21 lbs.
Week 12 Loss: 1 lb.
Current Weight: 215 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 11

Without access currently to a gym, RedFaery got herself an exercise ball. She did some of the workouts on the included DVD and was sore for a few days. It was worth it, because she dropped another 5 lbs. I may have to check this thing out.

She also picked up a simple scale at Lowe's. Sadly I've taken to weighing myself twice a day. I've noticed an interesting pattern as a result - I weigh less when I first get up in the morning. I've been told that a good night's sleep will burn calories too, so it must be true. This morning was the same as the last - 216 lbs. At the end of the day it goes up to 219 lbs. For the sake of keeping track (and because it looks better), I'll use the morning numbers!

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-10 Loss: 19 lbs.
Week 11 Loss: 2 lbs.
Current Weight: 216 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 10

Update on last post - RedFaery did indeed lose her job. Interestingly enough, she said the one thing she's going to miss the most was access to their on-site fitness center. I don't blame her there - nice up-to-date equipment, free flavored water, showers, etc. We've already decided to find a nearby gym - just not looking forward to membership rates.

Went to the doctor this morning because of needed new prescriptions. This was the first time I'd been on a scale in just over 2 weeks. It's hard to compare with the scale at the gym because I was fully clothed, and just the fact it's a different scale means there's going to be a bit of difference.

Anyway, I weighed in at 221 lbs - and if you take off 3 lbs for clothes and shoes, that means I'm down to about 218 lbs! Boo-ya!

Even the doctor was pleasantly surprised. He remarked that he tells people all the time to lose weight to no effect. We talked about me losing it simply due to portion control, and I told him that I'll probably add more exercise if I plateau, and he seemed to think that was a good plan. So now I can say that what I'm doing is doctor-approved!

Summary:
Starting Weight: 237 lbs.
Weeks 1-9 Loss: 18 lbs.
Week 10 Loss: 1 lbs
Current Weight: 218 lbs.

The Incredible Shrinking Ray - Week 9

Not a real entry this week, as we didn't go to the gym this weekend (RedFaery's got a cold), so I didn't weigh myself. However, if I were to guess, I'd say that I probably gained one or two back. I really slipped on portion control this weekend, and my body let me know it wasn't happy. At least I know that I can't pack it in like I used to, so that's something positive.