Eight is Enough

8 lbs this week. That's what I lost.

I was really wanting more, but I guess that's a bit unrealistic. We are talking about just one week here.

I've actually got the eating pretty down pat. It doesn't seem too difficult at the moment. It is the exercise (or lack thereof) that's hurting me. I did NOT excercise thrice last week like I promised. Now, I wasn't feeling well most of the week, so that's the reason I'm going to give. Would I have exercised if I was feeling fine? I don't know ...

This week I will. Three times at least.

Peace out.

No joy in Urinetown tonight

It can only happen to me. Who can drink 3 liters of water a day and still find himself so dehydrated that the next step is a trip to the ER?

Beware. If you cut your food intake drastically AND quit drinking everything but water, you can actually flush your system of electrolytes and become dehydrated (actually, it is an electrolyte imbalance). It all started about a week ago and progressed as such:

• Muscle weakness
• Fatigue
• Intense muscle cramps
• Light-headedness
• Inability to go #1
• Nausea

About halfway through, I spoke to my doctor's nurse and figured out what was going on. I didn't get the point of the ER, but was close. I've been guzzling Gatorade for about three days and feel somewhat back to normal. It's crazy.

I've switched from Gatorade to Smart Water now because of the sugar, but damn, Smart Water is expensive. Hopefully, drinking a bottle a day of that will help prevent this from happening again.

How Jason Got His Groove Back

Terrible Tuesday again -- weigh-in day at WW. But I'll call this one Terrific Tuesday because I had much much better results. I lost 12.6 pounds. Thank you thank you thank you!

I started getting a little food crazy last night -- thinking that I could just run right up the street a grab a cheeseburger and fries. But I resisted (turkey sandwich instead) and now I have that extra boost to keep me on track for another week.

I just go day-by-day/week-by-week. If I think too far in advance, that really messes me up. So for now, it's all good!

Exercise remains my one area of opportunity, so I pledge this week to exercise at least three times. Yikes ...

Pickle Envy

Remember that episode on Gilligan's Island where the castaways found the radioactive vegetable seeds and grew HUGE veggies? I sometimes feel like that when I walk out to my garden. We've had too much rain, no doubt, but it has created some ginormous cucumbers. This cuke is 9-1/2 inches long by 9-1/2 inches wide. Wouldn't you love to just pickle it and then pull it out at the movies one day when everyone is eating their scrawny little pedestrian dills!

Crazy ...

I've also had a mini-resurgence with some of my tomato plants, so my garden's gone from a complete bust to slightly less of a complete bust.

Shiny Happy Booties

You know, people, sometimes you find something that you just gotta share. I thought this was a satirical site at first, but it's real. Very real.

I'm obsessed. Who doesn't want their toilet to be an oasis of comfort and happiness? And who can resist those six smiling asses? I love it!

The Power of Two

2 lbs. That's what I lost this week. I am really just burning up those scales aren't I? I guess I'll just be happy that I'm heading in the right direction. I do think I've finally caught on to the WW point system, so I should lose more in the coming weeks. I certainly hope so.

And continuing with my weekly post-mortems ....

Successes:
Water consumption
Fruit consumption

Point counting (Finally took that seriously last week)

Failures (aka, areas of opportunity):
Dinner with friends (hey, what harm is a little BBQ with lots of bread and cobbler for dessert?)
Exercise

Paradise by the Aquarium Light

I remember every little thing
As if it happened only yesterday
Floating by the filter
And there was not another snail in sight
And I never had a gastropod
Excreting more mucus than you did
And all the snails on the driftwood
They were wishing they were me that night

And now our eye stalks are oh so close and tight
It never felt so good, it never felt so right
And we're glowing like the dial on the underwater heater
C'mon! Hold on tight!C'mon! Hold on tight!

Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night
I can see paradise by the aquarium light

Apologies to Meat Loaf, but yes, I am the proud Pawpaw of two baby snails. I had three aquarium snails last week, and boom, now I have five. What a joyous day!

Slap down

Ok, I have learned that I cannot skate through this WW in a half-assed fashion and expect any results. I had my first follow-up weigh-in today, and I have lost zero pounds. Yes, you heard that right: zero. One more time -- Z E R O.

That's ok. Now I know. Now I can start doing better. In conducting a Week 1 post-mortem, I see a couple of successes and a good handful of failures.

Successes:

Water consumption (I am drunk on water half the day)

Fruit consumption (this week I had berries, grapes, and cherries)

Failures (or areas of opportunity as my place of employment likes to say):

Point counting (I don't need no stinkin' points -- so I thought)

4th of July (hey, it was a holiday, and I ate in accordance with that)

Dr. Pepper (so I had a couple this week)

Exercise (avoided it like the plague)

Seems pretty clear to me I just need to keep moving the failures into the successes category, and I'll be fine. Simple! Check back next Tuesday ...

Shut up about the damn peaches ...

I know that's what you are thinking, but I have to say my peaches were stolen today. I had a tree full of peaches and today there was one left. They aren't on the ground, they aren't hidden by leaves, the evil bird could NOT have devoured them whole. They are gone. I have a peach thief!

Hey buddy ... what you got in your cap there? Could it be PEACHES?!

The Peach Pits

I need some lessons in cultivating peaches. My surprise peach tree continues to produce, but the peaches rot or are eaten in the tree before I ever get a chance to harvest. See ...







I've read that you can't pick peaches before they are ready because they won't continue to ripen once off the tree. What to do?



Also, a bird has built its nest in the tree and stares daggers through me every time I go out there. I sense it has really intense hatred for me. If anything happens to me, track down the bird!

2+2=73?

I'm three days from my first weigh-in, and I still haven't quite caught on to the WW point system. On more than one occasion this week I've consumed double the points I thought I was consuming. And yes, it was an accident. I mean, please, I was on the algebra team in junior high -- calculating food points shouldn't be that difficult. Whatever ... I'll catch on eventually.





In the meantime, I am drinking water like a crazy person -- about three liters a day. That's a lot, right? My bladder certainly thinks it is a lot.

Live Earth 7/7/07

Check it out ...

I must say I'm not as environmentally conscious as I'd like to be. I do recycle (sometimes). I do use all-natural cleaning products, which I love. That's about it though. So I commit today -- lucky 7/7/7 -- to take one more earth-friendly step; I will start using CFLs.

Ok, I feel better. Now I can hop in my SUV and hit the town!

Once

I saw this movie last week, and cannot get the music out of head. It was really beautiful.

Check out my favorite tune, Falling Slowly, on Kevin's great music blog.

Ready, Set, Go!

I had my first weigh-in yesterday. The result is a state secret that will not be divulged (Dick Cheney's got nothing on me!), but I will report on the number of pounds lost each week and will keep a running total up in my blog header.

If I reach my goal weight, then yes, I will share my beginning weight with anyone who wants to know. And I know all you nosy people are just dying to find out!

I can lose weight; I have lost weight. My problem is I tend to lose not only pounds, but interest, so I get off the diet and gain everything back. I hope WW will do two things: keep me motivated with the weekly meetings and weigh-ins and help me understand I cannot just go on a diet, but I must permanently change the way I eat. I mean, I know that, but I don't KNOW that.

Wish me luck ... and let the countdown begin!

Rain good ...

On the other hand, the rain has uncovered some suprises for me. I had no clue I had a peach tree in my back yard until the intense rain actually made peaches start growing!

Rain bad ...

Man, we've had a lot of rain this spring. TOO MUCH. It has really done a job on my meager veggie garden.