The Gradually Shrinking Man
Over the past few months, when people have commented on my weight loss and asked me how I've done it, I've given them the same brief, stock answer: "Eating healthier and walking." While this is the truth, it leaves out an extremely important element.
I initially shared this element with only four close personal friends and have been very slowly expanding that circle as I've become more comfortable with my weight loss efforts. Recently, I've unwittingly inspired two of my friends to go about losing weight using the same method. I've also reached a particular milestone on my journey. So I've decided it's time to finally speak openly about how, in the past 8 1/2 months, I've lost 100 pounds.
The first person who got me seriously thinking about weight loss was fancycwabs. Thanks, man! On 1-1-09, Cwabs started at a weight very close to the one I was at, and he began gradually shedding pounds, posting about it every Monday on his exercise filter here on LJ. He did it completely on his own by counting calories and exercising. He's been very straight forward and honest about his ups and downs and his efforts started me on my path. But unlike him, I knew I couldn't do this all by myself.
The second person -- and the only who really pushed me in the direction I ended up going in -- was my thesis adviser, Lee. He and I stood up to U-Mike and Nina's wedding last May. He looked fantastic. I asked him how he had lost all that weight (60 pounds) and he said "Weight Watchers." Really? Weight Watchers? I knew a lot of people who had joined Weight Watchers over the course of my life -- including my parents -- and almost every single one of them had either not lost any or all the weight they wanted to or had put it back on relatively quickly. I was dubious. And I was concerned. About one thing in particular. I asked him the ultimate question:
Do you exercise? "Exercise?" he said, "Me? Are you kidding?" This was a big factor in me not employing the Cwabs Model. I was currently in the midst of a 6 month membership to the YMCA. I ended up going exactly once. I just don't have the discipline for exercise. I ending up spending almost the entire wedding reception grilling (pun!) Lee about Weight Watchers (he didn't mind). Everything he said sounded reasonable. I was mentally preparing myself to join.
Over that summer -- last summer -- I kept struggling to fit into my clothes. I went to several different stores looking for new and used stuff, but they didn't have anything in my size. There were booths in certain restaurants that I had to squeeze into and remain squeezed during my entire meal. There were other booths that I couldn't fit into at all. I was sick of my knees hurting whenever I went down the stairs. I was fed up.
I joined Weight Watchers on August 10, 2009. And I hated it. You can eat whatever foods you want, but you have to stay within certain parameters. I was used to eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, so exercising portion control or any modicum of restraint was completely foreign to me. I was miserable. I swore that I'd quit after that first week, but that I'd see it through and weigh in.
When they asked me how my week went, I said "It sucked. I hated it." I said that to several people who worked there. They laughed. I didn't. I was being totally serious. But whatever. I weighed in. Might as well see this through.
I lost 5.6 pounds. That was astonishing to me. That much? In one week? That completely changed my mind about Weight Watchers. That first weigh-in made the entire difference for me.
They told me that it was mostly water weight and not to expect the same results next week or to even lose that much in one week ever again. They were mostly right. I've lost more than that a few more times, and I've even gained weight twice in the past 37 weeks, but I've averaged a loss of 2.72 pounds per week.
Of course, that average will continue to go down the closer I get to my goal weight. This is, in large part, why I've increased my exercise so much. Yes, yes, I know. Exercise. I said I couldn't do it. But I think of exercise as going to the gym and whatnot. All I do is walk. When I began WW, I was walking an hour a week. Now I'm walking 2 hours a day. And I feel great. Of course, losing 100 pounds has helped.
But I've still got 50 more to go before I get into a healthy BMI range. These final 50 will come off much more slowly than the first 100, so I'm giving myself 6 1/2 months. My plan is to reach my goal weight by my 40th birthday on November 13. I'm going to celebrate my success by taking a trip somewhere, as I haven't had a proper vacation since SOAPMEET, almost 4 years ago.
The reason I've been keeping the whole Weight Watchers thing under wraps is simple. If you tell people "diet and exercise," they'll just nod their heads. If you tell people "Weight Watchers," they will almost always ask "Oh, how much have you lost?" Well, gee, I was down 100, but I've gained back 10 in the past month and 3 in the past week! It's just not a conversation I'm comfortable having.
But since I've lost 100 pounds, I figured it was worth mentioning, just in case what I've been able to do can be in any way inspiring to anyone else. After all, if it wasn't for fancycwabs and Lee, I wouldn't be able to fit into the pants I'm wearing right now.
I initially shared this element with only four close personal friends and have been very slowly expanding that circle as I've become more comfortable with my weight loss efforts. Recently, I've unwittingly inspired two of my friends to go about losing weight using the same method. I've also reached a particular milestone on my journey. So I've decided it's time to finally speak openly about how, in the past 8 1/2 months, I've lost 100 pounds.
The first person who got me seriously thinking about weight loss was fancycwabs. Thanks, man! On 1-1-09, Cwabs started at a weight very close to the one I was at, and he began gradually shedding pounds, posting about it every Monday on his exercise filter here on LJ. He did it completely on his own by counting calories and exercising. He's been very straight forward and honest about his ups and downs and his efforts started me on my path. But unlike him, I knew I couldn't do this all by myself.
The second person -- and the only who really pushed me in the direction I ended up going in -- was my thesis adviser, Lee. He and I stood up to U-Mike and Nina's wedding last May. He looked fantastic. I asked him how he had lost all that weight (60 pounds) and he said "Weight Watchers." Really? Weight Watchers? I knew a lot of people who had joined Weight Watchers over the course of my life -- including my parents -- and almost every single one of them had either not lost any or all the weight they wanted to or had put it back on relatively quickly. I was dubious. And I was concerned. About one thing in particular. I asked him the ultimate question:
Do you exercise? "Exercise?" he said, "Me? Are you kidding?" This was a big factor in me not employing the Cwabs Model. I was currently in the midst of a 6 month membership to the YMCA. I ended up going exactly once. I just don't have the discipline for exercise. I ending up spending almost the entire wedding reception grilling (pun!) Lee about Weight Watchers (he didn't mind). Everything he said sounded reasonable. I was mentally preparing myself to join.
Over that summer -- last summer -- I kept struggling to fit into my clothes. I went to several different stores looking for new and used stuff, but they didn't have anything in my size. There were booths in certain restaurants that I had to squeeze into and remain squeezed during my entire meal. There were other booths that I couldn't fit into at all. I was sick of my knees hurting whenever I went down the stairs. I was fed up.
I joined Weight Watchers on August 10, 2009. And I hated it. You can eat whatever foods you want, but you have to stay within certain parameters. I was used to eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, so exercising portion control or any modicum of restraint was completely foreign to me. I was miserable. I swore that I'd quit after that first week, but that I'd see it through and weigh in.
When they asked me how my week went, I said "It sucked. I hated it." I said that to several people who worked there. They laughed. I didn't. I was being totally serious. But whatever. I weighed in. Might as well see this through.
I lost 5.6 pounds. That was astonishing to me. That much? In one week? That completely changed my mind about Weight Watchers. That first weigh-in made the entire difference for me.
They told me that it was mostly water weight and not to expect the same results next week or to even lose that much in one week ever again. They were mostly right. I've lost more than that a few more times, and I've even gained weight twice in the past 37 weeks, but I've averaged a loss of 2.72 pounds per week.
Of course, that average will continue to go down the closer I get to my goal weight. This is, in large part, why I've increased my exercise so much. Yes, yes, I know. Exercise. I said I couldn't do it. But I think of exercise as going to the gym and whatnot. All I do is walk. When I began WW, I was walking an hour a week. Now I'm walking 2 hours a day. And I feel great. Of course, losing 100 pounds has helped.
But I've still got 50 more to go before I get into a healthy BMI range. These final 50 will come off much more slowly than the first 100, so I'm giving myself 6 1/2 months. My plan is to reach my goal weight by my 40th birthday on November 13. I'm going to celebrate my success by taking a trip somewhere, as I haven't had a proper vacation since SOAPMEET, almost 4 years ago.
The reason I've been keeping the whole Weight Watchers thing under wraps is simple. If you tell people "diet and exercise," they'll just nod their heads. If you tell people "Weight Watchers," they will almost always ask "Oh, how much have you lost?" Well, gee, I was down 100, but I've gained back 10 in the past month and 3 in the past week! It's just not a conversation I'm comfortable having.
But since I've lost 100 pounds, I figured it was worth mentioning, just in case what I've been able to do can be in any way inspiring to anyone else. After all, if it wasn't for fancycwabs and Lee, I wouldn't be able to fit into the pants I'm wearing right now.