Sunday, November 22, 2009

An Extra Handful of Popcorn Shy of 20 lbs




Today, as I close out week three in my 22nd day of this weight loss/life changing experiment, I walked from the gym floor, to the steam room, to the shower, and then to my locker. After drying myself with NASA-like efficiency I stepped on the scale wearing what I was born in, and...282.5 lbs. I have lost 19 1/2 pounds in three weeks - that's 1.4 stone to Ms. Emma's radio listeners. Had I not gobbled up all that crack-seasoned popcorn last night at Pete's I'd be a cool 20 lbs lighter instead.

Although I feel the weight-loss process is not as drastic as I hoped, it is "real" weight loss and not susceptible to the yo-yo effect.

FYI - my legs are still in serious aching pain from my intensive leg work-out Friday - it's a great feeling, if you know what I mean.

Since I hit the rack at 4 AM I was not exactly an early riser today, so I had breakfast almost at lunch time. I made it myself, slicing up Summer squash, well, I assume it is Summer squash -- it's yellow, and tubular on one end and bulbous on the other, unless there's such a thing as yellow zucchini? Anyway, I sliced or chopped up squash, zucchini, mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes and regular onions. Grilled them up with crumbled, firm tofu sprinkled with Paul Prudomme seafood seasoning and black pepper. I rounded it out with my vegan sausage. Look, I'm not going to lie, it was really good, but substitute the tofu with scrambled eggs and the later blows this breakfast away to another Galaxy (However, to be fair, I've loved eggs since I was two years old - in fact I just listened to the fading U.S.A.F.-issue cassette tape from 1970 that was recorded by my mother for my father in Vietnam, and on this tape, in between her pleas for his safety and professions of love, Mom marvels at my new predilection for that spongy, yellow piece of Heaven! Did I just give the American Egg Board a new slogan?) BUT, but, this tofu scramble was a very good meal! I filled up, it was very tasty, and I felt great eating such a healthy breakfast!

Eating so late I really only snacked on nuts during the day, and water... OK, I broke down and got some Red Vines licorice after the gym. Hey, just being honest - no fats, or trans fats, but lots of sugar. BAD! For every 3-4 great healthy meals I slip up and munch on something technically vegan, but nutrient barren - and not healthy.

Analysis: Happily going in the right direction. The desires and urges are currently, and I stress currently, out-weighed by my happiness with how healthy I feel.

But, as I forge ahead into week 4 a silent iceberg looms dead ahead. How will I handle Thanksgiving?

3 comments:

Emma Adam said...

Thanks for the conversion. And to think I had just sat here working it out in my head before I read on... Well done on the weight loss - pretty good for 3 weeks.

They have lots of Thanksgiving stuff here: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/ but of course you have to cook it all yourself!

Anonymous said...

great job, terry!! 20 pounds is no small feat. you're inspirational....

erin m.

Anonymous said...

Terry, you are doing fantastic on your new eating plan. Your weight loss success is great. Remember it took more than 22 days to gain that 19 1/2 pounds so at some point the pounds will shed more slowly.

For Thanksgiving consider brown bagging a vegan option as a backup. If you find some items that meet your diet enjoy them!

Trina