A Step Sideways?

Back in 1994 while working for Fox's new FX Channel I attended their VIP launch party. Because I was sitting next to some top advertisers Rupert Murdoch, mistaking me for someone important, introduced himself. The President of FX quickly steered Mr. Murdoch away from me explaining that I was some lowly assistant in my first week of employment. Murdoch then asked me in his garbled Australian accent, "So, how many (unintelligible) have you sold?" Too afraid to ask him to repeat himself I confidently said, "Four!" He smiled, said, "Great job!" and moved on. The look on the President's face said that my first week at FX was likely my last. She later straightened things out with one of the most powerful men in the world. By lying to Mr. Murdoch with my exclamation of, "Four," I had inadvertently said, in effect, that I sold 4 Million new subscribers to FX which would have resulted in an additional $12 Million in yearly revenue to News Corp. "Four" can be pretty powerful!

Look at the great athletic champions who have worn number 4 - Lou Gehrig of the Yankees, Brett Favre of the Packers/Vikings, and Martin Johnson of England.

4 is good, right? Well, not so much in my quest.

This past week I only lost 4 lbs. A step sideways? Obviously. But I thought I ate better this week? I thought I worked-out harder this week? What went wrong? Why did I only drop the equivalent of the weight an average person eats in day?

Looking back over this week I can only ask, did I eat too many carbs? What about my indulging in a peanut chews candy bar, or a bowl of popcorn? Is it just natural for the body to settle down after losing a full 12 lbs in the first week?

I am not sure what went wrong, but clearly I cannot skip lunches, or over-eat fruits and nuts (I think I eat too many when I am hungry). More discipline this week?

I am a little deflated by the results. Week 3 begins in earnest!

This weekend I ate quite well. Tonight, however, I was a little depressed about my results and chose to eat some food I was more familiar with - I had a few vegetable sushi rolls. Too much white rice for sure, but, I needed some normality tonight.

Looking at the positives over the weekend I can point to a few success stories:

Saturday night I was in full social mode at Landmarc in Tribeca. I stuck to my seltzer water and had a delicious grilled vegetable platter, but an open grill crowded with gorgeous steaks sizzled and hissed at me just a few feet away. Ugh! This lifestyle change better be worth it! Later that evening I ended up at Lexington Bar and Books, a great cigar bar. Smoking my cigar and staring at the illuminated bottles of gorgeous brown whisky was a huge gravitational pull. In the end, eschewing the scotch I felt empowered - these little victories, I am confident, will break my old habits soon. The next morning I would dive into temptation again as I joined friends at Clancy's to watch the Ireland vs. Australia rugby match. My friend's Irish breakfast of eggs with white and black sausage taunted me. I sipped on my virgin Bloody Mary. When the Irish came back and tied the game 20-20 in the final seconds I cheered wildly while I sipped my tea even though the foam from many pints of Guinness rained down around me.

Even though I publicly promised myself that I would not be obsessed over the numbers, and that it was the journey that was the most important, I would be lying if I didn't say I am disappointed by the mere 4 lbs lost this week.

After this week, "Four" is just not as powerful as my mendacious utterance 15 years ago.

Oh, and now that I know that a radio station in the UK has promoted this website the pressure is really on. But, don't worry Tommy, I am confident that this Yank won't let you down!