“Hey kids, what time is it?” If you said, “It’s Howdy Doody time!” then you are seriously old. If you have no idea who Howdy Doody is you need to rush over to YouTube and search for Howdy Doody. If for no other reason, you can laugh at your parents for what they used to watch on television. Despite what my children may think, I am not old enough to have actually seen this program but my parents did and they used to sing the theme song to me. That may explain a lot of why I am as warped as I am.
No, today is not Howdy Doody time but it is just as fun. Today is official weigh-in day and marks double-digit weeks that I have been on the Take Shape For Life diet. Just a couple of months ago I was lounging around the house in an extra large shirt carrying a large bowl of Lucky Charms cereal from my computer to the couch to watch television thinking that I was the epitome of great health. I weighed in at a little over 210 pounds and suffered from high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, acid-reflux disease, a fatty liver, and some sort of pre-cancerous condition (I have no idea what that means even to this day).
During this weight loss journey I have developed a love hate relationship with weigh-in day. There are some weeks that the scale gives me great news that all of my hard work is paying off and the reward is a smaller number on the dial. There are other weeks that despite how diligently I follow the plan, the number barely moves.
If I really stopped to analyze those weeks where I the scale hasn’t moved I would understand that those are normally when I see inches not pounds fade away. It’s almost like your body gives you a choice. You can lose weight or lose inches but not at the same time or more specifically at the same rate.
Last week when I stepped on the scale I was shocked to see my weight was at 177.8 pounds and my fat percentage was at 17.8%. It had been decades since I was last in the 170’s and I was feeling very good. I had lost 3.4 pounds last week, which is well above my 2.5-pound rate that I had averaged over most of this diet.
Today I stepped on the scale with my fingers crossed that the rate of change would continue from last week. My weight loss goal seems so close and the last thing I need is to see the rate of loss decrease or stop.
I looked down at the scale. The dial read 174.9 pounds. Over the past week I lost 2.9 pounds! My fat percentage is now 16.5%, which is a 1.3% reduction from a week before. I stood there with my mouth open. The last time I weighed less than 175 was just before I got married which was an eternity ago.
No more will I look at my wedding picture and marvel at how thin I used to be. I am now the same size though a lot wiser. I am now just 4.9 pounds away from my goal. If I lose what I have averaged over most of the diet I will be complete with the fat burning/weight loss phase by Opening Day of baseball, which is April 6th. I don’t want to get my hopes up too high but it’s hard not to be this excited.
In just 10 short weeks I have lost just over 35 pounds. My weight loss has also seen me move from an extra large shirt and a 35-inch waist to a medium shirt and a 32-inch waist. My resting heart rate has gone from 86 to 67 and my blood pressure is now 107/68 without medication compared to 146/95 taking two different meds to control it.
I cannot tell you how much better I feel and I have my wife Trina and my health coach Amy to thank for helping me on this journey. I haven’t reached my goal yet but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and for the first time I can tell it’s not another train bearing down on top of me.
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