Day 685: 298 lbs

I haven't updated here in a few days--it's been discouraging. I slipped off my diet again on Friday, and haven't been back on since.

All I can say is that I'll keep trying, and one of these days the stars (and psychology) will align. If I don't try, then nothing will work for sure.

Day 679: 296 lbs

I don't like swinging up a pound after just three days on a new diet. But I'll keep pushing forward. Maybe I'm retaining water for some reason.

Yesterday I managed to stick to my 1,500 calorie quota. I was hungry again in the afternoon, but I kept telling myself that hunger is good. The hungrier I am, the more weight I'm losing, and the more I'm changing my eating habits. Of course it's possible to overdo this--I don't want to wind up with an eating disorder.

Well, okay, maybe a little bit of an eating disorder. Not so much that I can't turn it off when I'm at the weight I want to be at.

Day 678: 295 lbs

I went over my calorie quota yesterday--I ate about 2,500 calories--but I also went on a 20-mile bike ride. So it wasn't a perfect day, though I think I did OK.

The biggest problem was that I wasn't hungry enough. I think I let the long bike ride excuse some of my excess calories. So today I need to be hungrier. Hunger is good.

Day 677: 295 lbs

Yesterday I was hungry, and that was good. Especially mid-afternoon, my stomach started growling a little, so I repeated to myself that being a little bit hungry was a good sign.

It paid off at the scales this morning. This is the way successful diets (for me) begin: a lot of easy weight comes off right away, which encourages me to keep it up and set new habits in place so I can stick to the diet for the long term.

Day 676: 300 lbs

Bad news to report. I slipped off my diet on Friday, and haven't gotten back on. Today I hit 300 pounds again, a milestone I was hoping never to revisit.

It's going to be hard with the 4th of July holiday tomorrow, but I think today has to be the beginning of yet another run at losing weight. If I'm not a little hungry by the end of the day, then I probably haven't succeeded.

Hunger = good.
Not hungry = not succeeding.

Day 672: 296 lbs

I mostly stuck to my diet again yesterday, though I haven't been dropping pounds.

To me that suggests that I haven't really been sticking to my diet. Usually I shed 5-10 pounds right away when I go onto a diet, so I must be cheating just enough to not lose any weight.

I'll have to be more careful. That's the goal for today.

Day 671: 296 lbs

I was good on my diet again today--I don't know if the Wife is having much effect here, but I do try to sync up at the end of the day: "How did you do on your diet today? I stuck to mine." That sort of thing (but maybe a little less obnoxiously blunt).

I'm still concerned that I should be losing weight faster at the start of a new diet, but I'll let that play another day or two and see what happens. Maybe I'm retaining water or something.

Day 670: 297 lbs

This is slightly discouraging: I thought I'd been sticking to my diet the past few days, but I gained a pound this morning. Usually the first few days of a new (successful) diet are marked by rapid loss of 5-10 pounds.

I'm going to try not to be discouraged, though, and work harder at it.

Day 669: 296 lbs

D-Day passed successfully. It helped that I hardly had any dinner at all--it was so hot that I just wasn't hungry. Who knew that the weather could help my diet?

But this is just the beginning. I now need to get through today, tomorrow, and the rest of my life.

Day 668: 298 lbs

Today is D-Day, Diet Day.

My wife asked this morning if I was still planning to start a new diet today. I take this as a good sign, as we can keep tabs on each other this way. She's been dieting for the past few weeks (for the first time in her life, and she doesn't really need to), so I figure this can be a couple kind of thing.

Day 67: 296 lbs

I'm back from my vacation and amazingly enough I didn't gain any weight on the trip.

This despite the lavish food and constant eating out. Maybe I got so much exercise from walking around museums and tourist attractions that it outweighed the food I ate.

In any event tomorrow is still D-Day. I've promised my wife, and so we're going to keep diet tabs on each other.

Day 657: 298 lbs

Today's the day we leave on our vacation, and we'll be back in a week or so.

Then, the following Monday is D-Day.

My wife has been trying to lose a few pounds lately (she doesn't really need to), but I'm contemplating doing something I've never done before: co-dieting. Not sure how I feel about that yet.

Day 655: 299 lbs

The good news is that my weight no longer starts with a "3".

I'm still looking at June 25th as D-Day. I hope I don't gain too much weight on my trip before then.

Day 654: 300 lbs

I suppose I knew it was inevitable, with how little dieting I've actually been doing lately, but I hit 300 pounds this morning.

I don't see myself starting a serious new diet for at least two weeks, either. Our big family vacation starts at the end of this week, and that's just seriously stacking the deck against success.

But perhaps I can designate June 25th (the Monday after we return) as D Day. Diet Day. The time to begin a new serious diet.

Day 653: 298 lbs

Wow, did I really miss three days of posting?

Two of those three days I was traveling on business, so I didn't have a chance to weigh myself properly, and the other day I was so busy preparing for my trip that I never found the time to log on to Blogger.

I'm glad to see that my weight hasn't gone up, though I still wish I could find a way to make it go down. For the moment, I guess it's just status quo.

Day 649: 298 lbs

No diet yesterday (again), and sadly, no exercise either. I had to watch kids instead.

Today's not looking so hot for either one again, thanks to (respectively) my mother's birthday party and forecast storms.

Day 648: 297 lbs

Getting more exercise, but still not much success sticking to the diet. Actually, I haven't really been trying. On the other hand, I haven't been gorging myself, either.

I'm still uncomfortably close to 300 pounds, so I feel like I need to make yet another run at it. I just don't know when yet.

Day 646: 297 lbs

I kept busy yesterday with yardwork and chores, then my wife and I went out for dinner and a movie (Thanks, Grandma!). I didn't stick to my diet, but I wasn't that bad either--I was too busy to be focused on food too much.

Maybe that's the key. But I have to be the right kind of busy. Sitting at the desk busy is no good, but getting outside and working in the yard busy is a good thing.

Day 645: 299 lbs

I did manage to bike to (and from) work on Thursday, good for about 45 minutes total of exercise, but I have not managed to stick to my diet. Still.

I don't know what the trick will be. I still think I need something new to keep my interest up. Part of the problem is that I'm simply bored with dieting--it takes a certain level of mental energy to monitor what I eat and resist the ever-present temptation of food, and I've been doing it so long that I don't have the interest.

Day 643: 298 lbs

I didn't manage to stick to my diet yesterday (again). I guess I'll try again today.

I'm also going to try biking to work today. Not that it will help me stick to my diet, but the extra exercise certainly won't hurt.

Day 642: 299 lbs

I'm getting dangerously close to 300 again. I really need to get back on my diet and stick to it, but it's really hard when it's so much easier to just ignore the little calorie counter.

I don't have a magic solution. I will just keep trying, and hope that some combination of being alarmed at the scales and finding inner peace will do the trick.

Day 641: 297 lbs

As I suspected, I've had little success this weekend sticking to my diet. There's been too much holiday weekend stuff (family get-togethers) going on.

Excuses, excuses. The truth is that it's easier to not diet than it is to diet. Somehow I need to get back to the diet. I can try today, since nothing special is going on.

Day 639: 295 lbs

No change in my weight yesterday, but I didn't manage to stick to my diet.

Same story, different verse, I guess.

Day 638: 295 lbs

I wasn't perfect on my diet yesterday, but I wasn't totally bad either. I was doing well until shortly before bedtime when I broke my diet with an extra snack. I maybe went a few hundred calories over my 1,500 calorie quota.

So, not where I wanted to be, but not a disaster either. I'm not sure if that's progress or not.

Day 637: 297 lbs

I was on a business trip the past couple days, and I didn't really even attempt to stick to my diet. So now you see the results.

It's now time to resume dieting, I guess.