I haven’t been talking much about weight, diet, etc., here of late. And, yes, there’s a reason for that.
The chart at the right (click to enbiggen) shows my weight over the last year and a half (since January of 2009). The nice steep curve in the first half or so, down through October/November of last year, should be familiar, since I posted it irregularly (last in September of that year).
Then a few things happened:
- The holiday season — Thanksgiving, then Christmas — intervened.
- Somewhere in the middle of that, Margie broke her ankle, which was a, um, distracting and stressful event.
- I decided I could go without actually doing the Geek Diet calorie counting thing. After all, I knew good eating habits, right?
As you can see, the curve starts trending up. And up.
Then in June, you can see a huuuge jump. That’s when I:
- Stopped going to karate (which is a large meal’s worth of calories burned each session).
- Stopped weighing myself for a while.
The result was popping back up to what seems to be my “natural” weight if I’m not paying attention, around 215. Bleah. And while I could simply ignore it by not weighing myself, or not paying attention to the flab, I couldn’t ignore the Size 36s I couldn’t fit into (reliably) any more. Which was sort of the real wake-up call.
I am back on the wagon again, however, counting calories (through the LiveStrong MyPlate system), being sure to walk daily, and taking karate again (as schedule allows). And there has been a perceptible down-dip as a result.
My short-term goal is to get back down below 200 again (the “Waypoint” on the chart). There’s something magic about that number. Plus, all my pants would fit again.
My long-term goal remains to get down to 185. I’m not setting a time limit this time, just a goal. But I’ll keep tracking to it.
If “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” it also seems to be the price of weight control. Good habits are essential, but they erode easily in the face of plenty. It’s possible to have a great meal or celebration, even if it goes over the daily limits — as long as that’s the exception, not the rule.
Still waiting for the magic diet pills, but until they come along (and test out safe for a lengthy period of time), I’ll have to do this the hard way — exercise and diet.