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7/05/06: 296 lbs. (-48, 40 days) I'm wearing a 2X shirt...first time in at least fifteen years. Half the pairs of pants in my closet are now too big for me and it looks like I can start giving away dozens of 3X shirts. My former cleaning lady will probably send them all to her home country of El Salvador where they'll use each as a tarp to cover a football field. 7/09/06: 294 lbs. (-50, 44 days) Fifty pounds lost in 44 days! Doesn't seem possible but 'tis. The next fifty will obviously take a lot longer. I seem to be losing a pound about every 2-3 days lately, which is fine. Eating about one small "real" meal a day plus two protein shakes. Still almost no hunger. 7/15/06: 287 lbs. (-57, 50 days) Seven pounds off in six days? Well, sort of. I'd lost a bit less than three more pounds as of yesterday and then my doctor put me on a one-day diuretic. Today, I lost a little more than four more in as many hours. It's not exactly the same kind of weight loss but the scale says 287 so that's what goes on the list. I have a feeling it's going to be a while before I see a new number on that machine. 7/16/06: 284 lbs. (-60, 51 days) I take it back. Three more pounds gone this morning. That means I lost seven in 24 hours, largely thanks to that diuretic. 7/30/06: 279 lbs. (-65, 65 days) Feeling fine. Weight loss has slowed a bit and my appetite is making an occasional slight reappearance. Still, 65 pounds in as many days is stunning. I'm eating one or two small meals a day, generally avoiding beef, which my stomach doesn't seem to like as much as it once did. A meal could be a cup of soup or about a third of a normal serving of something solid. The other day, I stopped at a favorite barbecue restaurant and bought a "dinner" with three pork ribs and beans, which yielded three meals for me. I'm trying to manage two protein shakes a day as well but one of 'em fills me up for hours so it isn't always possible. Along with all this, I'm drinking lots of water and a goodly amount of tomato juice, which is about the only other beverage I like which isn't carbonated or too high in sugar content. I'm supposed to keep my sugar intake below 15 grams per serving but I've set 10 as my upper limit and I occasionally dilute orange drink or lemonade to an even lower level, which tastes okay. Mostly though, it's water or tomato juice. And lots and lots of vitamins. 8/6/06: 277 lbs. (-67, 72 days) There was a time when losing two pounds per week would have been a medical miracle. Now, it's agonizingly slow. I find myself getting on the scale, seeing the same number as the day before and muttering, "What's wrong?" But then there are reminders. The other day, I bought a new shirt, size 2X, and it was too big for me. I took it back to the store and told them it had to be a mislabeled 3X...but it wasn't. They cheerfully exchanged it for a 1X which fits just fine. While I was there, I tried on a pair of jeans that were one waist size smaller than what I've been wearing and they also fit. I may not be shopping at the Big Man's shop much longer. 8/7/06: 275 lbs. (-69, 73 days) Don't know what I did that caused two more pounds to go away in 24 hours but they're gone, sez the scale. Maybe that long walk in the park or that plate of pulled pork from my favorite barbecue restaurant. Yeah, I think it was the pulled pork. 8/22/06: 269 lbs. (-75, 88 days) Odd how certain numbers have an impact. Going from 272 to 271 felt like losing a pound. Getting to 270 felt like more because it meant that middle digit on the scale was about to change...and when it did and I saw 269, I felt like I'd lost ten pounds from the day before. Looking ahead, I see 266 within a week or two and that will be meaningful. I've guesstimated my top weight ever at 366 so I will soon be able to say (approximately) I've lost a hundred pounds. There are other measures, as well. The fattest pants I ever wore had a size 54 waist. I'm now in 44 and even they feel a bit loose. My wardrobe is an odd mixture of old clothes I had squirreled away, plus a certain kind of miracle jeans they sell at Casual Male XL, a chain of men's wear shops for us big guys. There is magic in the George Foreman™ Waist-Relaxer® jeans with the hidden elastic waistband. I guess the band was designed to let you wear the same pants even if you've put on a few pounds but it also works the other way. These jeans get me through those days when I'm between the sizes I can pull out of storage. My lawyer also happens to be George Foreman's lawyer and he probably made the deal to affix George's name to the product. I'll have to call and thank him for letting me keep my pants. 9/06/06: 269 lbs. (-75, 103 days) Well, they warned me there'd be periods when no matter what I did, my body would just refuse to drop any more weight and might even gain some. I think I'm coming off just such a period. My weight actually climbed back to 275 for a time, mostly (I suspect) due to water retention. Lately, with a little help from a diuretic, it's coming down. An unscientific look in a mirror suggests that what's been happening the last three weeks is that I'm losing a bit from the waist up and gaining a bit from the waist down. Everyone keeps telling me I look skinnier than I did the week before but the scale's still fixated on 269. Let's see if this latest dropping of poundage can continue and take me lower...maybe down to 266, which will represent a hundred pounds (or so) below my top weight. Maybe what I need is more of that pulled pork. 10/18/06: 264 lbs. (-80, 145 days) My doctor says I'm at a "plateau" and that my body has stopped dropping poundage so quickly while it attempts to adjust to the new configuration. Okay, I can live with a pound a week, I guess. He says to expect at least occasional brief spurts of more rapid weight loss from time to time the pound-per-week will generally be the norm 'til, at some point, it just stops. Whatever I wind up weighing, it's so much better than before. |
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© 2007 Mark Evanier Hosted by Dreamhost |
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