The Journey: Going in Reverse

Dates: June 7 to June 27

Weight Change (Period): +2.6 lbs

Weight Change (Total): -5.6 lbs

When I started my journey to lose weight, I had hoped every post would be a steady march of positive results. However, I also understood that reversals would happen. Expecting them doesn't make them any less discouraging.

I had hoped that a week along the Blue Ridge (including a hike to the AT at Grayson Highlands and a walk up to the ATC Visitors Center in Harpers Ferry) would help out. After all, the bulk of my previous loss happened due to my trip out to Yosemite. Perhaps it did, and prevented my awful habits during the other two weeks of this period from making that number even worse.

Once again it comes down to my woeful eating habits. Far too often I find myself taking a trip up to McDonald's to get my meal, probably because it is too easy. It isn't that it takes a huge effort to fix a meal, particularly for one person. It is just that going through the drive-up is just that much easier. I just have to break that habit, there is no other way around it.

On the positive side, I am still down for the three months of this journey, so I can take some comfort in that. I've made a pledge to give up the Golden Arches for one month, just to see if that has any impact. Also, starting next week I'm going to plan my breakfast and dinner meals, as this will prevent me from relying upon the fast food crutch so much.

It appears we are now in the midst of our first real prolonged dangerously hot period here in Central Illinois. Unfortunately that means getting out and hiking or walking will be much less likely, as I really don't want to be out there in this heat. It isn't that I can't do it (it was plenty hot in Harpers Ferry, and we somehow made it up and down that damn hill), but that it becomes harder to do it. Looks like I'll have to break out my Wii Balance Board and bench and get some serious WiiSit* action in until cool weather comes back.

Finally I think I need to recommit myself to posting this every week. I admit I've let it slide to two or three week increments in an effort to catch up, or because I was away from my scale on Weigh-In Thursday. Doing this weekly is a way to keep me honest, and to keep me thinking of the overall bigger picture. I clearly stumbled these past three weeks, now the trick is getting back up and continuing on.

Andrew

*Due to me being larger than the max weight for the balance board, I engineered a compromise situation where I can still get some benefit from WiiFit by sitting on a tall bench with my feet on the board. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing, and has worked for me in the past. Of course, there are a couple of exercises (tricep extensions, and the jogging in place one) that I can do as it was intended.