No I didn't Quit

Though it has been a while since I wrote here I haven't quit the program. It is going along swimmingly.

Since I last wrote I am down more than 33 pounds. That is in 10 weeks! I feel better. I have noticed that my pants are looser. My shirts fit better.

Other people are starting to notice. I had one friend ask me if I have been losing weight. I said I had and told her I was doing the Body for Life program. She said it is a good one and she had done it as well. She had a book that she let me borrow. It is called Eating for Life. I have read it already. It was a good book. I am excited to try some of the recipes.

I also had a couple other people last night say something about the weight loss. Today a good friend said to me "I am going to embarrass you". I had no idea what he was going to say. Then he said in a room with co-workers that I had lost weight. He obviously could tell.

When I look at myself I cannot see it so much. I guess that is what happens when you see yourself all the time, but others who don't see you quite as often seem to be able to tell.

Next week is my final week on this 12 week program. Of course I will continue to do the program for a long time to come. I have a ways to go to reach my goal. But finishing this first 12 weeks is one of my first goals in obtaining my ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is 148 pounds. I am about 1/4 of the way there.

Luckily I have not hit a plateau yet. I am sure I will hit one some time along the way. That will be a interesting time period. Because I will have to recognize that I hit one, and then I will have to work to get off of it.

What I have found is that in doing this program I have been going to bed early. Most nights I don't see 11pm let along midnight anymore. That was a nightly occurrence for me.

Early in the program when it stayed dark until around 8 in the morning I really liked the feeling of walking out of the Rec Center having been up for 2 1/2 hours. Feeling like I had accomplished something in the day.

I figured I would keep my early mornings going at least through the first 12 weeks to give it a try. Part of the thing keeping me getting up early is wanting to do the swimming in the morning. The pool closes at 8 in the morning and reopens at 11 in the morning. So I have to hit it early or miss it.

It would be perfect for me to get up around 8 in the morning and workout at 8:30 then swim at 9:30. But I cannot do it that way.

I will have to make the decision on whether I want to continue to do the swimming in the morning or not do it. I think it has been good.

I have seen a ton of improvement in my swimming. I can now swim five laps without a rest. I probably could go even more, but I figure that is a good milestone for now. I do five laps. Rest for about 3 to 4 minutes. Then I swim a second five laps. For a total of 500 yards each day.

I read some of my early posts. It was interesting to read them early on because I was really new with the whole thing. Now it is becoming more of second nature. My shopping trips and my tastes in some food have changed. I now happily eat wheat bread. I also am a fan of tomatoes on my sandwiches.

I also noticed how many calories I had been putting away in some of the things I was eating. One huge example was my breakfasts. I would have around 500 calories in cereal a lot of mornings. With my waffles I would have four at a cost of 440 calories. Then I would put about 100 calories of butter, 150 calories of peanut butter and about 200 calories of syrup. That is about 890 calories for breakfast alone. Now I try to keep my breakfast and lunch to about 300 calories each. My three mid-meals are around 200 calories, with dinner around 450 calories.

My goal right now is to stay around 1600-1800 calories a day. Right now I am really in the weight loss mode.

I can't wait until I have to go see the chief because my turnouts no longer fit.

It is also nice because I am seeing some more definition in my muscles. It is neat to see them forming. But I will have to lose more fat for it to be noticeable for a lot of other people. I feel like I have really gone a long way, but really I am just starting what needs to be and will be a change in life.

I like the fact that Body for Life lets you have a "free day" each week. That is where I can have the treats that I love, in moderation of course. I look forward to having my ice cream or candy bar during that time. Because I haven't had to to totally give them up it makes life easier. Also, I don't have to feel bad about cheating, because I am not cheating when I have it.

So far nothing but positive have come out of the this experience. The only thing I am not sure about when I am done with this 12 weeks if I will keep the same logs that I have been, or only a food journal or what. I guess it is nice to keep track of my weight lifting to see how that is progressing as well. But I could keep track of that once a week and see the changes on a week to week basis.

If I can keep this progress going like I have been doing it, I should be able to be nearing my goal around Christmas of this year. That seems like it is so far away. So I will have to keep my shorter goals in order to keep my mind looking at the short term, in order to see the small gains, in order to keep a positive outlook.

My plan is when I reach my goal I am going to write my next Daily News Town Crier Column to memorialize the reasons why I did it. I will come up with 148 reasons, one for each pound I lost along the way.