Diet Update - Weight Watchers Week 3

It's been a little while since I've written one of these. With all the upheaval going on in my life, it is difficult to take the time to sit down and write one of these posts. But, if I don't take the time to do it, it'll be the first thing that slips. One slip will lead to another, and another, and then I'll be back where I started. So this is me taking the time to chronicle my latest step on the path to a healthier me. You'll notice that I didn't make a reference to war or a battle there. That's because I've actually changed the way I see this process. It's a small change, but as is evident in Chaos Theory, small changes can vastly alter the course of events. And this was a very small change.

Up until now, I saw my weight loss as an adversarial process. I thought I had to battle myself, to wage war against my mind in order to accomplish my goals. However there is a rather large flaw in that theory. My gaining weight wasn't a malicious act. There wasn't some part of me that cruelly plotted to kill me over the course of 30-50 years by putting food in my mouth. I am the way I am right now because of the choices I made. Sure, there were outside influences, but I chose how I reacted to those influences and events I couldn't control. I chose how they would affect me; how much importance to place on them. In the end, it was all my decision. And these decisions were made slowly, step by step... OVER TIME! When I realized that, I came to the inevitable conclusion that for this issue I was facing, I had to work the same way. I didn't need to mount some huge counter-offensive in my head. I just needed to make small changes and keep them going. If I want to be a healthy person, I have to make the choices that will lead me to that. It won't be instantaneous, and it won't be easy. But it is that simple.

And these choices can't be made for frivolous reasons. It is statistically proven that the average man will not make the choice to eat healthier until they have a major health crisis. I am proof of that. If it wasn't for my Gall Stone incident, I wouldn't be doing this. It isn't to get sex. it isn't to get a girlfriend or a wife. It isn't to become some active martial arts master. And, it isn't for anyone else, either. Lord knows, practically all of the few girlfriends I've had have asked me to lose weight. Friends, family, even strangers have all given me excellent reasons to lose weight. But in the end, I made this decision because I realized that I want my life. The good, the bad, the in between, I want it all. I want to live my life. And I want to live it for as long as possible. The only way I can do that (that's in my control) is to be healthier, to change my lifestyle and lose the weight that will most definitely kill me MUCH sooner than was intended. I did it because I WANTED TO.

There are people out there who have told me that I am an inspiration to them. Some have even started on their path to being healthier and losing weight because of me. That's pretty cool, and I wish you all the best. But, I hope you're doing this for the right reasons. Those reasons will sustain you during the rough road ahead.

Getting back on track, this is my 3rd week in Weight Watchers. When I started, I had gone up in weight from where I was on the HMR diet. That was mostly because I was no longer eating extremely low calorie foods. I went from 476.2lbs up to 480.4lbs. I missed my first meeting after that, so I don't know if I lost anything that first week. However, my second week, I had dropped 5.2lbs to be at 475.2 lbs. This put me just under the weight I was at during the last week of the HMR diet. So, I lost what I had gained, plus a pound or so. Here are the stats for my week 3 weigh in:

Previous Weight: 475.2lbs
Current Weight: 468.8lbs
Weight Delta: -6.4lbs

This is my single biggest drop in weight EVER. And, it isn't a mystery as to how it happened. I finally started going to the gym. In the past week, I've done a total of 3 two hour workout. I did some cardio to warm up, some weight training to build muscle, and then 60+ min of cardio to just burn fat. At this rate, in just 3 weeks, I will reach my first WW goal of losing 5% of my body weight. And that will be pretty cool. In the meeting, they also talked about physical anchors. Actual objects to remind you of the goals you accomplished. When I hit that 5% goal, I know exactly what I'll get as a reward and an anchor. I'll tell you when I get it.