Day 31 - My Pants Are Falling! My Pants Are Falling!

172.0 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

I was happy to step on the scale this morning and actually see a 171.5 reading a couple times, however, 172 was the commonly occurring number. THAT, and I SO forgot to wear a belt today and I feel like my jeans are gonna fall down.

Anyway, today we're having Gyros for lunch today prior to our HAM Mini-Summit, so a) they'll be quite tasty, and b) I will likely go over my points allowance today. Oh well. We did get one order of chicken gyros, which will be lower fat. :)

Day 30 - Damn, One Month Almost Gone!

172.0 on the scale (I know, what's going on day to day?). 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Nacho Libre is pretty good so far. But when ISN'T Jack Black funny? eh?

Buenos Dias.

Treadmill Report

45 minutes on the treadmill, 3.4 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Um yeah, if you're still reading this riveting day-by-day story of weightloss and you're not watching Heroes, I have failed you.

Watch Heroes.

No really, get caught up now.

Day 29 - The Scale Is Mocking Me

175.0 on the scale today. It would appear yesterday's weigh-in was a bit of an anomaly.

No treadmill this morning, since the best show ever is on tonight, Heroes, and I'll be trudging away while watching it.

Then tomorrow morning, I'm gonna start Nacho Libre. How can we get in the business of movie microsites? We'd be really good at them.

Day 28 - Weigh-In Day

173.5 on the scale. Hot damn! 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Updated chart below!



Had a lot of fun at the Thaw last night. Sold a lot of raffle tickets! I also secured a trip to Vegas in March, and fought hard for some other things but the bidding wars outpaced my willingness to fork out more dough, so they slipped through my fingers.

I ultimately had too many glasses of wine last night, and ended up with a nice headache this morning so I've been laying low. Tonight, I've got some work to do, and will be up butt-early tomorrow to work on some other things before heading into the office.

Have a great week!

Day 27 - Thaw Day

174.5 on the scale. No treadmill today. I'm going to have to renew my dedication to that ritual with a great movie. I rented Nacho Libre last night, with just that thought in mind.

Tonight is The Midwinter Thaw. Wish me luck and restraint!

Day 26 - Danger Ahead

175.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

I unfortunately did not get on the treadmill last night as I'd planned to make up for yesterday morning. However, I did drag myself onto it this morning.

This week's weigh-in day will be interesting I'm sure, because the night before there's a big benefit fund raiser for the kid's school (The Midwinter Thaw) at which we're fed and encouraged to drink, be merry, and give generously. Due to my irresistable charm (hehe) I'm always enlisted to be a roaming raffle ticket seller which usually prevents me from being able to eat and drink too much, but that possibility certainly exists which will probably affect my weight the next day.

There will also be a wee bit of dancing at the end of the night, so maybe I can work off some of the calories (wishful thinking) and still secure a respectable loss on the scale Sunday.

Actually, we're coming into a good span of "special occasions" with which I could really mess up the next couple of weigh-ins. THIS Saturday is the Midwinter Thaw, but next saturday is the company holiday party and I'm sorry, but there will be melted cheeeeeeeese and plenty of libations. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Day 25 - Greg's Goodbye & Gumbo

176.0 on the scale. No treadmill this morning. I'll have to make it up tonight.

Last night was Greg's going-away happy hour. Had a few beers with the whole crew, and Ben came out and joined us in his Target monkey suit. It was good to see him.

The group started dispursing around 6:45 or so, and then pretty much disbanded at 7:35 or so. However, feeling it was a crime to waste a night out by turning in at 7:30, I dove into J.D. Hoyt's to lay low at the bar. Donn joined me for awhile, during which a chatty criminal defense lawyer befriended us and told us about his career adventures as a chef and a defense attorney. Donn managed to convince him that he was a toys and electronics buyer for Target -- why I don't know -- but it further enlivened the conversation.

When Donn left, and after the lawyer left shortly after, I ordered a bowl of gumbo (since I hadn't really eaten) and chatted with the bartender and some of the servers after their shifts ended. Headed home around 11:00 or so.

Anyway, I didn't feel much like getting up and getting on a treadmill this morning. I have no idea how many points I consumed, but I'm sure I broke the balance with the beer and gumbo.

Today is Greg's last day.

Day 24 - Hum Drum

175.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill. 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Not much to report today. Busy day yesterday, probably another one today albeit with fewer meetings. I've got to get cleaned up for an 8:15 meeting at Target.

A good morning to all, and to all a good day. Or something.

Maybe 175.0

I dunno. DWOOTS (dripping-wet-out-of-the-shower) was 175.0. Maybe I should have given myself that extra half-pound.

Day 23 - Decathaloss

175.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Ah, and I forgot to put an entry in for last night's Heroes treadmill goodness. 45 minutes on the treadmill, 3.4 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Did I mention Heroes is the greatest show?

SO, the scale said 175.0 the first time I stepped on it this morning, then 175.5 the next couple of times, so that's the official entry today. Which is exciting! That's officially 10 pounds lost so far in 3.5 weeks.

Doin' alright.

Day 22 - Collateral Exercise

177.5 on the scale. No treadmill YET, because Heroes is on tonight with their first new episode since before christmas and I'll be doing it then, woo hoo!

Yeah, so up a pound from yesterday. That would suggest that yesterday's weigh-in was skewed low, probably because I didn't eat those remaining points?

Yesterday, the boys and I went to The Waterpark of America since they'd been relatively neglected these past few weeks due to parental busy-ness. I got a LOT of collateral exercise there running up the plethora of stairs with the boys over and over for the waterslides. On the way home, we ate at Qcumbers, and I had a massive amount of food (was starving) although since it was mostly a monstrous salad, I did quite well points-wise and went to bed again with unused points.

It was a nice feeling to feel stuffed and NOT have blown the points thing.

Day 21 - Weigh-In Day

Three weeks down (with many to go), but we've made it to yet another weigh-in day. I'm pleased to say it was a good week, progress-wise.

176.5 on the scale. That's a solid 3.5 pounds although if you remember last week, we had that thing on Saturday before weigh-in that maybe skewed last week's weigh-in a bit heavy.



Yesterday I apparently made such good choices that I went to bed with 6+2 points left I could have spent. Probably should have spent, if I were to ask WeightWatchers. Their online tool chastised me again for losing more than 2 pounds for more than two weeks in a row.

Oh, and 30 minutes on the treadmill. 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Day 20 - Lesson Learned: Track in Real Time

177.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 0/0.

Although I got back on the treadmill today, I did not succeed in getting on it last night despite the best of intentions. Instead, I went out and grabbed a few beers with a friend.

Despite making well-behaved choices about WHAT I was eating (aside from the few beers), I really blew my daily points allowance yesterday. My problem was I wasn't tracking it faithfully REAL-TIME to know what my balances were prior to putting more things in my mouth. Between this weightloss adventure and last time, I've come to know generally how many points things I regularily eat cost, but when I do new things or go out, I'm in unknown territory.

Lunch was my first problem. I had an employee review (for which we always go out for lunch) and we went to Rosen's where I ordered soup and a salad. The soup was tomato/red pepper (not creamy) so that was low points and the salad itself was low points, but since they didn't have any fat free dressings, I ordered balsamic vinegar (which is free). Instead, I got balsamic vinaigrette. Rather than make un unnecessary scene on behalf of my love handles, I enjoyed the vinaigrette (and consequently, the olive oil in it) for an extra 3 points.

Then on to supper. I made a pizza at home using a Boboli whole-wheat thin crust (their lowest point one), reduced fat mozzarella, feta, sauce, green olive, and sundried tomato, then ate before I really calculated how many points each piece was. I should have stopped at 3 pieces which would have been perfectly satisfying. Instead, I ate a fourth, which cost me an extra 4.5 points.

SO, those two little choices collectively threw me 7 points over where I normally should have been.

THEN came the going out part where I spent another 12 points on lite beer and chips and salsa.

Naughty, naughty Bret.

So, I dipped somewhat significantly into the extra weekly points allowance, however, I'm still under the total allowance for the week and plan to exhibit model weight-loss behavior today to attone for yesterday's sins and stay on track for weigh-in day tomorrow.

Day 19 - Slackin'

176.5 on the scale. No treadmill this morning.

I woke up with a headache and a sharp lack of motivation. I'll have to make it up tonight or something.

Popped a few Excedrin for the headache and hopefully a cuppa joe will take care of the motivation issue, and away I go.

Today I'll get downloaded on my tasks for our Adult Swim game that I'll work on over the weekend, and I'll be further networking for developers. Know someone? Here's the link for the job description.

Jury Duty - FINIS

I checked in on the call-in line tonight and was notified that my jury service is officially complete.

So, all in all I have to say it has been a disappointing experience. I feel as though I've contributed nothing, and got very little out of making myself available to the court.

I suppose I should be thankful that I was put on call and could function relatively normally in between the twice-daily call-ins. It really would have sucked if I'd had to sit in that reception room for two weeks straight doing nothing.

Outside of the limbo of call-in status, this cost me one full day in the "holding tank", and a half day split between waiting and getting just a wee taste of what jury duty could have been. I bet I'll get a check for like $40.

That's a lot of cheeseburgers. If I could eat them.

Day 18 - Holdin' Steady

177.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Was hoping to see a half-pound drop, but no such luck! However, a couple things hit me:

1) When I hit 175, I get 2 points less to eat per day. :(
2) When I hit 175, I'll be a third of the way! :)
3) I'm a poet, and didn't know it.

'sall I got.

No need to report for Jury Duty again this morning. Have to call in at 12:15, hopefully for the last time.

Day 17 - Progress

177.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Wow, no comments about the beer rule exception. Nobody must be paying attention anymore.

I was pleased to see a nice loss on the scale this morning!

Started a new movie today: Miss Congeniality. Pretty much just going through my Netflix queue one by one. I looked at it the other day. There are movies I put on there a heap-long time ago, so long that I don't even remember what some of them are about. I'll consider it a cardio-cinematic adventure.

Don't have to report for Jury Duty again this morning, although for the first time since being on call-in status they DID call like 5 groups in. I just happened to not be in one of those groups. Have to call in again at 12:15 so I'm heading into work.

Excepting the Beer Rule

Alright, be it duly known that day 16 sees the FIRST day I have officially invoked the exception to the Beer Rule which states if it was a particularily bad or good day, that I can have more than one but must count points for them.

Today would fall into the bad column.

Day 16 - On To The "Real Weight"

179.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

So it would appear I'm through the "water weight" losing period of the struggle and am now on to "real" weight loss, as evidenced by the numbers on the scale being the same now 3 days in a row.

Today, boy I didn't wanna be on the treadmill. However, I finished The Passion of the Christ this morning -- on to something different, less heavy perhaps.

Have to call in again today at 12:15 to see if I need to report or not again for Jury Duty. More later!

Day 15 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

179.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Not much to report today. Slept very crappily last night on account of a large darkroast from Starbucks at 3:30 yesterday afternoon. Didn't want to get up.

No Jury Duty today, since it is a government holiday, so I've got a busy day of meetings in and out of the office. Gotta hit the road early, since it snowed something fierce last night and I'm sure the commute is going to suck.

Day 14 - Weigh-In Day

Another moment of truth, another week gone. 180.0 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Last night's class meeting was fun, although I'm sure I blew my entire day's points allowance as well as most of my 28.5 remaining weekly points allowance. I was conservative on my consumption of food, but had a few glasses of wine and they're expensive points-wise.

Thing is, I have NO idea how many points any of the scrumptiousness was. It is both a good thing and a bad thing that such a transgretion happens the day before a weigh-in. Good because points reset today, so I don't really have to worry how many points it was. Bad because maybe I would have weighed in lighter had I not had the tasties last night.

Oh well, at least I'm down for the week overall and still ahead of schedule. See below.



On another note, boy The Passion of the Christ is graphic. I had to avert my eyes a few times because you literally see his flesh being torn as they "punish" him prior to the crucifixion march. Ya gotta hand it to Mel, he's brought the whole thing to life in a way that forces you to confront the reality of the idealized story we all know from church. Granted, it won't get me sitting in a pew weekly or anything, but...

Day 13 - Sweatin' to the Gospels

179.0 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Good day to you, 170's! It is good to see you again.

Started a new movie today. If you thought it was odd to be working out to The Color Purple, you'll love this one -- The Passion of the Christ. Oh yeah baby!

Today is a cleaning day. Then Jo and I have a babysitter coming over so we can go to a school meeting/social gathering, at which I'll be tempted with many varieties of tasty foods and drink the day before my weigh-in day.

Day 12 - Still Knocking

180.0 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Slow, but steady progress, but still haven't walked through the 180 door yet. Finished Paycheck. Yeah, good movie. It made time fly on the treadmill everyday I had it on.

So, have not had to report for Jury Duty which kinda sucks. I feel like I'm in a limbo of sorts. Purgatory maybe. I feel like I shouldn't get back deep into day-to-day project responsibilities because I could be pulled off them again and then not be able to deliver, but then feel guilty like I'm leaving the HAM peeps in a lurch. Instead, I've been spending my time on designing our Resource Allocation tool and on networking to replace Greg, both of which can be interrupted without timeline/deadline impact and they're contained to me.

Ayway, I have to call in again today at 12:15 to see if I have to come in for the afternoon, but man I can't imagine they'll do that since Monday is a government holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) so no courts are in session on Monday. If I don't have to report, I'll likely head into work this afternoon again.

Day 11 - Knocking On 180's Door

180.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/60.

Yeah, Paycheck is definitely a good movie. AND it is getting easier to walk at that pace. And I'm almost knocking on 180's door.

Jury Duty Update: So, I called in yesterday afternoon to see if I had to report, and was pleased to find out I did not. So I went into the office for the rest of the afternoon, which was good because about a half hour before I came in, ALL our communications went down -- internet and phone (since they're on the same T1). Troubleshooted to see that it wasn't our network or anything on our side and then called Eschelon, who had to call Qwest and get it resolved. By the end of the day we were back up. *whew*

On another note, don't have to report this morning again. I have to call in again at 12:15 to see if I have to report for the afternoon. I sure hope I get to see a trial before this is through. Otherwise, seems like a waste and a real disruption.

Think I'll spend the morning at home again picking through developer resumes and pinging more people.

On Call With Hennepin County

So, we were all dismissed and put on call this morning, have to check in at 12:15 to see if I need to go in for the afternoon again. And so I am at my secret undisclosed coffee shop location for the morning, working on getting the developer position posted and related networking to find a good replacement for Greg.

Day 10 - Time To Pick Up The Pace?

181.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Started a new movie today -- Paycheck. Either it is a really good movie, or it is getting easier to walk at the pace I'm walking on the treadmill. Might have to pick it up to a jog soon. I think it also helps that I'm pretty much walking another 2 miles a day, 1 to the government center and 1 back.

Spent yesterday swimming in the Jury Pool, waiting ALL day for nothing. They finally let us out around 3:15 or so for the day, since nothing was happening. Man, it was pretty disappointing not to have had that trial happen. I hope I don't sit through this 2 weeks without getting to at least partake in some festivities.

Day 9 - Don't Be Late

181.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 70/100.

Not much to report today. Just gotta get into the courthouse by 9:00 to get in line at the metal detectors. The judge yesterday was quite clear that he's an "on-time person" and went so far as to estimate what time we need to be in the metal detector line to get up to the courtroom in time. He said 9:10. I'll be there at 9:00, thank you.

Beer Rules Suck

What the hell was I thinking? I broke it again tonight.

I think I should revised the portion of the Beer Rule that states that I can have only one beer daily. Maybe it should be something more like "I can have as many beers as my points totals allow without diving into the weekly extra points balance" unless one of those exceptions apply. Most days, that means 2 or 3 tops, and that dwindles as I lose weight (because I will have fewer points daily).

You let me know what you think 'bout that. But I think I should change it.

Just sayin'.

Early Dismissal Today

Woo hoo! Got dismissed for the day until 9:00 tomorrow morning.

So yeah, I can see how it can be horribly boring sitting and waiting for your name to be called, but luckily (I guess) my name was called on the fourth or fifth batch to be considered for a criminal trial. We went through security and into a freight elevator up to the courtroom and went through initial voir dire (jury selection) precedings.

They asked us initial questions as a group, took all our phone numbers, then dismissed us all until tomorrow morning so the judge could discuss important matters with the attorneys, whatever that means. All I know is that I got to get outta there for the rest of the day.

But the cool thing is that I'm potential juror #1. Hot damn!

Online, at home, and available for the rest of the afternoon.

Day 8 - Jury Duty

182.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 95/60.

Today begins Jury Duty. In the paperwork, they say it is a 2-week committment, "or until such juror is discharged by the court." Let's hope for discharge sooner than later.

Today I plan to drive down to my regular parking lot near our building but then walk to the courthouse, which is about 1 mile away. 14 blocks to be exact. So at the very least, I can get more exercise out of the deal. I'm only taking my phone with me for day one, no laptop until I hear what the rules are. I'd hate to lug the laptop all the way there only to learn it shouldn't be there and be unable to just walk outside and put it in the trunk or something. However, my phone gives me real-time access to email and messenger, so the cord will not be completely cut.

I'm hoping that this is ends up being an educational experience, but I've heard a lot of horror stories that it is just incredibly boring most of the time. Time and due process will tell.

Day 7 - Weigh-In Day

Alright, Sunday. Official weigh-in day. One week, gone! 182.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill. 2.2 miles, 4.5, 60/90.

Week 1 sees me down 3 pounds. That's a good start.

So I could track where I should be weekly, I've created the progress chart below. I'll update this after each weigh-in. The straight grey line is the path I need to be on to hit the goal, which shows I need to lose about 2 pounds a week.


Ahead of schedule it would seem! In fact, I just got chastised by WeightWatchers Online for losing more than 2 pounds in one week. I've subjected myself to a higher risk of gallstones. Eek!

Day 6 - The Trouble With The Color Purple

182.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 90/60.

Finished The Color Purple today. I'll select a less-sensitive adrenaline-pumping workout movie next, maybe Flashdance or something. Yeah. Or Fame. ;) Naw, maybe I'll pull out the Star Trek Original Series DVD and watch Tribbles or something.

I'm just pleased with myself for getting up and getting on the treadmill today anyway. I'd said 5 days a week in the rules, which implies I could take the weekend off. But the wiser side of me says if I get out of the habit, I'll get out of the habit.

So, on another note regarding rules... Without realizing it until afterwards, I broke one of my rules yesterday. The Beer Rule. I had two beers at Beer:30 and it wasn't a particularly horrible or great day, but I suppose Friday could qualify as a special occasion. We'll let that one slide. Especially because well after dinner I discovered I had some unused points for the day, so later on that night I had two more beers. I DID count points for all of the beers. I'm on the level here.

Also, the "extra" weekly points resets tomorrow (my official weigh-in day for WW), and I've got 31.5 of them left. That means if I were really wanting to be irresponsible today, I could have like 55.5 points worth of food and still be on the level. I don't think I'll do that though, because that means tomorrow's scale ritual will probably show I've gained weight compared to today's scale ritual.

Going backwards sucks.

Beer:30

Alright, first Beer:30 with the lite beer in the fridge for the boss, and the good stuff for the others.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, beer.

Day 5 - Ass Dragging

Didn't want to get up today. But I did, and got on the treadmill with The Color Purple again.

183.0 on the scale. Half hour on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 90/60.

Monday sees me reporting for Jury Duty, Hennepin County. Ahhhhhh, civic duty.

Time to make the donuts.

Temptation, Twice Daily

So, this is encouraging. Despite having had been tempted by three different larges from Pizza Luce for rCady's birthday lunch (I had two pretty small pieces), when I got home I changed out of the monkeysuit into the loungeaboutwear then stepped on the scale and got another 183.5 reading! Usually it would be like a 3-4 lbs. heavier than the morning dripping-wet weigh-in!

That's something.

However, I came home to a crockpot full of love from my wife -- Cheesy Italian Tortellini.

Yeah. Jo? That's 13 points for a serving, and not easy to NOT eat (um, yum!). I managed to traverse the rapids with a small serving (which I counted as 8 points) and then fill with a huge salad while I watched my boys have 2 big bowls each.

Does crockpot love come in a reduced-calorie version?

Day 4 - Purple Haze

183.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2.2 miles, 4.5, 90/60.

Time flew today. Partly though I think because I had a good movie in front of me. Jo-Anne had The Color Purple on her Netflix list, and since I didn't see it in the decade it came out, I thought it might be a good one to pop in. So far so good.

Busy day today. Gotta get a jumpstart on work now.

Coffee Shop Coffee Rule Tested

So, on the way to work today I stopped at Caribou. But instead of getting the usual "largedarkroastwithhazelnutandroomforcream", I got just a "largedarkroastwithroomforcream".

Yet I walked out of the store with a hazelnutty, creamy goodness just like I wanted.

How?

I totally brought just enough of my own Fat Free Hazelnut Cream from home in a wee tupperware container.

I'm a dork.

But I'll be a skinny dork in about 4 months.

Day 3 - Artichokes

184.5 on the scale. 30 minutes on the treadmill. 2.2 miles, 4.5, 80/45.

Was a breeze the first 15 minutes, but the last 15 I wasn't into it and wanted off. But I stayed. See? See?

And then they had a nutritionist on the Today show with 5 tips for keeping your new year's resolution of losing weight. One was to increase the amount of foods with anitoxidants in your diet, and she showed the most exotic, hard-to-find or hard-to-prepare foods out there. Whole nutmeg. Yeah, eat lots of it. Artichokes. Good luck with cooking those. Huge blackberries. $4 a pound? Cripes.

They chose those because they look pretty on TV, but they make it seem hard. What about apples? Baby carrots? Grapes? Something easy, portable and affordable. May not be pretty, but I can pop a bag of them in the fridge and eat at will.

On another note, thanks to all those that are commenting. Fun to watch, and makes me feel like I damn well better get up and get on that treadmill. SO THANKS!

But seriously, why wasn't one of the tips to start a blog? Am I doing something wrong? I'm going upstairs to eat an artichoke.

Day 2 - It Is A New Dawn

185.5 on the scale.

Got up (begrudgingly) and did a half hour on the treadmill. I think I'm still sweating out butter from the New Year's Eve dinner. 2.2 miles, 4.5, 65/25.

Thought of additional rules while trotting along that probably need adding to the list: coffee shop coffee, and weigh-in methodology.

The Ground Rules

Since I started thinking about doing this again, I've been thinking about ways to make it more effective and less burdensome-feeling, so here are the results of that thinking. This is a living/breathing post in that more rules might get added, and modifications might happen to existing ones.

The Goal:
155 by May 5th, 2007. How'd I come up with that? They say according to my height that I should be between 133 and 165 (see here and look somewhere between 5'8" and 5'9"), and I'm aiming for the recommended maximum for people 25 and younger, which is 155. Granted, I'm not exactly 25 anymore, but I'll hold on to the feeling long as I can and maybe this is one more way, so stop shooting me that look.

The Plan:
I have gone back on Weight Watchers since it works well. I'll be counting points on the Flex Plan, and will generally obsess about how to eek the most food out of the fewest points. It means I will consult my phone for points values and will take longer to order if you're out at a restaurant with me, and means I'll be thinking more before cooking.

Hell no I'm not going to meetings (this forum is public enough for my tastes), but am using the online program they have, as well as the tracking software for Palm on my phone.

Weigh-in Methodology:
I know there's two camps of people out there when it comes to weigh-ins - the "dripping wet out of the shower" camp, and the "mid-day wear" camp. I'm firmly in the dripping wet camp. No need to conjure images in your head, just sayin'. All weights, unless otherwise indicated, are measured in the morning as the maker made me. (added 1/2/07)

Exercise:
I will be jumping on the treadmill for a minimum of a half hour at least five times a week. If I am unable one day, I'll make it up by doing an extra half-hour the next day. Once new episodes of Heroes are back on, I'll almost definitely be on for an hour on Monday nights, and I'll probably be using my Netflix account more now again, watching movies in small half-hour chunks.

The Beer Rule:
Okay, I like a beer or 3 every now and then. Well, so as not to remove all pleasure from my life, I'm not giving it up. I am allowed one beer a day should I want one, but it has to be a Lite beer and of course I have to count the points for it. Tastes Great. Less Filling.

The exceptions to the one-beer limit are on:

a) Holidays and associated family events
b) Special occasions like birthday celebrations, company parties, etc.
c) Particularly horrible/exceptional days

Exception c is of course, not to be abused. However, there are days as a small business owner that can be rather shitty (valued team members resign or get recruited away), or worthy of celebrating (our latest pride-and-joy project launches, or we land a big client) and so there must be an exception to accommodate such days.

The Coffee Shop Coffee Rule:
Another of my problem spots comes from coffee shop coffee -- not the coffee itself, but the hazelnut shots and the cream. SO, I am endeavoring not to partake in either, but instead to buy the coffee shop coffee if I need it, and then add my own fixin's to it. Fat Free Hazelnut Creamer, and Sugar in the Raw. (added 1/2/07)

Day 1 - Awesome

Alright, day one. January 1, 2007. I have committed myself to this 155x5/5 thing by revealing my plan to Jo-Anne, whipping up a crappy little logo, and creating this li'l 'ol blog. Uh huh.

So the goal is to lose what amounts to about 30 pounds by 5/5/07, which means I need to lose about 2 pounds a week. Seems like an achievable goal, however I know from last time I lost some poundage that the numbers below 165 were a bit more of a challenge than those above, but we'll see. I lost my drive last time around 165 and abandoned things altogether, whereas this time I have a date and a goal, and the possibility of public ridicule if I don't hit it.

Awesome.

Stay tuned for the ground rules, as well as weekly (if not daily) updates on progress. Feel free to comment. Encourage. Ridicule. Yeah, I can take it.