Ideal Protein, Week Two

When I started the Middle Age Bulge blog in late December of 2009, I concurrently began a self-created program to lose weight.  I had stepped on a scale on Boxing Day and almost lost my mind when I saw 210 lbs on the display.   It took me almost 4-months, based on my notes from this period, to get to 189 lbs, a loss of just over 20 lbs.  I walked, I ran, I ate better, and  I drank lots of water.  But over time, the trips to the gym declined, bad foods started to trickle back into my diet, and water became an after-thought.

Based on my early morning weigh-in today - early morning seems to produce the lowest measurement - I'm down to 193.8 lbs, or a total weight loss of 13.2 lbs in two weeks.  To be fair and completely transparent, my weigh-in at BACK on TRACK with BARB yesterday afternoon was less auspicious (by several lbs).  But I'll go with the early morning lower number any day of the week; it's far more motivating.

I'm proud to say that I have not cheated in the first 14 days of this program.  I fear that if I slip, even once, I may start to slide, and ultimately, plummet down this mountain I'm climbing. So, I stick to the script.  The only "cheating" I do is slipping in an additional restricted food, usually the BBQ Chips while we watch Weeds in the evening.  Being able to munch on this $4 morsel of monstrous goodness feels decadent, delightful, perfectly sinful.

This week's hot weather has been hard for me and I believe contributed greatly to my less prodigious results.  We don't have central air-conditioning, or any other kind of air-conditioning for that matter, and the temperature in our room at bedtime was north of 28-degrees Celsius the entire week.  The ceiling fan helped a little as did the floor fan that we put out in the hallway, but I had a helluva time sleeping and invariably drifted out of bed to the fridge for a program-approved dill pickle or some raw cucumbers.  So, with the heat I slept less and ate more.  I'm sure glad the weather has cooled off today.

As I type this I'm enjoying only my third cup of coffee in 14 days.  The last one, enjoyed earlier this week at the office, had me completely buzzed.  My body seemed to have forgotten how to manage and respond to caffeine.  I didn't like the feeling and will reserve my java treat for lollygagging Sunday mornings when a coffee-high will be the most enjoyable and the least destructive.

The weight is going down and the inches are disappearing to the point that I'm beginning to see the difference.  I saw it first in my face and next in my middle age bulge area.  More importantly, I feel so much better, lighter, healthier, more energized, sharper.

"What are you going to do when this is over?" asked my wife at dinner last night.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you see yourself going back to the way you were eating before?"

It was a sage question, one that I've thought of more than once in the past two weeks.  The fact is that I see food differently now.  Where this program resets the pancreas, I believe it also resets our understanding and relationship with food.  Walking through the grocery store, I now see the power displays at the end of the aisles for what they are - temptations.  Instead, I go straight for the produce section and my essential supply of approved vegetables.

The question of whether or not I return to my old ways will ultimately be answered down the road, long after I've reached my target weight of somewhere between 165 - 175 lbs (my inner thin person is still on the fence as to what it wants my ideal weight to be).  I can confidently say that "I see food differently now" when I'm in the middle of the program and totally focused.  The proof will be in the pudding, when I've weaned myself off of the protein packs and supplements and have successfully transitioned to eating in a way that is healthy for the long-term.  Wish me luck!