The title sums up the last few weeks of my life pretty well- I’ve been eating junk food, rarely exercising, and getting a bit frivolous with my spending. I’m not sure what exactly my problem is- lack of motivation and discipline I guess.

I really hate seeing my weight in the 250s again, so this is a wake up call to get back on track right away. My thought right now is to try to simplify the process, cut down the number of goals that I’m worrying about and the different things I’m trying to do this year with my fitness, and just focus on losing some weight right now. So, my new fitness goal as of today is to lose 10 pounds in 8 weeks.

I’m going to mostly use the Body for Life exercise plan and Eating For Life plan. I do not plan to follow these plans 100% because I have learned over the years that I just can’t do that. I think 80-90% of the plans will be good enough for what I want to accomplish right now.

A quick note on my spending- I’m not getting too crazy, certainly not using credit cards or anything, I’ve just been spending a more on food and non-necessities than I have for a while. I need to try to tighten up the wallet a bit as well.

Current weight: 251.8 pounds

Weight lost since starting the blog: -14.2 pounds

Progress since starting with the new scale: -2.2 pounds, -1.4% body fat, -0.3 BMI

Last week’s diet: My diet was bad for just about the whole week. I ate a lot of junk food and didn’t make much of an effort to cut calories or make wise choices.

Last week’s exercise: I worked out once and I pulled weeds one morning- that’s it! I hate looking back on the week and seeing all of the missed opportunities to exercise- even just 20 or 30 minutes of walking thrown in for a few more days would make a big difference for me right now.

*Note about this weight loss chart. When I started this blog I weighed 266 pounds and I was only tracking my pounds lost each week. On November 28, 2007 I started using a new scale that tracks body fat and more (the numbers you see above). I report the figures from that scale in these weekly posts and I still track my total pounds lost in the Weight Loss Goals section in the sidebar on my site.

New format this week- I’m adding a review of my previous week’s diet and exercise. My weight is still going in the wrong direction, but at least I did some exercise last week.

Current weight: 248.8 pounds

Weight lost since starting the blog: -17.2 pounds

Progress since starting with the new scale: -5.2 pounds, -1.1% body fat, -0.7 BMI

Last week’s diet: I did pretty well Monday through Friday, eating lots of vegetables, a few protein drinks, and nothing really bad. However, things changed drastically on the weekend- I really pigged out, eating way too much food and the wrong kinds of food. It wouldn’t surprise me if I gained a pound just on the weekend alone. This has been the pattern for several weeks now and I really need to change my habits and not ruin the progress I make during the week with out of control weekends.

Last week’s exercise: My wife and I went for a walk on Tuesday- about 35 minutes and 1.5 miles. On Friday I walked/jogged on the treadmill and did an upper body weightlifting workout. This was the first time I lifted weights for quite some time (months probably) and while I was very sore for several days after I’m really glad I did it and I’m looking forward to more weight lifting this week. Two days of exercise is better than the zero days of the previous week, but it’s still not enough. Fortunately, marathon training starts this week so I should be doing much better.

*Note about this weight loss chart. When I started this blog I weighed 266 pounds and I was only tracking my pounds lost each week. On November 28, 2007 I started using a new scale that tracks body fat and more (the numbers you see above). I report the figures from that scale in these weekly posts and I still track my total pounds lost in the Weight Loss Goals section in the sidebar on my site.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I updated, but not much has changed. Last time I posted my numbers I was 247 pounds. Today, I am 247.8 pounds. In between the two posts, I’ve weighed in as low as 244.8, but that didn’t last. I think the weight loss has officially come to an end and it’s time to try something new before I climb all the way back to 266.

My lack of progress has possibly caused me to make a slightly crazy decision, but I have decided that I need to try something new and to accomplish that I am going to run a marathon this year! My hope is that having a real deadline, a real event, and a real risk of public failure will inspire me to work harder at getting in shape quickly. This is an idea I have kicked around for quite a while now, and I read that J.D. @ Get Fit Slowly is going to run one too, so that was enough to put me over the edge and inspire me to sign up. I’ll share more about that later and how I plan to get ready.

*Note about this weight loss chart. When I started this blog I weighed 266 pounds and I was only tracking my pounds lost each week. On November 28, 2007 I started using a new scale that tracks body fat and more (the numbers you see above). I report the figures from that scale in these weekly posts and I still track my total pounds lost in the Weight Loss Goals section in the sidebar on my site.

Very bad week, there isn’t much else I can say about that. I had a big food day on the weekend and I didn’t work out very much at all. I think that 247 might be a little misleading because I weighed only 246 the day before, but that is the number I had on Tuesday so that is what counts for now. No matter the accuracy, I know that I fell short on exercise for the week and my diet was good, except for the weekend. Nothing to do now but try harder this week.

Current weight: 247.0 pounds

Weight lost since starting the blog: 19 pounds

Progress since starting with the new scale: -7 pounds, -1.6% body fat, -0.9 BMI

*Note about this weight loss chart. When I started this blog I weighed 266 pounds and I was only tracking my pounds lost each week. On November 28, 2007 I started using a new scale that tracks body fat and more (the numbers you see above). I report the figures from that scale in these weekly posts and I still track my total pounds lost in the Weight Loss Goals section in the sidebar on my site.

One week late, but I’m posting for the sake of consistency. I started this week well, but finished poorly. I’ll take the 0.2 pound loss, but unfortunately I’m afraid it won’t last long…

Current weight: 245.8 pounds

Weight lost since starting the blog: 20.2 pounds

Progress since starting with the new scale: -8.2 pounds, -0.7% body fat, -1.1 BMI

*Note about this weight loss chart. When I started this blog I weighed 266 pounds and I was only tracking my pounds lost each week. On November 28, 2007 I started using a new scale that tracks body fat and more (the numbers you see above). I report the figures from that scale in these weekly posts and I still track my total pounds lost in the Weight Loss Goals section in the sidebar on my site.