No More Complacency

Okay.


Looking over the other day's insane graph, three things jumped out at me:

1. When I pay NO attention whatsoever to my diet, and eat whatever the hell I want, I generally gain 1/2 to 1 pound per month.

2. When I vaguely pay attention to my weight, and generally try not to pig out, but allow myself a fair number of indulgences (regular pizza, Chinese, etc), I always gain 1/4 to 1/2 pound per month.

3. When I pay close attention to my weight, and choose my food wisely and with purpose, I always lose 1-2 pounds per WEEK.

That is not a typo. When I actually try, I lose up to two pounds a WEEK. And that's with diet alone. When I throw exercise in there, my numbers are even better.

In other words, complacency makes me fat. Luckily, that graph gave me a kick in my complacency. I simply cannot eat whatever I want anymore. I have to reverse the trend. If I do not, if I just amble through life vaguely paying attention, eating whatever I feel like, and not getting exercise, I will continue to gain 1/4 pound a month. That's 3 pounds a year. In 10 years, that's THIRTY POUNDS.

You may be thinking: Oh, come on, surely you'll notice and stop the trend before it goes that far. Well, I'd like to think so too, but the numbers speak for themselves. Go look at the graph. Yeah, in June of 2008 I started paying attention, and dropped 20 pounds over the next five months, but then I got complacent again and look what happened: The line started back up at a rate of over 1/4 pounds per month. The linear trend line from high school graduation to now is a perfect fit.

If I keep on my present course, then in 10 more years I will be pushing 250.

It's so easy to become complacent. Three pounds a year is nothing. "Oh, I'm almost the same as last year," I say to myself contently, every year, every year. After a decade, that becomes a pretty wide gulf.


I don't want to get back to my high school weight. I was a scrawny little twerp with absolutely no muscle. But I would love to get back to my pre-law school weight of <190, and even my post-Body for Life weight of <180. It's not just about looking better; it's about feeling better. I never had more energy than when I was working out six days a week and eating healthy. (And yes, I looked pretty damn good too!)

It took several false starts before I finally completed a Body for Life 12-week challenge. What caused me to succeed that last time? I finally realized that I had to make a big change. Well, it's time for another big change, and I think I'm finally realizing that.


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FOOD LOG FOR DEC. 21, 2011

1. Spinach florentine bagel with butter (400 + 200 = 600, 17g protein)
2. Large turkey Italian wedding soup from Zoup, with sourdough roll (240 + 170 = 410, 10g protein)
3. Random food at Lobby party: 3 veggie dumplings, 5 small meatballs, 2 meat pie things (600? 20g?)
4. 2 servings Syntha-6 chocolate protein powder, with 10 oz. of 1% milk (400 + 120 = 520, 54g);  Radishes and hummus (100, 5g)
5. 1 serving Syntha-6 chocolate protein powder with water (200, 22g)
6. Pack of sliced deli chicken breast (275, 50g))

TOTAL: ~2700 calories, 178g protein
EXERCISE: Upper body work out (chest, back, shoulders, triceps, biceps; recumbent bike)



FOOD LOG FOR DEC. 22, 2011

1. 1 serving Syntha-6 chocolate protein powder with water (200, 22g); 1/2 cup of Kashi GoLean Crunch with 1% milk (150, 8g)
2. "Blackened chicken gyro" from Devon and Blakely (700? 50g?)
3. Naked Protein Smoothie (450, 32g)
4. Turkey sausage and 1/2 cup of Jasmati rice with tbsp butter (750, 34g); Radishes and hummus (50, 2g)

TOTAL: 2250 calories, 158g protein