Day 51 With the Meanest Man

I was enjoying a casual lunch at Mark's in Dundee with our newly hired administrative assistant when I shared my desire to lose a little weight. As fate would have it, she herself had just gone from a size 12 to a size 4 a few months prior, and eagerly told me of her success with The Meanest Man in Dieting. I was intrigued, and for only $26/month, I signed up. Here's how it's going.

Day 1: Attended 90 minute meeting to learn the RULES. Weight 166.8 lbs. Embarrasment level = high. (I am a fat person.)

Day 2: Recorded calories in personal fitness journal. 2259. Dinner with marketing agency. Did you know wine is 25 calories per oz.?

Day 3: Calorie range begins. 1000-1225. I recorded 1209 by 3pm. Skipped dinner.

Day 4: 30 minute of exercise per RULES.

Day 5: How can anyone drink 8, 8oz glasses of water a day when coffee, tea and soda don't count toward the total? RULES.

Day 6: Went 300 calories over my limit. Must stay away from buffet. Didn't call and ask for help. RULES.

Day 7: Only ate 825 calories. Flan. Sick. Early to bed. Broke RULES by  not eating enough.

Day 8: Made up for day 7. My packed jeans now feel loose.

Days 9-11: Offsite at a conference. Chose healthy options and counted every bite.

Day 12: Went over calorie count. This time, guacamole was to blame. Drank enough water. Bought exercise shoes. Good intentions, right?

Days 13-19: Drank water, exercised 30 min. daily. Stayed under calorie count.

Day 20-21: Hospital food. Let's don't talk about it.

Day 22: 1506 Calories. Aren't chili and baked potatoes low calorie? I should have looked that up beforehand. RULES. 

Day 23: Restaurant in Boston. I didn't eat the frosting on the chocolate cake and still went over by 75 calories.

Days 24-25: In Boston. Worked out. Stuck to the counts. Drank the water.

Day 26: Weight 155.6 lbs. Have I really lost 10? Got a blue wrist band. Whoop.

Day 27-31: Finally figured out how to space out my calories so not to go to bed hungry.

Day 32: Dinner at Mexican restaurant with daughter. Over by 125 calories. The beer bottle said 55. It must've been the salsa, or chips.

Day 33: Weight 153.5 lbs., down another 2 lbs.

Day 34-39: On track.

Day 40: Mango slices for dinner.

Day 41-44: Almost perfect balance of fiber, dairy, protein, carbs and fat. I am amazing.

Day 45: Gave notice at work. Didn't eat enough calories. So what. RULES.

Day 46: Back on track.

Day 47: Weight 150.7 lbs. 16 lbs. since the start.

Day 48: Breakfast out. Veggie Egg White Omelette, Coffee no sugar, Dry Rye toast with jelly. Making better choices.

Day 49-50: Bumped workouts to 45-60 minutes. Walk, jog, run (slowly) and eliptical machine. Exercise shoes help.

Day 51: Back into single-digit jeans/slacks. Exercise becoming a 'habit'. Looking forward to Saturday's weigh in. Forty more days to go (hey, like Lent).

On day 51, I have 40 pages left in my fitness journal. With 12 lbs to go, that's a pound every 3+ days. What amazes me is the lack of tiredness I feel, the clarity of spirit, and if you didn't catch what happened on day 45, I started taking better care of myself in all aspects of life, including work. So check back on day 90. I'll post before and after photos and have a pretty good deal on some size 10/12 clothes. (Just cover shipping.)

On a Rainy Day I Pondered

We've been buried in a snow bank for months, and just this week my carpool buddy mentioned she'd found a newspaper, wrapped in plastic packaging, on her driveway when the snow melted this weekend.

It was dated, December 8.

The dogs don't seem to mind the cold as much as I do, and therefore today's rain doesn't seem to lift their spirits much either. They're always happy - as long as they get to eat, drink, sniff, chew and do their business.

Oh, to live in the moment!


I never do that. My mind is pre-occupied with thoughts of the flip house. Is the snow melting? Water in the basement? Driveway accessible? I added fire insurance last month just to be on the safe side and am so eager to get back to work. Last fall we completed the hardi-board siding, stained the cedar shingles, mulched the landscaping and shuttered it up until Spring. It's not yet Spring.

And hard to believe my own stupidity in thinking it possible to complete a project of this magnitude with my bare hands, little cash in spite of my husband's tremendous patience. The stainless steel refrigerator, stove and microwave hood, along with the washer, dryer and bathroom fixtures, have been parked in our garage nearly that long reminding me that a good deal isn't a deal if you have to store the items over 30 days. Try two years.

Oh how this rainy day has given me hope! Hope that the snow will melt, the soil will thaw, the plants will re-spout leaves and that soon, really soon, we'll be able to again spend our saturdays hammering, digging, reveling in the creation of a new space out of an old block house.