the August Weight-Off

my calendar is saying it’s August, but my waistline has me convinced it’s more like mid-February. It’s still light out at 9pm, and i’m checking in at my winter weight. something’s not right.

i’ve been eating like a pig lately, an absolute pig. what i want, when i want, it doesnt matter. Egg Mcmuffin in the morning? sure. Cheesesteak and fries for lunch 3 days a week? no problem. Eating until I’m beyond full at dinner? why not. Half a box of Cheezits at 10:30pm? You bet. That about sums up my eating habits for the past, oh, 6 months or so. Couple that with not working out at all and voila, 192 pounds.

my weight fluctates normally between 183-188 pounds. in the past 5 years i’ve gone as low as 178 and as high as 198. Right now i stand at 192, which is about what i expect at the end of winter, not in the middle of summer. So on monday morning i began my august “weight off”. 31 days, a few rules, and the goal of losing 7 pounds. to get down to 185. i should be able to do it.

there’s no 10 commandments to follow, but here’s a few guidelines i’ll be living by:

1. 1 or 2 glasses of soda or iced tea per week. coffee as needed. everything else water. the more water the better. i do this most of the time anyway, but i will be careful about those empty calories.

2. always eat breakfast, never at McDonalds. gotta keep the metabolism moving. Light Yogurt will be the meal of choice.

3. Salads for lunch. i need those veggies. i also need to avoid the fried foods. weekends i can stray, but its gotta be healthy and medium portions.

4. Moderation at dinner. However much i would normally eat, I’ll cut that down by about 25%.

5. Healthy snacking. this is the kicker. i eat lotsof salty, cheesy carbs very late at night. it’s literally my fourth meal. it will be hard to give up, but a must if i want to be successful.

6. Increased activity. i’d like to run 2 or 3 times a week, though i dont know if it will happen. maybe play tennis a little. softball ends this week, so i’ll need to do something.

7. take my vitamins. gotta stay consistent with this multivitamin i just picked up. might not help alot, but won’t hurt.

i guess that’s most everything. i will keep you updated on my progress. who knows, maybe i can keep this going beyond august. but for the time being, i’ll stick to 31 days.