[BLOG] The big day—my first weigh in

primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
edited November -1 in Community
I did not want to step on a scale.

I will start with that; I especially did not want to step on a scale after plowing a huge easter dinner. I went to my aunt's house. My family is Polish. She married an Italian before I was born, and his family was there today, so it was a huge half Polish, half Italian extravaganza. You can imagine the gluttony.

I have avoided weighing myself because I didn't want to be disappointed and lose motivation. I haven't felt like I've lost any weight. My big fear was that I was going to have gone through 11 days of (admittedly decreasing) agony, and not see any tangible result. I wanted to go a little longer, like 30 or even 60 days, before weighing in.

I had no intention of weighing in when I went into my aunt's bathroom. Unfortunately, she had a really nice scale in there.

Resistance was futile. The scale called. Up I went, and the display flashed three times with all zeros and then said:

"Err"

Perhaps I was too fat for the scale. Completely dejected, I stepped down. This time the scale said "000" and beckoned invitingly. "**** it," I thought. I stepped back on.

It blinked three times and then said: "258.2"

258.2 is a lot for a guy my height, it's true. However, that is a full seven pounds lighter than I was 11 days ago. Seven pounds, 11 days.

I was ecstatic. I was expecting either to have not changed at all, or maybe to have lost a pound or two, not seven, not so quickly.

This tells me one thing:

It's working

I am not this person; this is not me. I am not a person who exercises. I am not a person who can lose weight, I am heavy, out of shape, unmotivated, depressed, and full of hopelessness.

At least, that's who I was 11 short days ago. Things changed.

My kids wanted to go to a park by my aunt and uncle's house. Last year or the year before—hell any other year—after a gigantic, drowsiness-inducing family holiday meal after which everyone is lolling around drinking coffee, wine, or beer, and watching TV I would have said "No guys, daddy's tired."

Today, I said "Sure, let's go!"

They flipped their shit; they were not expecting that.

I didn't know where the park was exactly, just a general direction. I took off down the street with my kids, laughing, spending time with them, and enjoying the day.

I should note at this point that my aunt and uncle live in a suburban sprawl nightmare of cookiecutter houses, strip malls, and "subdivisions". The subdivisions are cleverly and quaintly carved into cul-de-sacs and quirky courts. I began following the sidewalks, much like I do when I walk around my boring grid of a square and stodgy blue-collar neighborhood, taking for granted that they would lead me in the general direction of the school playground.

Yeah, a mile and a half later, I was hopeless lost in the hell of perfect lawns, swimming pools, upper middle class cars, and a basketball hoop in every driveway. Finally my cousin called me and asked where the hell we were since they were meeting us at the park. I told her the crossroads and she laughed in my ear. I made my way to a main road and finally found the school; I had made a gigantic circle and was basically about a quarter mile from my aunt and uncle's house. No love lost, I got an extra 1.5 mile walk in today.

More importantly, I played with my kids. Outside. At a park. Things I would not have felt like doing a couple of weeks ago. In the past, I would have sat down on a bench and watched as they played on the stuff; today I was up there with them, on the swings with them, goofing around with them, and then was perfectly fine to walk back to the house.

dad-and-kid.jpg

Tonight I stepped outside and there was the calico kitty. She won't come in willingly because of my stupid dog, but she's right there when I walk out. I quickly realized I had a problem—as I began to walk down the street, she followed.

I tried to lure her to me so I could pick her up and put her in the house. She was wise to my game. After 10 minutes of futility, I gave up and just started walking. This time I opted for a shorter distance, but much higher intensity. I started speedwalking tonight. She trotted along gamely at my side the entire way.

Tonight's speedwalk was almost as hard as the very first night I walked. My legs were burning, I was sweating and breathing heavily, but it was a much different feeling because this time I knew there was a purpose and a reward. I took a few slowdown periods, but overall was very impressed with the pace I set. Kitty followed me the entire way and is now contentedly sitting outside my door as I type this.

See you guys tomorrow night.

Comments

  • poofiepoofie Baltimore, MD Icrontian
    AWESOME! and just think, it probably would have been a couple of pounds more if you weighed in before eating.

    i gotta say, i'm pretty jealous. my first weigh in when i started trying to lose wasn't nearly that spectacular. it's so affirming to be able to put numbers to your effort.

    ps... sorry to be all up ons all your social networking. but i'm only a little sorry.
  • mas0nmas0n howdy Icrontian
    Keep it up, Brian! Not only is losing weight nice, but IMO the best part of working out in any regard is the increase in energy and a generally more positive attitude that comes along with it. Now that you're starting to see those things it should be easier to get passed the "oh man, I hurt everywhere, **** this" stage.
  • MochanMochan Philippines
    Great job! I told you this is easier than it looks. You just have to stick to the plan and keep up that walking, drink tons of water, and eat just a bit smarter. You do NOT have to give up all your pleasures, and it's okay to gorge yourself every now and then on good food.

    I've been gorging a bit lately, but I feel I'm still getting thinner. People have been complimenting me a lot lately that I've been losing weight, and I can feel it in my pants. I don't even do my 40-60minute walks everyday; I still tend to skip a day or two. I always go back to it (just did tonight) but the point is this can be done even without really breaking your back over it.

    It's a lot easier for me since I am in better shape and have less to lose, but for you to lose 7 in 11 is awesome and you can expect even better results as you get more fit, you'll be able to keep up the walks longer and eventually switch to running, which will lose you even more weight.

    When you're comfortable you may even want to do something even more incredible like taking up boxing. I'm a fan of taking boxing classes or judo classes or whatever over going to the gym. Boxing will get you in shape as much as going to the gym, AND will teach you some skills that can help in a pinch on the streets. It also builds confidence, and one more thing, girls get really turned on when they know you can handle yourself. Boxing and other martial arts give you that "dangerous aura" that chicks really dig. So give it a shot later when you've gotten into better shape.

    I am thinking of taking some jiujitsu classes soon enough.
  • Great Job,

    You will be amazed at how much that weight will want to fall off in the first few weeks, you can drop nearly a pound a day when your way over.

    This will level out at a point, probably in a couple of weeks, don't worry though, its just your body adjusting to the new lifestyle and at that point you will have some improved habits to pull you through.

    Recently I had started loosing some weight, then steeped on the scale the next week to loose only a half pound, got really discouraged and quit, I'm getting back on the horse today after what had to be the biggest eating weekend of my entire lifetime.

    Point being, never let the scale play ya like that, its important to keep track, but you also need to stick with it even as it becomes a little harder to melt the pounds. For now though, enjoy, your realy on to some big changes.

    Before we all start loosing the weight we should all take one of those awful before pictures with the really sad face. Think of it as a possible business opportunity, you loose that weight with a sad looking before picture and a great looking after, you document the journey, then you my friend are a real official weight loss expert.

    Icrontic tech, gaming and weight loss, now that differntiation.
  • WagsFTWWagsFTW Grand Rapids, MI Icrontian
    Brian, that is so awesome to get such great results so soon! Keep up the great work! It's definitely more motivating when you begin to see the results.

    Also, that is so cool that you are able to play with your kids more. That will be so important to them, and they will have so many great memories playing with their dad.

    Listening to your progress is so uplifting, exciting and motivational! :)
  • MochanMochan Philippines
    That's a good point there Cliff, don't let the scales play you too much. Personally, I don't see losing weight as my ideal. My ideal is more of "getting into shape" and "getting a sexy body" than losing weight. This is especially important later on when your weight loss starts tapering off and instead of losing pounds, your goal should change to adding on more muscle and defining your shape rather than getting rid of excess pounds.

    You're a ways off from there, though, and you're still at a point where you will be losing weight rapidly if you play your cards right. But like I always say, instead of checking your weight I prefer to check my pants -- and see how much looser they are compared to before.
  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    That's awesome man. Use that to fuel you. Diet is probably making a huge difference. Many people still struggle in diet at this point in a workout routine. Having that under control, plus exercise, typcially equals quick results.

    Walking/playing with your kids is an awesome motivator, happy for you guys!

    Now don't stop, keep stepping it up.
  • Way to go!
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    Walk further, faster and harder. DO IT.
Sign In or Register to comment.