The Power of Will

Over the past few weeks I've been frustrated with my ongoing attempts to bring my weight down (again). After a few weeks of no discernable progress, I'm about ready to throw in the towel on this and see what minimal changes I can make and still maintain where I am.

Basically, how can I eat what I want and at least not gain any weight....

Now, I did say "about ready" and not "I'm going to", so don't give up on me yet.

At the root of all this is my desire to eat what I want. And I want food that isn't exactly good for me - cheeseburgers and chili fries for example. But why is that?

For me, I'm finding (again) that this sort of eating seems to give me some sort of comfort/solace/respite. It's harder to deal with "eating right" the more stress or anxiety or fatigue that I have at any given moment.

I know I'm not alone in this behavior and this isn't some deep insight special to me, but I find that I have to remind myself of this time and again. For me, staying on track with eating right (or at least eating better) is an exercise of will power. A series of articles over at one of my new favorite site, Art of Manliness, talks about will power - what it is, how we use it up, and how to conserve/improve it. Check out the articles here:

• Part I - The Force of Greatness
• Part II - How Your Willpower is Depleted
• Part III - How to Strengten Your Willpower and 20 Ways to Conserve It

Thinking about it as something like this (finite and changeable) can help me to plan for the up times and the down times. Knowing what and when the stress or the fatigue are, I can work on preparing for them. And, like building muscle or strength, I can take some deliberate steps to get stronger. Especially around the things that test me the most (think chili fries again...)

More to come on this topic, I'm sure.

As for the weight thing, I finally got the scales to move this week. And, yes, in the direction that I want them to...

241.0

At least it's something. Not much when I look at 1 pound in almost a month. But progress nonetheless.

Here is this week's LiveStrong data: Week 6

That also adds to the tally for Love146 and TWLOHA. $12 each so far. I'm still looking for some other folks to make a pledge for one or both of these fine organizations. Every little bit helps...

Photo credit to The U.S. National Archives

Still Questing

Some how, trying to lose weight this time seems harder. I'm not sure why....

I'm shooting for 1.5lbs per week where I was doing 2lbs per week last time. That means that my daily budget for calories is higher now than it was when I hit the 240's last time (by nearly 500 calories a day - that's basically an extra meal!).

The thing is, I'm not hitting the 1.5lbs a week results even though I'm hitting the calorie budget reliably. So, I'm going to drop the budget some more. Probably by 250 / day (which should equate to 1/4lb a week). I'll experiment with that for a few weeks to see what the results look like....

Anyway, it should be obvious that this wasn't a great week for the numbers. And that is discouraging. Well, for me it is. The past few Friday's I've looked at the progress and told myself that this week will be the time to get increased physical activity. And so far, I've apparently been wrong about that.

Oh well, enough complaining about it. Here's this week's number from the scale:

242.0

Yup. No change from last week. Ugh.

But, I'm still resolved to continue my Quest for 200. It just might take a little longer and be more work. But the alternative is less attractive to me than putting in the work to get where I need to be.

To borrow from a quote I heard recently (can't recall the source at the moment):

A year from now you will wish you had started now.

How very true. Hey Future Me - I'm looking out for you, buddy....

EDIT: Here is the link to this week's LiveStrong data.

Photo credit to sheeron

The Quest for 200

Alrighty then, let's get this thing started.

In the spirit of 80-60-40 and 210 in 2010, I'm kicking of "The Quest for 200" this year. What is that, you ask? (Let's pretend you asked that...)

It's my goal to get things back under control with respect to my weight and health. 2011 wasn't the best year for either of these areas as you can see from how it started to how it ended....

I want to be done with excuses and stop leaving so much to chance and circumstance. I was so successful the first time (in losing 105lbs) because I made S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-boxed) and then made the conscious choice each day to work towards them.

Sounds easy and hard at the same time. Well, it is.... But I made the decision that I like the future me as much as or even a little more than the current me. So I'm going to do what I can to make sure future me is getting the best opportunities.

Huh?

Think about it this way, if you knew that your actions/choices had a direct effect on someone else's life, how would you decide on what to do? Would it be any different than if you thought that the things you choose today wouldn't affect anyone?

Seriously, if the things you chose to eat meant that your wife/child/parent/sibling/friend could have medical problems or a lesser quality of life, would you make different choices? I definitely would consider my choices carefully.

And if I would look at it differently for other folks, why not for "future me"... Isn't the guy I'm going to be in 12 months (aka, future me) an important person in my life? Shouldn't I consider what my choices would do to that poor guy?

Ok, maybe this doesn't resonate with you, but it does with me. And I've been seriously neglecting "future me" in several areas. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty ticked off at "a year ago me" for what's he has done to me... :-)

So, here we go. I'm on a quest to to get below 200 lbs by the end of this year (2012) so the "me" in January 2013 will have better things in front of him (i.e., me).

I've met the criteria for S.M.A.R.T. goals with the Quest for 200. But my experience has shown that it isn't enough for me in this arena. I need to add accountability to the mix to be successful with this (no clue if I should make a new acronym or not...) So I'm going to be putting weekly posts up here with my progress so far. That means a weekly weigh-in with the numbers going on the blog.

I haven't decided on whether or not to tie this in with fund raising for either Love146.org or TWLOHA (two incredible organizations that work on causes near and dear to my heart), but I'm open to any suggestions from y'all (aka, my 3 loyal readers).

Here we go with this week's weigh-in:

246.6

That's 31 lbs above where I ended 2010. Not something I like or am proud of but it is reality at the moment.

I would love to hear about your goals this year and/or how you deal with reaching goals that take a while. What are you trying to achieve this year?

Photo credit to brianjmatis.

Second Chances...

Another year. One whole year gone by....

Amazing what kinds of things can happen, or not happen, in a year.

The last time I posted here, I had grand designs on 2011 and all that I would achieve. I was heady with the successes of my weight loss and charity fund raising. I was tearing it up. And I was gonna keep going...

Let's just say that 2011 was NOT a year of achieving my fitness and health goals. Not only did I not do the Cooper River Bridge Run, but I pretty much dropped out of running all together for the majority of the year. I allowed an aggravation (stress fracture of my foot) to become an excuse that lasted long after I had healed.

As for the USMC PFT, I started the pull-up workout by purchasing a bar that works in a doorway. I got it assembled and hung it up. Beyond that, not much there. No real progress on the sit-ups or push-ups either.

And then, to top it all off, I bailed out of the LiveStrong approach to losing weight that had been so successful for me before. In about March, I read "The 4 Hour Body" and liked the look of what it had in there about weight loss and muscle gain. I did pretty well for about 6 to 8 weeks with it and then found ways to "cheat" the program. Of course, I was only cheating myself....

By Thanksgiving 2011, I had gone from a low of 216 lbs (around Christmas 2010) to right at 240 lbs. Not the right direction....

So what does it mean now? It means I lost focus and need to get it back. My goal is still to get below 200 lbs. I'm targeting the end of 2012 for that. I should be able to average less than a pound a week to make that. I'm setting up my LiveStong account to count calories as if I was going to do 1.5 lbs per week to see how that works for a couple of months.

I'm disappointed in myself and I know that these set backs are not permanent. They don't define who I am or what I can do. I see my successes in the past and know what I am capable of.

So, as I start of 2012, I'm taking a second chance. We all get them. We don't all give them. And many of us won't take them.....

How was your 2011? Do you need to take a second chance?

Logo/image credit to Designhuone.net