The Toughest Pound

Time for the monthly weigh in update! As noted in a previous post, I anticipated that losing my pound in February would be the toughest of the year. The hurdles I faced included:

• a short month (28 days)
• Valentine’s Day—extra calories from dinner out with my wife
• my birthday—extra calories from multiple dinners (natch) to celebrate
• weather incompatible with outdoor exercise, and
• a continued lack of exercise equipment at home.

On top of all of this, I let my lunch discipline slip a number of times and failed to pack one at home. Rather than having a salad or something reasonable, I went to Wendys. My excuse is that I had a coupon. At one point, about halfway through the month, I had gained back all but one of the 5.5-6 pounds I lost in January. I was disheartened, but I knew the blame was mine.

Determined to still meet my goal, I started packing my lunch, and a small one at that: a sandwich and a container of yogurt. Breakfast was a bowl of cereal with 1% milk. I kept dinners at home small. I made sure to shovel snow even when I didn’t really have to. I refrained from buying beer or opening a bottle of wine at home. I walked (2.5 miles) to and from the train when I could, and spent two hours walking last Saturday. Small sacrifices that all contributed towards losing that one pound.

With six days to go, I still needed to lose five pounds. For the next four days, I  lost about 0.8 a pound a day. With one day to go, I weighed exactly the same as I did on February 1. That last day, I  did not resist a chocolate muffin or a small bag of potato chips, but otherwise all I had to eat was a container of yogurt and two peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

When I weighed in this morning for the official tally, I had dropped 1.2 pounds for the month of February. Is there a word for “elated depression?” It could have been so much more if I had shown just a little more effort.

March should bring warmer weather, which should allow for more outdoor exercise. I’ve also bought a weight bench, which looks lovely in its box in my basement. I have no weights to go with it, save for two dumbbells. Three additional days are available this month compared to February, which should work in my favor.

I hope I never cut it as close to my pound-a-month goal as I did this month, but I know it will take constant, vigilant attention to keep on the right path. I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries for lunch today.