2012 Resolution Update

Well, it's now one week since I put myself on the line and made a New Year's resolution that, should I fail to achieve it, will require me to make a $120 contribution to causes that I just can't stomach.  I had 52 weeks to reach my goal.  Today marks the end of the first week which means I only have 51 more weeks to do it.

What was my resolution, you ask?  Well, assuming you haven't clicked the above link yet, I'll summarize: I have to get my weight down to 170 lbs by the end of 2012.

On January 1, 2012, I put up a "Fitness Check-In" posting, with an accompanying picture.

I weighed in at 206 lbs.

I promised to try to maintain a weekly update of my progress, and that's what I'm doing right now.

I stepped on the scale just a bit ago and my current weight is (drum roll!): 197.8 lbs!

In just one week, I've managed to drop a bit more than 8 lbs.  Now, I should qualify that a bit by saying that when I first weighed in, I had long pants on (with keys and wallet in the pockets) and was wearing shoes.  Today, I stepped on the scale with just shorts and a T-shirt (no shoes), and without the keys and wallet in my pockets.  So you can probably add another pound or two to the above current weight to get a more accurate comparison to day one.  But even still, I've had a good first week.  However, I know it's going to be a long slog because it hasn't been an easy week.  I've basically cut out all sweets, alcohol, and high fat content foods from my diet.  I've also reduced all my meal portions by at least a half, I limit my in-between meal snacks to just a couple per day and keep the portions small (just enough to assuage the hungry feeling when it starts to get distracting), and I don't have late night snacks just before I go to bed.  I've also managed to walk back and forth to work (a good, brisk 25-30 minute walk each way) for 4 of the 5 weekdays of last week, and the other day I rode my bike back and forth to work.  And I managed to squeeze in a couple of visits to the gym for some additional light workouts.    It's been hard and I hope I can sustain the commitment, though I know all future weeks won't be so austere (and I don't plan for them to be so).

Anyway, what about visual accountability?  Well, I do have a new head-shot picture from about an hour ago.  I'm not sure much is noticeable, but I do think there's a little hint of some weight loss around the edges.  You can be the judge.  Here's the latest picture (notice my tribute to the Saints!):