Chart Update, Produce Update

Two more topics to catch everyone up on today: my weight loss chart, and what’s in my fruit basket.

1) Weight Loss Chart. The chart has been evolving.  I recently had to add a seventh (!) page to it, which meant repositioning the chart somehow, because I had run out of room on the wall.  It used to look like this:

But there was no room for a seventh page, so I tried moving the chart onto two lines:

But I didn’t like it for two reasons:  It’s harder to photograph this way, and breaking up the line just doesn’t sit right with me aesthetically.  The last time I blogged about my chart, I teased that I had a new idea for displaying the chart.  Wanna see it?

Here it is!

I couldn’t make the end of the chart turn the corner, because there’s a doorway there, but I could, however, reposition it so the beginning of the chart turned the other corner.  The major downside is that it’s no longer at eye-level (which, admittedly, is pretty high for me, since I’m 6’4″).  The end of the chart is now at about stomach level.  I had to lower it significantly, so the beginning of my chart started underneath my upper shelf, but I think that’s a small inconvenience.

I like this set-up a lot more than the 2-line approach, and there’s room for pages 8 & 9 before I run out of space again!

As for the numbers on the chart… well, I stayed the same when I weighed myself yesterday.  No loss, no gain: 238 pounds (which is 164 pounds lost).  Here’s the chart update:

I think it’s safe to say I’m back on a little plateau, and you know what?  I’m fine with it.  I plateaued at 241 pounds for pretty much the entire month of February, and I got pretty annoyed towards the end of it, but eventually the weight started coming off again, and I know that’ll be case this time around, too.  I mentioned yesterday that last week I missed a few workouts (which I’m sure didn’t help), but I’ve worked out every day this week so far, and I’m continuing to eat well, so I’m not going to let the numbers on that scale phase me.

The only thing that annoys me slightly is that I’m not plateauing at my lowest weight.  A few weeks ago, I was down to 237 pounds, and then I gained a pound (and flipped out), which I since haven’t been able to lose.  Because I dropped that pound and then gained it back, I’m at the same weight I was at on my March 11 weigh-in, which means, basically, my plateau is already a month long.

I bet it doesn’t last much longer.  Or maybe it will.  There ain’t nothin’ I can do about it except to keep up the healthy eating and exercise!

2) Produce Update. I went to Whole Foods last night, and stocked up on fresh fruits and vegetables.  Take a look:

Clockwise from top left, there’s strawberries, bananas, rainbow carrots, a mini-watermelon, celery, a cantaloupe, a cucumber, a sweet onion, red grapes, fuji apples, mushrooms, roma tomatoes, mini sweet bell peppers, one of the biggest green peppers I’ve ever seen, red bartlett pears, and two yellow squash.

There’s one item, in the center of the picture (in front of the mini-watermelon), that I left off that list, and that’s because I’m gonna talk about it now, and show a close-up picture.  I bought 2 abate fetel pears, which I’ve never heard of before:

According to this blog post, they’re pronounced “ah-BAH-tay fuh-TEL” and were bred by monks hundreds of years ago in Italy.  My 2 abate fetels, however, came to me via Argentina.  Neither of them are ripe yet, but once I dig in, I’ll be sure to share the details!

One more quick food thing before I sign off for today… remember that tempting 3.5 pound box of chocolate-covered raisins that was left in the kitchen at my office for all to enjoy?  There was another office temptation this week:

Yep, Oreos.  I love Oreos, and there was a bag, just sitting there, with no explanation.  And ya know what?  It wasn’t even tempting at all.  For two reasons:

1) There’s nothing special about Oreos.  Sometimes I get tempted at work because people send gift baskets of rare or unique items, or baked goods from fancy-pants bakeries that I never go to, and the temptation lies in how special the opportunity is: “I never had a cupcake/muffin/whatever like this before, so I should definitely eat one.  Or four!”  But Oreos are not special.  They’re everywhere.  I have a hunch they’re like cockroaches, and will still be around (and probably still be edible) once humankind goes extinct.

2) If I’m gonna eat an Oreo, I’m not wasting my time on a regular Oreo.  Oreos are good, but Double-Stuf Oreos are better. I used to polish off entire bags of Double-Stuf Oreos in one evening, and one of my favorite things to do was separate the filling from the cookies, and make Octo-Stuf Oreos, kinda like this one (I found the photo here):

Oh God, it’s so unhealthy but so good.  But that picture isn’t even tempting.  I have no desire for Oreos of any kind right now, and I love it!

Keep it up, David!