The Damage…

…has been done.

It’s the first day of May, and that means it’s time for a weigh-in. Wanna see what two weeks of uninhibited eating and no exercise did to me? Here, take a look at my scale:

That right there is a fifteen pound gain. But, believe it or not, I’m pretty sure there’s good news too.

EGGIES! Plus: Weight Loss Chart Update!

Man, I love hard-boiled eggs. I typically hard-boil a dozen eggs a week, and eat them as part of my lunches and after workouts. Usually, I eat only the whites, and toss the yolks into the trash, along with the shells, but every once in a while, I’ll eat one whole egg in addition to 2 or 3 more whites. Egg whites are an excellent source of protein, are fat-free, and low in calories.

So I was very excited to get my hands on an infomercial product that promised to make hard-boiled eggs a snap to make. The product is called Eggies, and here’s the commercial, in case you haven’t seen it (I’ve seen it roughly 2,500 times):

I can’t divulge where I got the Eggies, but I’m happy that I didn’t pay for them (and, no, I didn’t shoplift them). I don’t think that hard-boiling eggs is a particularly difficult proposition, and I’ve never been nearly as flustered as the women at the beginning of the commercial, but I’m all for kitchen shortcuts. And, well, I love informercial products. I’m in!

First Weigh-In of 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

I hope your holidays were fantastic, like mine were. I went to Michigan for Christmas, and then to Chicago for a couple days for New Years. Now I’m back in Los Angeles, where I’m fighting a nasty cold and working my way through a box of tissues like nobody’s business. I have a (hopefully) fun post with lots of (hopefully) fun pictures planned of some highlights from my Christmas vacation, but I’m just too tired to start working on it now. But, I didn’t want to leave you hanging, since it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything – 17 days, as it was pointed out to me via text message from a friend and reader.  So… here’s what happened when I stepped on the scale this morning! It’s my first weigh in of 2013!

I made it through the holidays without gaining weight!

Nerd Alert!

NEWS FLASH! I’m a nerd. A great, big, Urkel-sized nerd. Well, thanks to my weight loss, I’m not as big a nerd as I used to be, but I’m still a nerd, and I’m proud of it. I don’t consider ‘nerd’ to be a derogatory term – I just think it means that I know what I like and am not afraid to express it, embrace it, learn every little thing I can about it, and share it with others.

Long-time readers know one of the things I nerd out about: charts, graphs and statistics. This weight loss journey I’ve been on has been well documented by all of these things: I have a weight loss chart that I update once a month. I have a running chart (more on this later). I track StairMaster workouts with a chart that I call my Skyscraper Collection (more on this later, too!). Even though I haven’t blogged about it lately, I keep statistics on my workouts in the form of Monthly Progress Reports. Long story short (or is it too late for that?), if I can monitor what I’m doing and how I’m doing it in a fun, interesting way, than I’m all for it.

I find all these charts incredibly beneficial. They provide concrete evidence of my improvement in areas like running and stair climbing, both of which are still rather new to me. They allow easy ways for me to look back at where I’ve been, and help me project where I can go in the future. They assist in the setting of both short-term and long-term goals, whether it’s training for a big race or event, or helping me plan my week so I get in enough workouts. They give me a reason to pause, smile and congratulate myself on a great week or a great workout, and offer the opportunity to immortalize that feeling of pride and accomplishment by creating a permanent record of it. They fuel me. They push me.

There’s a new chart in my life, and I’ve kept it a secret from you for months. I keep it on the wall in my office, and it occurred to me the other day that there’s no reason for it to be a secret anymore. Here’s the story behind this new chart, which I’m going to unveil today.

Exercise Victories and Weight Loss Chart Update

My exercise routine has evolved (or perhaps devolved) significantly over the course of 2012. For the first half of the year, I was easily meeting my goal of working out 6 times a week (with 5 times a week being acceptable). But that was an easy goal for me to reach, as I was unemployed at the time, with a lot of free time.

But then in June, I started my new job, and exercising became more difficult, as I went from jobless to 50-55 hours a week in an office. I never stopped exercising altogether, but I did cut back significantly, to 3 days a week. Earlier this fall, I felt myself getting a little lazier with my workouts, which was one of the reasons I signed up for the 10K I ran last month. My plan worked: prepping for the 10K was the perfect way to get focused and excited about working out again.

After the race was over, though, the laziness returned. And I had no plan in motion to combat that laziness. Until I stepped on a plane and flew to Colorado for Thanksgiving. Sometimes there’s nothing like a getaway to reboot your system!

Athlete?

There’s a big question I’ve been pondering lately, but before I get to it, I have a little housekeeping to do.

1) Weight Loss Chart. It’s September! It’s the end of summer… and back-to-school time… the start of the new television season… and time to update my chart with the results of my most recent weigh-in!

I stepped on the scale Saturday morning, and I’ll let my chart show you the number I saw:

July 2012 Progress Report

Let’s start this post off with a photograph:

A photo of a calendar can only mean one thing: time for a MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT!

Weight Loss Chart Update – August

Welcome to another month! Now that it’s August, it’s time for my monthly Weight Loss Chart Update!  The last time I weighed myself, I stayed even – which was just fine and dandy by me, as it was the day after a big party where I ate a ton. That weigh-in didn’t involve updating my chart, as it wasn’t the first of the month. Now that it is the first of the month… where’s my chart-updating pen?!?

Ok, found it. Here’s what happened when I stepped on the scale:

June 2012 Progress Report

Yesterday, I updated my weight loss chart.

Now it’s time to my monthly exercise progress report!

Let’s take a look-see at the ol’ calendar, shall we?

Weight Loss Chart Update – July

HOLY SHITBALLS – It’s the second half of 2012! This year is flying by.

It’s time to update my weight loss chart! Perhaps you remember – when I unveiled Version 3.0 of my weight loss chart a few weeks (read about it here), I decided I would only update it at the beginning of each month. Meanwhile, I’ve been weighing myself every other Tuesday, and what I didn’t consider was what I’d do when the first of the month fell on a day other than every other Tuesday, as it’s prone to do 13 out of 14 times.

So, I’m making another change. Instead of weighing myself every other Tuesday, I’m going to weigh myself the 1st and 15th of every month, no matter what day of the week they fall on. It’s really only a slight adjustment – I’ll be weighing myself every 15 days (with the occasional 16 or 13 day stretch, depending on the month) instead of every 14 days.

Starting right now.

So, on July 1st (yesterday), I climbed on the scale. I was feeling good about the choices I made since my last weigh-in, so I even had my camera ready. I’m glad I did.

Two Hundred Thirty Seven Pounds!  That’s DOWN ONE POUND!