Project LOLA: Day 150

Update On The Diminishing Weight

If you ask me, the quickest way to lose weight is to babysit a 4 year old and a 2 year old over a weekend. They'll run you ragged...

Here we are at Day 150 of Project LOLA. A nice round number for a not-quite-so-round guy.

I pulled on my "weekend" pants (the ones that got a dose of bleach by mistake, and only get worn around the house. Tie-dye's just not hip anymore...) and had a nice surprise. Without a belt to hold them up, they slid right off my ass. I can tuck both clenched fists inside the waistband and still have wiggle room.

Walking is getting easier, too. I don't get nearly as winded as I used to, probably 'cause whatever weight I've lost over the past 5 months was the equivalent of the straw that broke the camel's back.

See, I've been overweight since 6th grade or thereabouts, but due to a shitload of exercise as an active youth and a good solid framework, I'd been able to carry it, for the most part. Oh, I was never happy about having to expend energy on exercise, but I could do a solid days labor or hike over a mountain carrying 80 lbs on my back.

The slippery slope to couch potatohood got steeper my last year of college, when I finally had a semi-working car and was no longer hiking 3-4 miles to, fro and all over campus on a daily basis. A desk job found the August after graduation sealed the deal. The exercise stopped, and the waistline ballooned.

This past year was when the writing on the wall climbed down, walked over and started smacking me on the face. I wasn't going anywhere, I wasn't getting around very well at all, and the health issues were beginning to be a PITA to deal with.

I'm still not in any kind of decent shape, far from it. This is probably the scariest time in the whole process for me, 'cause I catch myself feeling good from time to time. You know how shitty your life is when you can't remember the last time you walked outside on a sunny day and thought "Damn, I feel pretty good!"??

See, when you feel good is when you lose the will to keep doing what you were doing. Ask any doctor, and they'll tell you that's when sick people stop taking their meds, 'cause they feel better, even though they're still really ill.

There's no light at the end of the tunnel yet. Not for another year at a minimum, I'm guessing. So, just take up the belt a notch and drive on. There's still such a long way to go...