Weight Loss VII: Week 28: Dinged to 50!

[merlinofchaos]

This is one of my favorite checkins ever.

So last week I posted on Wednesday that I was sick and gave a super short update.

Naturally, I followed that up on Thursday by:

• Making up for the missed Wednesday run by completing my first 5K
• Getting a weigh in that marked 50 pounds of weight loss!
• Running another 5K on Saturday
• Starting speed training on Monday, which includes 30 minutes of running at different speeds in faster/slower intervals. These don't add up to quite 5K but are very close.

I assumed that I probably was a bit dehydrated from the cold, but NO. Until today, I remained down in the 258-259 range (258.6 is the exact 50 pound mark, so I've fluctuated right around it within a pound the whole week). Today I weighted in at 260.1 but I felt hoopty and had some drinks last night, so I think I'm currently a bit hydrated and in the process of flushing a bunch of liquid out. So probably still around 259 realistically.

Mentally speaking, the 250s are really important. 250 is the midpoint in the whole 200s, and 260 is a weight I remember from 1997 to 1998. It's the weight I was when I went on my first real diet plan. So being below that by a good margin matters to me. There's also just something about the shape of the number. It LOOKS a lot lighter than the 260s. I know, it's weird, but it's true.

I don't have any real milestones WITHIN the 250s. Other than 250 itself, the next real milestone is 245, which is how much I weighed when I fell off Weight Watchers and 244, which is the precise halfway point against my goal to get down to 180.

Speaking of that goal, I've spent a little time thinking about that goal. As I've mentioned, that goal is based on two things: 1) I've been at that weight, though I was 19 and I was literally starving at the time as I had no money and thus no food. 2) It's the very top of the BMI chart.

But the BMI chart is known to be problematic for people with significant muscle mass. I've read some sources that say that doesn't matter, that the statistics say being outside the normal weight range on BMI is associated with higher risks, regardless of whether that weight is muscle or fat. Other sources say that the real things that are risk factors are waist-to-height ratio and waist-to-hip ratio. According to those, for a male, you want the waist-to-height ratio to be about .44-.49, so with my 72" height I want my waist to be in the 32-36 inch range. For waist-to-hip ratio, you just want it to be a bit under 1.0. Which would probably put me in the lower part of that same range.

So all things considered, the weight goal is amorphous, but I have to pick a number for all my tools. I'm going to stick with 180. But that isn't necessarily my real goal. My real goal is, I think, going to be to get my waist size to 32-34 inches. When I was 180, I was actually able to wear a 30, though I recall having to squeeze into it pretty hard. The thing about that is, I've got 20+ years of stretched skin on my belly. Some of that will just never go away, because, yay, biology. I may not physically be able to get to a 32 inch waist. But I think that's what I want to set the goal for. If it turns out I can't make it, I can be satisfied with a 34 inch waist.

For the record, when I measure my waist right now it's either 42.5" or 40.75 inches depending on how loose I let the tape go. I've been cinching it fairly tight because if I don't I seem to have trouble getting a consistent measurement, but I'm pretty sure that cinching isn't a valid reading. I also think as my waist shrinks that fudge factor will start to disappear so I'm not going to worry about it, and I fit comfortably into 40" jeans. Thus I'm going with the 40.75" measurement, knowing it's a bit compressed. So that's right around 11" to go. Or 12". And

That's pretty close to what I've already lost. When I started measuring I was at 53".

And I want to finish with this: Nothing succeeds like success.

Somehow, seeing the scale dip down to 259 kicked my motivation a bit. Other than indulging in some alcohol last night, I've been especially good and motivated, because I made this milestone and I don't want to lose it. I've been keeping my portions down a bit better, choosing particularly good foods calorically, and allowing myself to remain hungry a little longer before reaching for the snacks to stave it off. Motivation is weird, but I'm going to take it while I have it. I've lost fifty pounds in just a bit over six months. How long will it take me to lose the next 50? Can I lose 100 before May 29, when I reach the one year point? I don't know. It doesn't seem all that realistic, but why not shoot for it? Could I really be 208 by summer? Nobody would recognize me at that weight. Heck I might have to shave off the beard again, just for effect.