Week 10 Progress Report: Easter Victory

Start Weight:		269.4
Original Target*:		284.6
Adjusted Target:		267.6
Actual Weight:		267.6
Loss/Gain:		– 1.8
Total Loss:		– 35.0
% of Goal:		25.3%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:		– 3.5
	*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia! Christ is truly risen!

Easter Sunday was great, but not the way I normally want to do things. A big cup of coffee and a Reese’s snack-size cup carried me through the morning to mid-afternoon, when we had an Easter early dinner that couldn’t be beat. Ham, potatoes, candied acorn squash (plenty of butter and brown sugar), marshmallow salad, rolls, and a brownie for dessert. Plus a shot of Catch Fire cinnamon whiskey (“That’ll wake ye up in th’ mornin’ lads!”). It was my one meal yesterday, and I blew my budget on it. And then some.

And I still dropped a pound. In fact, despite seemingly hitting a plateau earlier this week, I had lost the 1.8 pounds I had originally set as my weekly goal. My best guess is that I burned more calories preparing dinner and helping Mom than I thought I had.

That was my Easter victory.

Now, there are implications here. Three of the last four weeks, I’ve lost 1.8 pounds. The average of those four weeks is 2.1 pounds/week. I would need to drop 3.4 pounds in the next 8 days to complete the April Challenge (10 lbs. in April), 5.6 pounds to make the stretch goal of 262 by May 1. The April Challenge is looking less likely; the stretch goal may be beyond reach. However, I can expect to hit 262 by 5/15, 255 by 6/10, and 249 by 7/8.

Thirty-five pounds in 10 weeks. I’m still quite satisfied with my progress so far, and will be unless and until the red “actual” line goes to the right of the blue “planned” line.

Again, it comes down to trusting the process. No matter how you get your calories, if you burn off more than you take in, you will lose weight. Here and there, your body may pause to catch up and adjust; if you persist in burning off more than you take in, though, sooner or later you’ll start losing again. So eat less and do more moving around.