Week 12 Progress Report: No Longer Morbid

First, apologies for missing Week 11; it was another hectic week. So let’s give the numbers for Week 12:

Starting Weight:	265.0
Original Target*:	281.0
Adjusted Target:	263.2
Actual Weight:	264.2
Loss/Gain:	– 0.8
Total Loss:	38.4
% of Goal:	27.7%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 3.2
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

It was a weird week. There were no days of egregious overeating; yet for a few days, I was going backward, gaining about half a pound a day. Contrast this with Monday, when I blew the calorie budget out of the water with a slice of a humongous deep-dish Dutch apple pie baked by a local chain called Emporium Pies and named “Lord of the Pies”, yet managed to lose a pound. (To account for this on Lose It!, I counted it as two slices of an ordinary Dutch apple pie — it really is that big!) As I’ve said before, we who count calories work with all sorts of uncertain numbers, so there’s nothing for it but to trust the process.

But even more pleasing than having lost the pound after the Epicurean delight of the pie was stepping on the scale this morning: 262.4! In two days, not only have I lost almost 2 pounds, but I had also achieved the first of my secondary goals — a BMI of 39.9, which takes me out of the “morbidly obese” category. I still have 66 pounds (plus or minus) to go before I’m merely overweight, but I’m about 38% of the way there. It also means I’ve lost just over 40 pounds in less than three months, which is a significant accomplishment.

I’ve also bought a couple new pairs of khakis. Khaki pants are my go-to for casual wear because Texas summers and blue jeans are not a good combination if you don’t do a lot of manual labor. Not being a construction worker or a cowboy, I don’t need the rugged durability. Besides, I have neither the shape nor the vanity required to show off my ass. Anyway, I had been wearing pants with 50" waists; the Haggar khakis I bought are a slightly snug 46", so I’ve lost about 4" off my circumference. I’m hoping when I’m done I can get down to 36"!

So far, one of the joys of this journey has been finding delicious light recipes to serve for dinner. The most recent discovery was Jo Cooks’ Garlic and Paprika Chicken: an olive-oil suspension of minced garlic, smoked paprika, a little bit of red pepper flakes, and parsley and oregano. The recipe calls for drumsticks, yet you can use it on boneless, skinless chicken breasts as well. The oil preserves the natural juiciness of the meat while transferring the mild heat of the paprika and red pepper.

And at 207 kcal per drumstick, you can leave room on your plate for your favorite starch.

There are more changes coming in the future, though I haven’t anticipated them all. One change is cutting down on the sandwiches, though I’m already missing my PBJs. And though I’ve been putting it off, eventually I’ll have to get over my loathing of exercise, which I normally get by running my mouth and jogging my memory. Otherwise, once I reach the bare minimum daily calorie intake (1,500 kcal/day), the loss rate will taper off, eventually averaging about 0.6 lbs./wk.

But meeting this minor benchmark exactly two months before I’d originally planned to was something to relish all day. The next secondary goal is 255, which I look to hit by 6/3/2019; at that point, I’ll have lost more weight on this program (47 lbs.) in less time than I did in 2009. Enough small victories can add up to a big victory in the end.