Weigh In - Week 17

So...the positive is that I am exactly at 40 lbs of weight loss...4/5 to my original goal...2/3 to my aggressive goal....Milestone #4 reached before I hit the date to Milestone #2...

The negative is that I only lost 1 lb this week. I know the lbs come off more slowly as you come closer to your goals, but it is a little disheartening to not see the 3 - 5 lbs per week weight loss numbers. As I write this, I know I must sound like the guy who's pissed that he only won $20 Million in Powerball instead of $120 Million...When you've been posting big numbers for so long, it's a little sad to realize you're probably not going to lose 3 lbs in a single week anymore.

I did pretty well Monday through Friday this week. Got my 3 workouts in as usual (I must give props to Flip This Body for making me go to the gym on Friday to check my weight so I could give one final update to her weight loss challenge...FYI...I won with 34 lbs lost between 4/1 and 7/23). Food choices were pretty normal as well. Kashi cereal for breakfast (highly recommend the GoLean Crunch cereal line), salads for lunch, and whatever Carolyn feels like making for dinner.

Unfortunately, my wife and I decided to throw a summer party this past weekend (first summer party in over 5 years) and I show little self control during parties where I don't have to drive. I was going to write a separate post on this, but I'll just cram it all into one. Drinking is evil...pure evil...I still love to do it...but I always regret it in the end...Here are the reasons why from a pure weight loss perspective:

1. Alcohol is more calorie dense than carbs, fat, etc....so you start losing right there.
2. Alcohol is usually imbibed through beer (i.e. liquid bread) so you have the added benefit of taking alcohol in through a carb rich medium. Not helpful.
3. Alcohol, in addition to making you feel happy, makes you feel hungry. The combination of both happy and hungry usually equals bad food choices for me. Especially during a party...my total inebriation usually coincides with the same point in time that dessert is served. Soooo...I usually end up eating a dozen cookies, candy bars, or cookies with candy bars somehow wedged into them. Not helpful.
4. Finally, my total inebriation usually results in some form of day after hangover. This ranges from a splitting headache and extreme nausea to slight nausea. Even in the slight nausea stage, my mind and body usually need sugar liquids and foods high in saturated fats to eventually make me feel normal again. Maybe that isn't the best way to cure a hangover, but it usually works for me.

So there you go. Besides causing you to make horrible dating choices, alcohol also causes you to make horrible eating choices. And you probably don't want to attempt a cardio machine during or anytime after imbibing either.

So, that is what I'm chalking my poor performance up this week. Besides eating way to many Doritios and Lime Bars the night of the party, I also had 3 helpings of sausage and peppers the day after to make myself feel better...

But I am at the 40 lbs marker...Go Team!