Choose your weight carefully

357 days

286 pounds*

When I stepped on the scale this morning, beautiful Tuesday morning, I was concerned that I might not have lost nearly as much as I did yesterday, in spite of effectively having two workouts (the second being the gardening) and eating properly through the day...until dinner, that is.

I've trying to work my way off meat. Certainly, I'd prefer to eat less of it. But last night I had a veal chop and several slices from the Porterhouse that my in-laws never showed up to eat. And I had a very large salad. And it was a pretty large amount of fruit I had at lunch time. And of course, there was that idiot snack with chips and cheese.

So I shouldn't have been so surprised to learn that I had not lost any weight, but I was shocked when I first stepped on the scale and it read 287 pounds! That means I'd gained 2 pounds back. I couldn't believe it. I stepped on it again and it said 287.5 pounds. Then I thought, well...I've broken my rule about weighing myself at the same time every day. I'd been weighing myselfafter I was dry from my shower after working out. Here I was dry, because I sat and read the paper and did some email, but I hadn't showered yet.

Into the shower I went. I got all cleaned up and then all dried up and then I stepped back on the scale and this time it said 285. Now, though I was a little less shocked, and a little more happy, I was also a little confused and started to wonder about my equipment.

I've been using a very nice digital scale, one of these glass blocks on coasters with the weight reading inside the glass. Until now, I've gone with the number. Occasionally, I've stepped on it twice to see if it was correct (especially yesterday!). So I stepped on it again and this time, it said 286.5. I moved it to a different spot, stepped on it with the other foot first and this time, it said 287. I went in and put on a pair of underpants and stepped on it again. This time, it said 285 again.

*Since I can't possibly put the scale in the exact same spot every day (it slides under a radiator opening when not in use in our cramped bathroom), this morning I weighed myself three times and averaged the result. Thus, today's weight, the asterisk and a redoubling of my effort. Maybe I'm already past the big drops and from here on out it'll be a struggle just to lose two pounds a week. That's really okay. If that's what it's going to be, that's all I set out to achieve in the first place. Today 286, next Sunday, 284?

What I ate...

Breakfast: Yogurt and Cool Whip

Coming in after taking my dog to the vet and getting my haircut, I had a few chunks of honeydew melon and went down to work.

I did another big lunch of fruit and yogurt and Cool Whip.

For dinner, the family went to Carmine's—minus a few kids—for my mother-in-law's 82nd birthday. I did not drink. It was actually pretty easy. Though I drank about two pitchers of water. I had some bread, but I didn't go nuts with hit. I had two pieces of their wonderful chicken scarpariella, some pasta with shrimp (a little spicier than usual, but that was fine with me), some broccoli with garlic and one or two slices of Porterhouse steak.

I took my daughter Alex back to her apartment and drove home, did some things and went to bed.