200!

I am posting this blog in celebration of me reaching a goal today. This morning at the gym I weighed out at 199 lbs. I made a special point of eating a bit more than usual today, so I can say in confidence that I have finally reached my preliminary goal of 200 lbs! (Now I'm going to try and push for 210, which would be an all-time record for me.)

This leads me to what I want to talk about, and that is my diet. My diet sucks. The food I eat is generally nasty. If Costco didn't exist, I would starve. But you know, I sometimes wonder if I'm taking this "buying in bulk" concept a little too far. Often, as I sit there forcing down my fourth consecutive hot dog (I bought a pack of 32--I HAVE to eat them!), I ask myself "Is this all really worth it?" Are the dollars I'm saving in buying in bulk really worth what I put myself through every time I open my fridge/freezer door? I have a 10-lb bag of shredded cheese that I bought in anticipation of making a lot of quick and easy nachos. It's still 90% full and I've had it for a couple months now. Most likely it'll get all goey and nasty (not moldy--way too many preservatives for that) and I'll have to throw it away while it's still half-full, just like the last one.

People search far and wide for the best weight-loss tactics and tips. Well here's one for ya: buy a bunch of nasty food, in bulk, that will never go bad. If you're anything like me, here is what will happen:

1. You'll feel guilty for spending all that money on the food, and you will feel like you have an obligation to eat it rather than buy other food, letting it go to waste.
2. You will eat it when you get hungry (and ONLY when you get hungry).
3. The unpleasant experience of eating this nasty food will condition you to not want to eat.
4. You get used to not eating and don't get as hungry anymore.
5. You lose weight.

And this is my vicious cycle I get into. Then when I start getting disgustingly skinny, I am reawakened to my awful state and I hit the gym more, get a lot of fast food, and put back on some pounds.

The thing is, I HAVE to eat. I mean, a lot. I've got this supercharged metabolism and if I want to gain weight, I have to eat like it's going out of style and workout a ton. The problem is that I'm lazy. I'm too lazy to make tasty food for myself. Sometimes I'm too lazy to even drive down to Taco Bell. Other times I'm too lazy to even go downstairs and nuke me up some chicken nuggets (this is compounded by the fact that they are nasty). I'm too lazy to make food, but not too lazy to go to the gym for an hour. And here I thought I was a rational creature. Ha!

But this time is different! I'm feeling good about this goal I've had; I'm working out every morning early, and that's something I've never done before. When you want things different you have to do things differently, right? Hmm, 208 in 2008? Sure why not.

Belated New Years Resolution

Here's my new thing: early morning workouts. I now get up at 5:30 in the morning and go to the gym for an hour on Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri.

And here's the kicker: I feel GREAT! Who would've thought?