Weighing in for the week and last year
Well I just finished my weigh in for this week and I’m down another 4.6 pounds to 318.6 this week. That means I’m down 26.4 pounds since the first of the year and 71.4 since the first of last year.
I’m about a week from my low of last August (if I continue at this pace) where I hit a rough patch for a few months. I never really talked much about what threw me off my game last year but I thought now would be as good a time as any since I’m almost back to that low point.
Like most people trying to lose a large amount of weight, at some time or another, life gets in the way. For me a few weeks after reaching my low weight of 315 last year I decided to quit my job and started looking around for work elsewhere. As you can imagine this was a bit stressful as it was a few months after we had found out that we were pregnant with our second child, but it was a step I had to make.
At the same time I was working crazy hours from August till late November working on releasing four architecture applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Writing a new application is always challenging but the final stages including beta testing, tweaks based on feedback, complete redesign of some elements, and final fit and finish is really crazy. My days would usually start at 6 am for my 9-5 job and then after getting home I’d be up until 12 midnight or 1 am working on the applications.
As you can imagine with those crazy hours exercise and nutrition took a backseat. I don’t know exactly what clicked off in my head to be honest. It certainly wasn’t a binge or overeating episode that threw me off. It was literally just four months of eating poorly and following all of my old habits. For some reason I put my health and fitness secondary to releasing these applications.
In hindsight I learned a number of lessons.
First it wasn’t worth it to burn the wick at both ends and rush the application out in the holidays in exchange for my health. Sure the application got some sales during X-mas but to be honest December is the worst time of the year to release an iPhone application. It’s impossible to reach anyone in the press and you’re competing with tons of end of year reviews. In the end we weren’t able to spread the word effectively about our application and lost a huge amount of release buzz we could have capitalized on.
Second, it wasn’t worth it physically. I’ve spent the last month and a half repaying that debt and working off those 30 pounds I put on so quickly.
Third and most important, it wasn’t worth it mentally because I lost a lot of faith in myself. I thought I’d gained enough knowledge at that point to coast through that time on nutrition alone. While I had learned a lot I still wasn’t able to do it when it counted and once a few meals fell through the entire house of cards fell apart. I need exercise to not only jumpstart my metabolism but to mentally prepare myself and stay accountable to being healthy each and every day.
Everyone will encounter obstacles throughout their journey to lose weight. How we react to those obstacles, and the lessons we learn along the way, will determine our success or failure at losing and ultimately maintaining that weight loss.
While this was a big lesson for me, I’m back on track to becoming the fit and healthy person I’ve always wanted to be. I know now to never put anything that’s within my control ahead of my health and family, it’s never worth it in the long run.
I’m enjoying this site. I too have been all over the board with health and fitness. I’ve been anywhere between 238 and 178 lbs in the past 5 years. I have, I believe, found a very doable plan the last few months: more of a lifestyle really. I’ll share more as time goes on, but keep up the efforts.