Little Victories

Sometimes, you have to take the little victories.

Everybody in a war wants a big victory, their Gettysburg. A victory that changes the entire flow of the war. But sometimes, you have to take the little victories.

And probably no where is that more true than in the weight loss war. I mentioned in my last post about how my work life was making it difficult to keep up the fight in my weight loss war.

Well, work is still busy, but there have been a few little victories in the last few weeks. Between 2 and 3 weeks ago I needed some jeans for work one morning, but everything I had was dirty or torn up too bad to wear. So I started digging through a pile of clothes on a chair in my room and found a couple pairs of jeans that had been thrown aside in disgust several months ago. At that time they didn't fit. Not even close to fitting. The button was 2 or 3 inches away from fastening.

But no longer. That morning as I began my day, those jeans could no longer taunt me from their pile, as they buttoned with little effort. A little victory.

However, getting back into these jeans created a new problem. My belt was left serving no purpose. With the jeans buttoned and the belt on its first notch, I was left with a gap. A big gap. big enough that I could place my fist between the waistband on the jeans and the belt before it got tight. So, that night, I had to dig out the leather punch and added 4 new holes to the belt. As of today, I am in the third of the four holes I added. A little victory.

Last week, I was finally able to break away from work enough to get in a couple of workouts, which considering everything that was going on, is a huge deal, and one that had to be done, because I knew what the weekend was going to be like. Last Friday, my parents, grandmother, and I headed for St. Louis for a wedding. Weddings are great things, but can be hell on you when trying to lose weight. Really, it was a test. Friday night was the rehearsal dinner which was a great meal. Hors d'oeuvres were melon in prosciutto wrap, cucumbers and cream cheese, and olive spread with crackers. Dinner was a pasta with sausage and green beans. Dessert was raspberries, chocolates, and a berry sherbert. The food was great, but very easy to overeat on. Lunch Saturday before the wedding was fast food. The reception was buffet with shrimp, chicken, roast beef, potatoes, salad, and of course cake. Sunday, since my brother and his family couldn't make it to the wedding due to illness, we came home via their place. And lunch again was fast food. Yep. I'm screwed. Probably gain 4 or 5 pounds back. Damnit.

So today, I stepped back on the scale to see how much damage I did. And as of 6:30pm tonight (I know, bad time to weigh), I was 443. Actually down another pound from the last weigh in. And while I would really like to be dropping more than one pound, when I don't get to do much serious exercise and going for three days of low activity and lots of rich food, havin lost a pound is a little victory.

It's all about learing to enjoy little victories.
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Work Interferance

Unfortunately, the last few weeks have been very hard on reaching my overall goal. Since June 1st, I have worked every day, many of which (excluding Saturdays and Sundays) have lasted until 7pm or later.

Now, I am not complaining about the work, it is because we are making a major upgrade to equipment in our facility and it has required lots of planning, demolition, construction, and shuffling.

For those of you who don't know me personally, I work for a recycling services provider and processor that is owned by my parents. We have been installing a new baler (that will process 30,000 pounds of newspaper and cardboard an hour-although we have no intention of being able to push it that hard). The catch? The new baler went in the same place the old baler sat; so the old baler had to move but still be operational and keep up with the sorting process. However, since the baler was moved and the feeding conveyor was no longer operational, we couldn't keep up in a regular 8-hour day, and couldn't afford to pay anybody overtime. So Dad and I had to do the extra baling. Then this week, the install crew arrived to remove the old baler and ship it to Utah and then installed the new baler. But due to a scheduling oversight and now a significant storm, the power company won't arrive until late next week to install the power upgrade needed to operate the baler. And we are COMPLETELY out of storage space.

Anyway, long story short. I have been working a lot and not been able to get to the gym for my regular workout. When I leave work at 7:00pm, I still have to go home and take care of my dog who by that time has been in the kennel for about 12 hours and he won't relieve himself in there (at all-zero-zip-nada, never has except the one night he got very sick). But the gym closes at 8pm. And they aren't open early enough in the morning (and I REALLY hate mornings).

So, I haven't been working out, my meals have been somewhat sporadic, and I really haven't dropped anymore weight, only a pound I am ready for this install to be over and to get back to work on making myself healthy.

Total weight to lose: 220 pounds (give or take some-depends on how I feel and look when I get to the target)
Total weight lost: 20 pounds
Percentage of goal: 9.1%
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A quick weigh-in

Starting weight: 464

Stepped on the scale about 5:15pm this afternoon for a quick check, and to see how bad the conference I was at Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday had screwed me up.

June 4, 2009 weight: 445



Total weight lost: 19 POUNDS!!!!

And not quite 30 days since I started (the first post on this blog actually was put up a couple days before I began).


Needless to say, I'm stoked.
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