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New Jersey Gave Me A Big Butt
(January 20, 2010)
11 years ago I moved from Rochester, NY to northern New Jersey. We decided we wanted to be closer to our families so I took a job in Parsippany. This meant that instead of teaching for 10 to 12 hours a week, being on my feet most of the time, and then going for bike rides along the Erie Canal on my off days that I would be sitting at a desk for 40 hours a week and sitting in my car for another 10. All that sitting was, ironically, not good for my butt. Sitting that much tended to make it bigger. The first year I lived in New Jersey I gained 15 pounds. I would still exercise periodically and we still went for bike rides when we could but it never seemed to be enough to offset the massive amounts of sitting that I was doing.
Then my wife got pregnant, and as she gained weight I gained weight. Then she got pregnant again, and again I gained weight. I managed to lose some of it between pregnancies but I think I gained the most weight while she was pregnant for the third time.
About a year and a half ago I got on the scale and saw that I had hit my HOLYCRAP weight. The scale read 225. I didn't know that was my HOLYCRAP weight until I hit it, which I guess is normal. I know there are people reading this who would kill to be 225, but for a guy who was 185-190 for most of his adult life it was quite a shock. And I know everyone has a different HOLYCRAP weight- the weight at which you decide to get serious about losing weight. 225 was mine. It amazes me when I watch some of these programs on TLC that show people who are 700 and 800 pounds and I realize that some of them have not yet hit their HOLYCRAP weight. It's like they say to them selves "Heck, I can go another 300 pounds before I have to worry!"
So I signed up for The Daily Plate's web site. They have since been bought out by LiveStrong and are now at livestrong.com, but basically it's a calorie counter. I put in my age, weight, and goals, and then enter my food as I eat it. It's tedious and annoying, but it works. I started losing weight. The problem is I have no self-control and if there is junk food in the house I will eat it. I used to buy mini Peppermint Patties from BJs and if I had any calories left after dinner I would have a few. The problem is few people know this but the white stuff in the middle of the Peppermint Pattie is actually crack cocaine, and I couldn't just eat the 3 that I was allotted. 3 became 6, then 10, then 15, then holy crap the box is empty I have to go back to BJs and get more NOW! It's only a 30 minute drive. Screw it, Jen can put the kids to bed, if I leave now I can be back by midnight... I don't buy Peppermint Patties anymore.
So I lost some weight. Then I would gain some of it back as I would get lazy about tracking my food, which usually meant I would blow my calorie limit for the day. Then I'd start tracking my calories again and start losing weight again. And this cycle went on until last Friday morning when I got on the scale and it leveled out at an even 200 pounds.
I celebrated by eating half a bag of chocolate chips. I didn't track those calories. I really don't want to know. But I've been pretty good since then! Hopefully by the time MarsCon comes around I'll be back down in the mid 190s where I'm supposed to be. No resolutions, but here's to a thinner 2010!
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