I hate my scale

Before I started on this journey, I bought a digital scale to replace my old scale, which was reliable but hard to read. So this morning I step on it and it tells me 204.6. Then I move it a little, step back on and I'm 202.8. Then I move it again, I'm 204.4. I then step on the manual scale, which is pretty consistantly 2 pounds lighter than the digital, and it says 201, which should translate to 203 on the digital.

So how much do I weigh? Given my struggles, this is the last thing I need.

I'm strongly considering replacing this digital scale, does anyone have any recommendations?

I told you!

Oh, and sorry about not posting in a while, but I did warn you not to expect the same volume and quality as my brother...

In response to Billy's question, it's hard to tell if I feel much better, because I have vertigo (long story) and I'm lightheaded a lot of the time. I do feel stronger when I go to the gym, and my tennis elbow feels better (fish oil?). I'm taking steps to figure out how to get rid of the vertigo...

Keeping Track

Weight is going back down, was 204 this morning, which is great considering there was a fairly major eating binge on Monday.

So I used www.nutritiondata.com to track my calories yesterday and it came out that I ate 2100 calories. This is interesting on several points:

1. I really didn't eat that much yesterday compared to other days on this program. so I bet during the first couple of weeks, when I was eating more, I was probably up around 2500/3000 calories, no wonder I wasn't losing weight!
2. Nutritiondata does not agree with the calorie counts that the Meta Advantage book has. Nutritiondata thinks the recipes I have entered have more calories than the book says. hmmmmm.....

On another note, I've started eating the Optimum Power cereal that you can get at TJ's. I like how it tastes, but I also like that after I'm done eating it, I can yell "OPTIMUM POWER" as loud as I want. Try it, it's fun.

&^%&^%*&^!!!!

So after getting back on the downward track, now, all of a sudden and for no reason that I can figure, I went right back up in weight. Culminating in today's weight of 205.4, exactly the weight I started at 2 weeks ago. I'm beyond frustrated at this point, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Other than that, I am just speechless.

Here are my most recent weights. Mind you, I've done very well nutritionally, except for the one day mentioned in a previous post:

205.6
204.8
204.2
203
205.4
205
205.4

I just don't know what is going on...

Danger

So my life is not very predictable. I work for a consulting company, and right now I am not at a regular client, so my days are completely different. One day, I may have nothing I need to do, another day I may be busy from home, other days I may be at sales calls on site with clients. So I have to plan each day carefully. Today was the first day the plan didn't work, and we had a bit of a problem. I had a sales call scheduled from 10:30 - noon. So I eat breakfast, then I take a protein shake with me in the car. The plan is to drink the shake on the way home, then eat lunch after I get home (around 1:15).

So we get into the conference room and there is a dish of goddamn chocolate on the conference room table. Homemade chocolate from the factory next door. Are you kidding me? So the meeting starts.
Then it's Noon.
Now it's 12:30. I'm weak with hunger, but I can't go out to my car and get the shake because then I can't get back in the GD building!
Now it's 1:00 and I'm getting dizzy from hunger. I eat one piece of chocolate. Oh my god it's good. So I eat many more. Now it's 1:30 and I have to step out of the room to take a call. Now I have to find somewhere private so I'm not bothering anyone. So I find an empty room. Ooops, it's the snack room. Giant container of assorted trash (chips, pretzels, cheez doodles, etc). So I start pounding that while I'm on the phone. We didn't get done the sales call until 2 freaking 30.

Not a good outcome, I need to think about how to better deal with these situations.

Metbolic Drive = Angry

203 today, a loss of 1.2 lbs. Nice.

So John Bernardi is full of good info, but he also likes to sell the products he had a hand in developing, one of which is a protein shake mix called Metabolic Drive. Before I ordered it, I had been using Designer Whey to make my protein shakes, with some success. So last week, I made a shake with the MD, and I noticed that after I drank it, I was in a very bad mood. This was evening, so I chalked it up to being tired. But today I had an MD shake around 2 and by 3:30 I was pretty fired up, in a very angry mood. It has to be something with the MD, it is a STRONG feeling.

Has anyone had this experience? Does anyone use this stuff? I think I'm going to have to throw it out, I can't use it.

Banging out the weights

Have you ever seen the movie Casual Sex? It's an 80's movie that is otherwise forgettable, except for the fact that Andrew "Dice" Clay has a role as a slimy single guy. The best scene in the movie is set in the gym, and Dice is trying to impress the ladies. So he picks up some dumbbells and starts doing curls and yelling "Duuusssshhhh, Duuussshhhh". I know, it's not funny in print, but it is hilarious in the movie. If it's ever on late nite cable, check it out.

Anyway, I bring this up because I felt like Dice on Monday and today at the gym. I think I did indeed gain some muscle last week, as I've been able to move up significant amounts of weight in almost every exercise, which feels good. Nice to see some progress.

Goals to come, I swear...

Back in the right direction

OK, so over the last few days, the new approach of eating less than the Meta book says has worked much better, my weight has gone from 205.6 to 204.8 to 204.2 over the last few days, so I feel better that things are going the right way. I've discovered that I REALLY like hummus, probably too much. However, dipping celery or carrots in it is not very appetizing, so I've dipped some pretzels in it as my last meal of the day. Probably too much carbs right before bed, so I'm trying to figure out what else I can dip in the hummus...

One week down...

OK, the first week has passed.

What went well:
1. I learned that I can actually eat foods that I didn't think I could eat. Spinach, tomatoes, Peppers, Avacado, Asparagus...
2. I learned that I LIKED some foods that I didn't think I liked: Salmon, Hummus...
3. I pushed myself at the gym harder than I have in 10 years. I realized how complacent I've been even during previous semi-successful diet/exercise attempts.

What went poorly
1. I didn't lose any weight. I'm chalking this up to eating too much of the Meta advantage menu. I'm going to listen to my body more than the book to dictate how much I'm eating. Also, I know my muscles have grown, since I've been sore all week! But it's tough to work so hard and not see results on the scale. I'm also going to start taking pictures of myself like Billy has, and measuring myself, so I have other ways to track progress besides the scale.
2. I've never cooked so much in my life! Now, I'm pretty good in the kitchen, but this was ridiculous. So I'm going to start making some common sense decisions that shouldn't affect my results. For example, this week the book wants me to eat hummus, and wants me to make it. Screw that, I bought some hummus at Trader Joe's.
3. I know that I need to post goals as well, and I've sucked at keeping this blog updated, so improvement is needed there.

It's Go Time

OK, let's get this over with. Yes, I am related to the man, the myth, the legend Billy. He is my baby brother. We've both struggled with our weight all our lives, and he has inspired me live a healthier life. My brother and I are very different people, he is single, artistic, lives in the city, drinks Jack Daniels, and has never liked sweets. I am married with 2 kids, unartistic, live in the burbs, rarely drink, and I could eat sweets until I pass out from a sugar high.


I am so proud of what Billy has done, he has truly transformed himself into the fit stud of the family. Now I'd like to follow his footsteps. I'm 35, I weight 205 pounds, and I'm 5'8". Even though I've always been overweight, I've been active, my issue is food. I've never eaten vegetables, and I've done all the diets. So I read the Metabolism Advantage and I'm going to do the 8 week program. Here are a few of my reasons:

1. It exposes me to foods that I've never eaten. I figure I'll come out of the 8 weeks with some healthy foods that I like.
2. It seems sustainable for life, as opposed to crash diets like Atkins.
3. I've seen Billy and a close friend follow many of the concepts (healthy eating, supplements, many small meals, lifting weights to change body composition) successfully.

I started on Monday, and I'm following the 8 week plan that is in the book pretty closely. For the next 8 weeks, I'm not allow to say "I'm not eating that, I don't like it". I'll try it and if after the 8 weeks, it makes me gag violently (like the "Spinach Saute", Spinach, onions, tomato and garlic cooked together), then it's out. But this is the only way I can discover healthy foods I like (Salmon, for instance, which I had last night and really liked).

I'll post my progress and random thoughts, please don't expect the same brilliance and motivation that you get from my brother, he's on a different intellectual plane than I am. I think I used to be smart, before children's TV and music slowly began to rot my brain...

I know I'm supposed to set some detailed goals, but I suck at that, so I'm still working on it. When I come up with them, I'll post them. Right now I think a good goal would be 160ish with 12% body fat, but I have to figure out what a healthy body fat % is, and it's going to depend on muscle. When I was 19 and in college, I lifted weights and dieted and got down to 150, but that was a LONG time ago :).