Day 1 (535)

Well, this is it! Today is the first day of my diet. Diet... not a pretty word as it always seems to have an aire of failure about it. I don't know the statistics on diet success rates but I seem to recall that they're virtually non-existant.

Perhaps I'll call what I'm doing The Program.

program n. 1a) A listing of the order of events and other pertinent information for a public presentation. 1b) The presentation itself: a program of piano pieces. 2) An ordered list of events to take place or procedures to be followed; a schedule.

Yeah, that's not too bad. "The Program". It gives a name to my diet without any hint that it may fail. A program holds no inferrences as to whether or not it has a specific goal let alone a chance of success of failure. Kinda leaves it open. As I intend to be highly optimistic about The Program (though periodic bouts of timidity are expected) I'm just going to plow through and have fun.

To begin with, I'm going to mention a few things about my starting point, and a couple details about what brought me to this day.

First off, I'm overweight. I've never liked the term "obese", but I'm sure there's a dictionary out there somewhere that has my picture directly adjacent to the definition. My last doctor visit about a month ago weighed me in at 544 lbs. I went back today on other business and weighed myself and got 535 lbs (I used a different scale this second time). I don't know if I've actually lost weight or if the scales are just not being properly calibrated and maintained. I'm going to make it a point to go in and weigh myself weekly and use the same scale each time for consistency. I care little for a 10 pound difference, but I don't want that difference to be the cause of equipment variability.

Two youngsters were closely examining bathroom scales on display at the department store.
"Have you ever seen one of these before?" one asked.
"Yeah, my mom and dad have one," the other replied.
"What's it for?" asked the first boy.
"I don't know," the second boy answered. "I think you stand on it and it makes you mad."

Secondly, my doctor said that any medical weight loss procedures at Group Health have certain requirements that must be met before they'll even consider a patient. The one I'm working on now is "Enrollment in three months of a formal weight loss program". Although if The Program works out I'll pass on the surgical option.

This brings me to NutriSystem. I know that I'm too lazy to pick through every ingredient in every scrap of food to try to fit a diet program, or to try to figure out what foods fill which gaps in a daily nutritional requirements list without exceeding those requirements. NutriSystem includes most of the food with the plan, excluding veggies, fruits and breads -- things you usually can't collect a month's worth at a time.

My first box arrived yesterday. It was packed with dozens of small packages labelled "Breakfast", "Lunch", "Dinner" and "Snacktime". My first thought was, "Ok, three of these for lunch, two of these for dinner..." but I knew these little containers were to comprise the majority of my caloric intake for the next month, one per meal. Getting a late start today I ate the contents of one labelled "breakfast", containing breakfast cereal. Running late for an appointment two hours later (I said I got a late start), I grabbed a biscotti in a package labelled "snacktime" for the road. Getting back home I had a macaroni with beef package labelled "lunch". I've since completed dinner and desert.

The one big step off the path was the frappuccino Jennie bought me around 5:30pm. Emmy and I have an ongoing agreement to only have one ice cream treat a week. I'm not giving up mine just because I'm on The Program. With all the other cutbacks I'm doing, a periodic treat shouldn't go amiss. I'm just going to have to make sure that most of my Friday treats aren't as big as the frappuccino.

My stomache growled a few times today but no more than it does during some busy workdays wherein I get my lunch in the late afternoon. I know, I know. Not healthy to not eat for so long, but I don't make it a habit. It's bedtime now and I'm feeling satisfied. We'll see how I faire after an exhaustingly busy workday. I may need a few supplimental calories.

I'm planning on weighing in at the Group Health scale every week to track my weight loss. We have a scale at home but it's max limit is 440 lbs. Have you ever tried shopping for a bathroom scale that will weigh someone my size? They just don't exist. By the time you find one that will do so you're looking at price tags in the "oh my god you've got to be kidding" price range. Either that or you're looking at the kind farmers use when trying to value their livestock for sale... not something you would want getting out. I'll just keep hitting Group Health until I can use the one at home.

I don't have a photo to add to this entry in my journal but I'll get one soon. I'm going to try to make it a point to add a new photo on a monthly basis, just so I can look back in a year or two and see, visually rather than statistically, the progress I've made.

Time to sign off. More to come...