Skinny Update

One Down! Mumblety-mumble to go!


That's right, kids, we're officially chalking up a tick mark in the "pounds lost" column. Because of the way my weight fluctuates (thank you, broken endocrine system), I check my weight by weighing three days in a row and averaging the numbers. And I somehow can never remember to do it three days in a row. So weigh-ins happen but official weights might not be calculated all that often.


Anyway.


It's a pound. A real pound, too, 35000 calories worth of ugly fat, and not just some hormonal fluctuation. So we'll take it with glee.


The big Skinny-4-Stash adventure has not been without its ups and downs so far. First, and the biggest down by far, is the damn Halloween candy. I get a quarter for stash enhancement for every day that I stick to my diet, right? And every day, there was the same bag of peanut butter cups staring me in the face. And it's a quarter. Twenty five puny little cents. Can't buy yarn for a quarter. Or not yarn you'd want to knit with, anyway. It just feels too easy to give up a quarter, like a quarter isn't all that meaningful. Especially cuz, did I mention the peanut butter cups?


I've only earned a small handful of quarters so far, nowhere near where I should be. I haven't been a total failure -- the new diet the doctor approved is a really hard adjustment, but I'm working on it and having some successes. It's a journey. Not a destination. And so far, I'd say I'm making progress but nowhere near hitting my stride.

There have been some other factors, too. After the treadmill at our neighborhood clubhouse broke, I joined a gym. This was a good move because the neighborhood clubhouse's hours weren't always convenient, and now that excuse has been eliminated.


My membership came with some free meetings with a trainer, and I've been taking advantage of that this week. I get a quarter for every mile walked on the treadmill, right? The trainer has had me doing everything but the treadmill. Which means zero quarters for miles walked, even though I've been in the gym pretty regularly.


Good thing I'm not in this for the money. Oh. Wait. I do want the money! Money is stash! Dang.

So with a few weeks' experience under my belt, I am modifying my payouts a little. I get a quarter for every day I stick to my diet, and a bonus quarter for every day with no animal fats. I get a quarter for every mile on the treadmill, too -- none of that has changed.

But I'm going to add these new rules. I get a quarter for every 15 minutes spent doing something at the gym other than the treadmill. Weights, nautilus, elliptical machine, whatever. 15 minutes = 25 cents.

And I want to give myself a bonus quarter for every three consecutive days I stick to my food plan. So far, I can manage a day or two in a row. But never three. So for now, three gets a bonus. I will surely change that later and make the bonus harder to earn, but for now it should be good motivation.

So, there we have it. The longest weight loss journey begins with a single pound, right?

ps. Blogger has been giving me trouble again. I hear around the blogosphere that it's not just me. Lockouts were happening all over the place, including right here chez Knitterary.

Skinny-4-Stash

I've been dwelling on two facts lately. One, the knitter's conundrum, that I have plenty enough yarn but still enjoy buying more. Two, that after over a decade of medical problems resulting in tremendous weight gain, I've been finally given the all-clear to go on a reducing diet.

Seems I'm not the only one dwelling on this pair of thoughts.

KniftyRed came up with a great idea. We're going to get skinny for stash. We're setting diet and workout goals, and get to "pay" our stash budget for each goal met. And we get to pick our goals and our payouts. Not a bad plan.

So here goes.

I, Knitterary Gargantua, to further the goal of becoming Knitterary LaPetite, will take the following measures.

1. For every day that I stick to my food plan, I get to add a quarter to the stash jar.

2. For every day that I avoid animal fats entirely, I get to add a bonus quarter to the stash jar.

3. For every mile walked on the treadmill, I get to add a quarter to the stash jar.

That's it. Simplicity. In the course of a week, I have the potential to add ten dollars or so to the stash jar. No gimmicks, no complicated plotting or scheming. Just eating right and exercising, which is at the heart of a good reducing plan.

Some others are tying their goals to pounds lost. I thought about doing that, but that's when reality jumps up and pokes me in the eye. I have a metabolic disease. In the past, I have gained weight on 700 calories a day. We think that my body can tolerate this diet now and won't go completely fucking haywire again. But we don't know it for sure.

But independent of the ultimate goal to lose weight, this eating plan and exercise plan is a good thing. The diet takes into account some new science about the way our metabolisms work, and I probably should be following it (or something close to it) regardless of total calories taken in. If I put my focus there instead of on the scale, I will know that I'm doing right by my body.

I can't control the outcome, but I can control the process. So that's where my focus will be.