Call me "Slim"

A few weeks ago, we bought new clothes for the boys for Easter.  Last weekend, the wife added a new dress for her.  I pointed out this morning that 1) the various men's clothing stores were having sales (including a buy one get one free deal at Men's Wearhouse), and none of my clothes fit. . .  so we did a little bit of shopping today.  Mostly to get proper sizes so I can order online when the sales are really extreme, but also to get a couple of those BOGO dress shirts.  Turns out I've lost enough weight to wear SLIM FIT size 17 by 34/35 shirts.  I celebrated by buying two pairs of dress pants with a 38 inch waist.  And, for the first time in recent memory (certainly the first time since the late 90's), they are flat front pants instead of pleated.

Just for comparison, a year ago I wore a size 52 Suit coat, last July a size 48.  Today a 46 athletic cut (although I didn't buy one).  My waist has gone from 48 in May, to 45 in July to 40 in September to 38 now.  Even my neck has dropped from a 19 inch collar in May to an 18 inch in July to a 17 inch today (I could wear a 16 1/2, but 17 was more comfortable)

Believe me, if you'd told me a year ago that I'd be buying ANYTHING with the word "slim" in it, I would have laughed in your face.

Deuces

I've usually recognized numbers ending in zero as "milestones" in my weight loss journey, but it felt pretty fun this morning to see the scale come to 222.  That's happened once before, the last day of our most recent "phase I" experience, but this time I've drifted down to it while eating "normally."   Normal, in this case means we're still following the South Beach diet and limiting carbs. 

I'm still getting to walk 3 miles outside most days -- yesterday I squeezed in a mile outside between rain showers and two miles inside the building.

I sense more new clothes in my future . . . trousers that have already been taken in don't fit any more, nor do the new clothes I bought last summer when I was celebrating being at 240 pounds.

So my next intermediate goal is 220, and that's only 2 pounds away.  I'm hoping to make it by April first or so.  Wish me luck!

Exercise

I've mostly written about food in this blog . . . but exercise is part of the process as well.

My employer has a neat website: http://www.standingupforillinois.org/walk/default.php

The Governor of Illinois (I work in the Executive branch, so he's the top of the food chain in my organization) has challenged citizens of Illinois to walk 167 miles this year.  That's the distance from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan. 

I'd been walking around the office last fall, but in January, we got logs to officially track our walks.   With measured distances.  (6 laps around the first floor hallway is a mile, 4 laps around the sidewalk on the outside of the building is a mile, once around the parking lot is mile.)   In January, I walked 77 miles.  In February only 62 (work kept me from walking as much).   With the nicer weather in March, most days, I get in 3 miles.  I have a mandated 15 minute break in the morning and afternoon, and an hour for lunch.  And a 15 minute mile works pretty well . . . I could go faster, but I don't want to be sitting at my desk looking like I need a shower.

I got a surprise earlier in the week.  Since I am over 100 miles already for the year, the Secretary of Transportation's office wanted to put my picture on their "Walkers Wall of Fame."  Nice to be recognized for something I would have done anyway.

By the way, since 167 miles turned out to be so easy . . . I'm now trying for 367 miles for the year.  According to Google Maps, that is the distance from Fort Defiance State Park at the very southern tip of Illinois to Navy Pier in Chicago.   Sounds like a good goal to me.

Although . . . I should point out that three miles a day on pavement has taken a bit of getting used to.  And I am writing this while sitting with an ice pack on my right Achilles tendon. . .  ow.

300 days

As of Sunday, my wife and I have been losing weight for 300 days.    It's a mind-boggling number, but we're keeping our sense of humor about it.

Essentially, this weekend was a "lost weekend" for the diet.  My in-laws came to visit us on Saturday, and we had a Sunday lunch meeting.  So Saturday lunch was turkey brats (on whole wheat buns), baked beans and regular potato chips.   Dinner, we let the boys make homemade pizza for us. . . again a "little" healthy -- whole wheat crust and turkey sausage, but regular pepperoni and cheese.

Yesterday we ate out for lunch, as I said, during a meeting.  We tried to be healthy, but . . . sometimes if you live in Springfield IL, you have to have a horseshoe sandwich.  (Or in this case, the smaller portion "Pony Shoe"

During our meeting, someone commented on the weight loss, and Karen hit on a great description:  we've now lost nearly 90 pounds between us -- so she says we've "lost a fifth grader!"

Upon the subject of legality.

Milestones are where you find them.  Last Wednesday, my wife passed a real one -- she's now lost 30 pounds.

Since I don't have any real progress to report, I had to find some.

And here it is -- for the first time in YEARS, my driver's license is telling the truth about my weight. 
I got a new driver's license in the February of 1999, and had just shaved off the mustache I'd had for most of my 20's, plus I had a new address.    So . . . I went down to the Driver's License Facility and got a license with my new picture, new address, and current weight -- 225.

I'm pretty sure I held that weight for at least a few years -- the purchase of my house both caused and allowed me to cut down on restaurant meals, and the first few years in the house I was doing a lot of finishing work and landscaping.  So I got a lot of exercise.  But somewhere along the line the exercise quit, and overeating started.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back down to what my license says.   Which marks 52 pounds of total weight loss.