As stated yesterday, properly taking care of myself was one of many things that fell by the wayside during the second half of last year. If it was simply the normal end-of-the-year slacking that occurred each of the last few years, then it wouldn’t have been problematic. However, that wasn’t the case as my weight hit its highest mark since I initially took 60 pounds off back in 2011. Even worse, the last few weeks saw the return of the same health issues that initially forced me to resolve to live a more healthy lifestyle. Making an unwelcome return: lower back pain, sciatica, an increase in blood pressure and bad cholesterol, and, most disconcertingly, a need to buy a new pair of jeans that could contain my expanding gut.

Admittedly, a complete cessation of healthy eating and not even nominal attempts at exercise (as opposed to merely half-assing the efforts) probably caused the number to jump an extra few pounds during the closing weeks of the year, but that’s just the extra flowery icing on the sweets I stuffed myself with as the year ended. While stress-induced comfort eating was by far the biggest factor contributing to a literally new waistband, I’ve decided that I really need permanently resume the weekly weigh-in posts. There’s no question they serve me incredibly well when I’m trying to eat and exercise properly. However, I’ve decided that it’s no coincidence that my weight begins creeping upward again almost immediately after ceasing to post them. Instead of simply using them to push my weight back down to ideal levels, it seems that they should also serve just as a way to force myself to maintain my health after a return to healthy benchmarks. Given that it took me until early June last year to shed 25 pounds, it’ll almost certainly be early July before I’m able to test this hypothesis.

Yesterday brought the return to healthy eating, and this morning I forced myself onto our treadmill for a 40-minute brisk walk. Ideally, this morning would’ve started with a trip to the gym to use the elliptical motion machine, but it was 1 F° this morning, and there was no way I was going to willingly see how quickly my testicles would retract in such temperatures. It looks like it will be the treadmill for at least a little while, given the forecast lows for most of the coming week.

If there’s one silver lining, it’s that I’m good at shedding pounds. I’m not concerned about failing to make my goal; I’m concerned about what happens after. But, that’s a worry I’ll ignore until the proper time comes.

Weight gain since last weigh-in post (6/7): 31.4 lb
2018 Cumulative loss: n/a
Pounds from goal: 30.6 lb