I'm moving to a new office at my job, one that is only three miles from my house.  This weekend, I'm getting a bicycle.

Dear Internet,

It's been a few days since last I posted with a meaningful article to this blog.  I am pleased to inform that I have not fallen off the wagon, and I've stuck with my "Lose Weight or Die" mentality for the duration of an entire Hanukkah, eight days.  It's been challenging, and there've been a few times I've let it slip--having a Scrabble-tile-sized piece of brownie at work, or a beer one night after a particularly long day--but all in all, I'm feeling the positive effects of making better choices even after just a Hanukkah.

In an earlier entry, I wrote that I was too fat for my scale.  And it was true.  Emphasis on "was."  When I stepped onto my bathroom scale, it would read "overload."  Now, it doesn't.  I weighed myself this morning and, for the first time, got a number: 407.  Suffice it to say, I was thrilled.  This leads me to believe that I underestimated my initial "start weight" of 410, since fat people lose a lot of weight at the beginning of diet/exercise change.  I think I'll keep it the way it was, however, since it was never anything more than a guess.  So, on the record, I have lost 3 pounds.  THREE POUNDS, and I'm absolutely over the moon about it.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm overdoing it on my new healthy foods.  I wonder why I've gone back to the store multiple times for items like carrots, peaches, blueberries, salad greens, etc.  I've come to the conclusion that, yes, I like to eat.  I like to eat a lot.  Fortunately, the foods I am eating a lot of are carrots, peaches, blueberries, salad greens, etc.  I reckon some of it is psychological, but some of it is my body going, "Hey!  Where are all the calories you used to feed me?  We need more calories!"  I feel slightly better knowing that I can eat virtually as many vegetables as I want without worrying about gaining weight, but changing the volume of the food I consume, in addition to the quality, is a part of living a healthy life, too.

During the month of August 2010, I've challenged myself to walk a total of 50 miles.  I've verified the distances using a cool free website, http://www.mapmywalk.com.

Miles walked since last post: 9.05
Total miles walked: 22.13 (44.3%)
Days to go: 23
New daily average required to reach goal: 1.28 (down from 1.42)

Lack of free time today means I have no news to report, but I have continued me

August challenge update:

Miles walked today: 2.90
Total miles walked: 17.60 (35.2%)
Days to go: 25
New daily average required to meet goal:1.30 (down from 1.42)

I got up early this morning to check in on a part-time job I applied for.  I don't know if it's going to work out, but being up at 6:30am, and not having to go into work until 10.15am, I got some free time to get my daily walk in.  Today is the fifth day in a row I've gone out and walked, and I'm feeling better than I have in a while.

I know I'm losing some poundage, but since I'm currently at a scale-busting weight, I'm not sure how much.  I am thankful that I've noticed some small changes in my shape: namely, my favorite blue shirt.  I love this short-sleeved button-down shirt, but everytime I wear it the lower buttons come undone when I sit down.  Well, yesterday, I took a chance and wore the shirt to work.  I was pumped when I got into my car to go home because I'd gone the whole day without any undone buttons.  Goodbye, gut!  But, not unlike a crack addict, I continue to check my buttons to make sure everything is as it should be.  I'm sure everyone thinks I probably have a rash on my belly or something.

Miles walked today: 2.52
Total miles walked: 13.08 (26.2%)
Days to go: 26
New daily average required to reach goal: 1.42 (down from 1.46)

We're on our way, Internet!

What a great day it was here in Kansas City.  Not too hot and (finally) a break in the humidity.  It gave me some time to run some errands and enjoy my weekends in general.  Since Sunday is my only day off work, I slept in until about 9:00, then took my Jeep into the shop to get an oil change and some other minor repairs.  While waiting, I decided to get up and take a walk instead of waiting at the shop.  It wasn't a long walk, but it was a good way to squeeze in an extra 0.61 miles (as verified by www.mapmywalk.com) before my longer walk in the afternoon.

While waiting in line at Subway to get my generous helping of salad ingredients crammed into a six-inch sliced bread loaf, I started thinking about what I order when I eat there, and how it's changed since I've been trying to get healthy.  It's gone something like this:

The old me ordered: Foot-long BMT (pepperoni, salami, ham) on white, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, jalapenos, extra mayo, salt, pepper.  Under closer inspection, this Subway option netted a grand total of 1220 calories, 72 grams of fat, and 3870 milligrams of sodium, at the very least.

I first nixed the BMT in favor of the Spicy Italian, which is just pepperoni and salami, without ham.  Then I added the onions and cucumbers to make myself feel less guilty about what I was taking in, hoping to balance it out with some added roughage.  The two big changes occured when I started getting the six-inch sandwich instead of the foot-long, and shortly after, ordering the Veggie De-Lite instead of the Spicy Italian.  Around that time, the cheese went by the wayside, when I realized that I really couldn't taste it in the sandwich.  I clung onto the mayonnaise (albeit without the modifier "extra") as a safety blanket, rationalizing, "Look at how much I've already cut out, surely I can afford a little mayonnaise on occasion, right?"  Then, I noticed how just much mayo they put on those sandwiches compared to the serving suggestion of (brace yourself) one tablespoon.  I was surely getting at least four or five tablespoons of mayo on each sandwich, and at 110 calories and 12 grams of fat per tablespoon, logic won out and I said goodbye to the mayo.  In its place, I've been asking for the fat-free Sweet Onion sauce, along with the modifier "just a little, please."

The new me orders: Six-inch Veggie De-Lite on white, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, cucumbers, jalapenos, green pepper, a little Sweet Onion sauce.  This option nets me approximately 270 calories (78% fewer), 2.5 grams of fat (96% fewer) and 495 milligrams of sodium (87% fewer).  Pretty damn good, right?

The second thing I'll bring up in this blog entry is a new challenge I'm giving myself.  We'll call it the "fifty-mile month."  Basically, I want to push myself to walk at least fifty miles before the end of the month.  That works out to approximately 1.61 miles per day, spread out over 31 days (31 July - 30 August).  I'll do this by walking in the mornings before I go to work on my late days, and walking in the evenings on my early days.  Letting my inner stats nerd come out a little, I'll update my progress in various ways as I blog along.  Here's today's update:

Miles walked today: 3.52
Total miles walked: 5.25 (10.5%)
Days to go: 29
New daily average required to reach goal: 1.54 (down from 1.61)

Let's do this, Internet!