Ego Over Matter 2008: Week 4, Weigh In and Random Thoughts

Wow, have I been at this for a month already?! It seems like it was just yesterday I started this, and at other times, it seems like I’ve been doing this forever (LOL!). OK, let’s get to the numbers, shall we.

This morning saw me tip the scales at 205 pounds, which means I’m down three from last week, and down 15 from the start. Again, fifteen pounds in one month is still pretty darned aggressive; it’s the equivalent of 3.5 pounds per week, although I’m taking some comfort in the fact that the last two weeks have slowed down without radical change in activity or eating, so maybe this time around I’m still on the normal side of things.

I had a bit of an embarrassing incident on Saturday. As part of Order of the Arrow, I was asked to help one of the boys in our Lodge receive his Eagle Scout award. Thus, I was asked if I’d be willing to wear regalia for the ceremony (read, full Native American buckskins, feather headdress, the whole nine yards). Since the ceremony was at 2:00 PM, I just kind of went about my day, then got to the place the ceremony was being held, helped set up everything, and then went in to do the ceremony. Well, in a small enclosed room, and trying to keep things going smoothly, I had basically “forgotten” to grab anything to eat or drink prior (that’s one thing about getting into a diet mode, you can genuinely “forget” to eat or drink at odd times, because your body isn’t telling you it’s thirsty or hungry). Well, about three quarters of the way through the ceremony, I start to see purple tracers appear in front of my eyes… anyone who has had this experience knows what happens next. Next thing I know, I’m sitting on my butt, the master of ceremonies is asking me if I’m OK, and everyone has this concerned look on their face. I just thought, "oh man, what did I just do?!” Fortunately, it was a quick spell of light headedness, maybe about 30 seconds until I was back to myself, but the fact that it happened at my friend’s Eagle court made me really embarrassed. Note to self, next time you are in full leathers in an enclosed room that gets really hot, make sure you have a water bottle nearby and drink from it regularly, whether or not your body is telling you it is thirsty or not (d’oh!!!).

Anyway, I just wanted to mention that little scenario to people to realize that, sometimes when you get focused on a goal, you sometimes lose track of what you are doing, and if you lose track at the wrong time, you might find yourself parked on your butt thinking “aw man, what just happened?!” Hopefully I’ll be able to prevent things like that from happening again, but most importantly is to, honestly, remember that when your body is dieting, it doesn’t really care at what point it stops behaving itself. The mind and ego are tough competitors, but ultimately, in a battle of wills, the body’s survival instinct will win out (LOL!).

So that’s this week’s reality. Tune in next week as I see whether or not my burn rate slows or keeps at its current pace (a little slower i.e. two pounds a week, would be a good signal right about now :) ).