I chanced upon an article in WebMD at http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/5-surprising-reasons-you-are-gaining-weight titled, "Five Surprising Reasons You're Gaining Weight" by Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH.  At the time I was also looking for other reasons that might explain the 3.4 pound weight gain that I have experienced since Saturday morning.  I would have to say that the five reasons cited make sense, and in fact all five of them are in the mix since Saturday morning.  The first reason given was "Lack of Sleep."  Well that makes sense because we were out rather late from the company party (got back after midnight) and it generally takes a few days for me to get the lack of sleep out of my system.  I didn't sleep well Sunday night either.  The second reason given was "Stress."  Well I guess that is a no-brainer in my case because of the job situation and the fact that I tend to stress over minimal things and how well I perform on the day to day at work.  To quote, "Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, says stress eaters tend to prefer high-carbohydrate foods because these foods trigger an increase in the brain chemical serotonin, which has a calming effect. "It is almost like self-medicating," she says. "Many people binge on starchy foods to make

The wifely person was watching as I walked out of the bathroom this morning, picked up my iPhone, typed something into it, and then put it back down. She calmly asked me if it was true that I could take it back within 30 days.  I told her that was true and I then asked her if she wanted me to take it back. When I explained that I was doing was in fact recording my weight measurement, just after stepping on the scales, she seemed to be satisfied with the answer. I seem to be using my iPhone to do everything on now a days.  Maybe that is a bad thing? I need to remember that there is life outside of the little screen. I know this, you know this, but actions speak louder than words.  Have to watch it.

The stir fry meal has always been one of the meals that I look forward to eating. It is not my favorite meal by a long shot bit it is good all the same. The only misgiving is the spicyness of the soy veggies. It's still very flavorful, just a bit beyond some peoples taste. I am particularly aware of spicyness because my wife just cannot handle it. What ends up happening in our house is that we start avoiding restaurants that have only spicy fare on the menu; I mean anything more than almost bland. We use no seasoning in our house for the most part and have gotten used to meals without salt or pepper, or other things. The most spicy thing that my wife makes is a pot of chilli that everyone else would say is pretty tame. I just got done with the second Tai Chi class. I think we did a lot better this time around, anyway we seem to have gotten a better grasp of it. I at least have something I can practice on this go around. Time will tell.

Ok, tough call.  I think that I might be getting bored during this diet.  Not because the food is bad - in fact the food is fantastic!  I think that maybe I am feeling this way because I need to change up what I am doing on a day to day basis.  I have been focusing on the diet for 10 weeks now and I need to make sure that I don't fall off the wagon by getting distracted from the main goal.  I have set some goals for myself at the 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and goal weight points and that has helped me to keep focused because I have been only looking at the immediate goal.  Every once in a while I look at the end goal and my mind tries to play tricks on me that I will not be able to meet the goal.  This after having dropped 30 pounds in 10 weeks! I am more and more convinced that dieting is a head game.  If you don't keep your head on straight you will fail.  The small perturbations in your weight from day to day and the rebellion of your body tend to get you discouraged.  I am an emotional eater - I eat when I am worried about something - and that is cause for concern considering the current job situation that I find myself in.  I am issueing this blog statement because I want to go back to how I felt on this day after I have achieved goal and let myself know just how far I have come in overcoming my fears and doubts.

Good heavens!  If you look even sideways at my blog you must think that I am obsessed with loosing weight.  Well, it has been a while since I have really focused attention on the problem, otherwise I wouldn't have weighed as much as I did when I started (284.2 pounds).  It is obvious that I have not payed enough attention on the problem.  I have to hand it to my wife, she has stuck with me through thick and thin.  The thick is mostly my head. She has been worried about my health for many years and I didn't take the time to listen to her.  For that, I am terribly sorry.  However, I am focused enough to make a change in my habits. I guess what I am trying to say is that I need to strike a happy balance in my life.  I need to not obsess but at the same time be focused enough to loose the weight that I want to loose.  In this time of struggle, and all diets are struggles, I have the opportunity to change into something better.  A lot of prayer and a lot of work will go a long ways in preparing me for a better future.  It is a better future because I won't have to worry about so many weight related health issues that might come up and that is pretty good news.  On with the weight loss!

This is a very good meal from DTG.  However, it is spicy - maybe a little too spicy for most people.  I detected a heavy use of Jalapeno peppers in the pie and actually ended up with the sweat flowing down the back of my neck.  The corn on the cob is good but a little dry, best to use some fake butter spray on it like "I cant believe that it's not butter!"  I will remember next time.  Anyway, right now I am listening to Sponge Bob coming from my TV in the living room that my grandkids are watching.  The wife is cooking dinner for them and I am already done and putting together a new post for the blog about Diet Math.  Hopefully, I can get it done and post it to both this blog and to the Diet To Go site tonight.  I don't think that anyone has posted anything like this on DTG, so I can claim a first.

Ok, today's breakfast was nothing special but good none the less. I had the opportunity to go to the gym this morning and spend 30 min on the treadmill (incline 11.0, speed 3.3).  I am learning that pushing myself on the treadmill results in more elevation of the pulse level.  I also did 10 min on the rowing machine, primarily hard row followed by rest followed by hard row, etc.  I burned more than 500 calories on the treadmill and at least 75 on the rowing machine.  That was a good use of my time this morning.  My wife was out shopping at Potomac Mills with my daughter who needed new pants since she has lost over 18 pounds.  Eighteen pounds on me is barely noticable, but on her it really shows.  That is inspiration for me to continue on with this diet.  Hit almost 32 pounds down this morning.  I am starting to feel really good and I can bend over now and not feel like something is not right.