The Quest to Lose 10 Pounds in 6 Weeks – Week Six

Well, Fran is just days away from his next doctor’s appointment, after being told he needed to lose weight before he came back for a follow-up and for more blood-work. While he’s been steadily losing weight, the issue he’s struggling with is that this is just the start. After losing this initial amount, there’s still a way to go before he’ll be classified as in a healthy category. On top of that, this past weekend brought Easter and when you have a three-year-old child, Easter means a certain bunny comes to town…I think you know where I’m headed with this. I know Fran discusses this in his post below, so I’ll let him do the ‘talking’. In the meantime, here are his latest stats:

Week One (Starting Weight): 220 pounds

Week Two: 218 pounds

Week Three: 215 pounds

Week Four: 214 pounds

Week Five: 213 pounds

Week Six: 212 pounds

Total Weight Loss: 8 pounds

Another pound down! Slow and steady, consistently losing. This should point to a long-term weight loss where he keeps it off. And just in case you’ve missed the background, here are the first few posts from Fran on his quest to lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks:

Week One – Why the doctor insisted I have to lose weight

Week Two – The diet pitfalls of traveling and socializing for work

Week Three – Making new healthy habits (and finding ways to still incorporate alcohol)

Week Four – Wishing there was a magic weight loss machine and looking forward to new clothes

Week Five – Water is boring and overeating just looks fun

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I did it again. I lost another pound. And yes, I am pretty happy about that. For those of you scoring at home, that is 8 pounds. 8 pounds. And then, a small rodent with large floppy ears came to town and may have ruined everything.

Yes, the Easter bunny is very cute and my son, and children everywhere, adore him. And I get it, I read Watership Down. Rabbits are cute and this one is packing baskets of chocolate and jelly beans so yeah, he is pretty awesome. But as a 42 year old man trying to lose weight, the Easter bunny is evil incarnate, the root of all bad things and I hate him.

I am much more of a savory guy than a sweets guy. If I was offered a chocolate cake or a bacon cheeseburger, there would be no choice at all. There is meat, cheese and swine in my future. But when you are filling plastic eggs with M&Ms, jelly beans and tootsie rolls, you are going to partake. And I did. Big time. Thankfully my wife was able to make some calls and get the Jaws of Life and pry the bags of candy from my hands. It was not pretty.

And then Grandma came to town. Grandma is very generous and takes us out for lunch. I was pretty good. I got chicken and ate salad and was able to avoid pasta, cream sauce and various cheeses. I did partake in a little bit of bread but for the most part, I showed restraint, with food. We ate lunch at a local spot and the waitress knows me very well and by that I mean, she is very generous with wine and I don’t fight back. And then Grandma and I went out for coffee. My mom had coffee and I had 2 pints of beer. Fail.

In my defense, up until Sunday and Monday of this past week. I had done really well. Lots of vegetables, continuing to limit my alcohol and I made it to the gym 3 times and had some really good workouts. Like the sweaty kind where you feel stronger after. Those are awesome. My inner Schwarzenegger was smiling. I also saw something funny at the gym that made me laugh.

There is the gargantuan man at the gym using the leg press machine. Dude was strong and was essentially leg pressing a Volkswagen. Strong. Dude could snap me like a dry twig. The funny thing about this is, he was wearing a mask. It was a mask like the one Bane wore in the last Batman movie but you know what the big difference was? HE IS NOT BANE!!! And even if he were, Batman is still going to win. C’mon. In any case, I have no idea what that mask was or what purpose it served but even if it guaranteed me six-pack abs in a matter of minutes, I don’t think I am strapping one of those on my face. I am not sure what he was training for but I am not sure it merited the mask. To each his own I suppose. I actually had some good moments at the gym too.

I saw one of those guys I was referring to in last week’s post. He was really overweight and he didn’t seem to be having an easy time of it but he was there. He showed up and he put in the time and worked out. I respect the hell out of that dude. I hope he reaches his goal. I really do. The other thing is all about me.

I was in the gym doing some curls. Blast those biceps, bro. And you KNOW I use the squat cage for curls. 😉 No, I don’t. Broscience reference.

In any case, the way I was standing caused my calves to flex and I caught a look. I am actually developing my legs! I didn’t think this was even possible. I mean, I am certain I will never have tan legs but at least maybe they will look strong. It made me feel really good. Pretty cool.

So, this is it. I am 8 pounds down and my appointment with the doctor is this week (unless Carly has the baby and I have to cancel). I am actually terrified. I don’t think I am going to make it to 10 pounds. I keep having dreams that I didn’t lose any weight. True story. And I am nervous that the scale in my bathroom is going to show me one weight and the one in the doctor’s office will show another weight. If 8-9 pounds at home is equal to 3-4 pounds in the doctor’s office, I will be devastated. There may be litigation against one or both of the scales in this scenario. I want the doctor to know that I took this seriously. And I want anybody reading this to know that as well.

Regardless, I will continue to work hard to lose the 10 pounds and to lose the additional weight after that. In any case, I will share whatever the doctor tells me, next week on Serial. Sorry, it felt like that for a minute. Cheers everybody. Thanks for reading.

– Fran