February 3, 2012
Weight: 373.0
Change from Last Week: -0.2 pounds
Change from Highest: -29.8 pounds

Zero point two pounds.

I’ve watched my food. I’ve eaten well. I’ve counted my points. I’ve exercised HARD.

I have earned more than 0.2 pounds this week. At this rate… I will lose ten pounds this year.

*sigh* Something has to give.

It is not me. I am not giving up. I do not give up.

I tried eating more early in the week, and that made a big fat zero’s worth of difference.

This week, I will alternate days of higher food and significantly lower food. Let’s see if that will do it.

One change I am going to make this week is to significantly UP my veggie content via our new cold press mastication juicer (woo hoo!) and make some raw crackers with the pulp. When I look back through my journal, I see plenty of fruits, lean proteins, and whole grains, but I see remarkably few vegetables.

In fact, there are days at a time where I eat none.

I just don’t like vegetables.

Time to put on my big boy pants and make it happen, and veggie juice (which I can surprisingly tolerate) sounds like a good way to do it.

I’ll blog later about the February updates for my New Year’s Resolutions.

Related Posts:

• A Changing Things Up Weigh-In
• A Surprising Weigh-In
• A First Week Weigh-In

This morning, I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of my weigh-in. However, I DID weigh-in, and the results, in this Changing Things Up Weigh-In, are…

January 27, 2012
Weight: 373.2
Change from Last Week: -0.4 pounds
Change from All-Time Highest: -29.6 pounds

It is a loss, albeit a small one.

How is this loss different than the last year? Well, I’ve lost pretty consistently for several weeks now. Last year, I would get exasperated, have a mini-binge (or even just a hearty splurge), and completely eliminate any minor loss.

I’m not quitting. But I am going to change things up to attempt to speed up my weight loss. I’ve got three ideas for how I can do this, and I’m going to try each for three weeks before I go on to a different one. (And obviously, if Idea #1 works, then I will stop there.)

Idea #1 – I’m currently on Weight Watchers, which gives me 49 flex points a week, in addition to my daily points. (I know they aren’t really called flex, but they used to be flex, and old habits die hard.) I tend to eat about 7 extra points a day. As a result, my point intake is pretty much the same, every day.

I have recently read research that shows that variable calories over the course of a week can make a significant impact on weight loss. Rather than eat equal calories over the entire week, I’m going to eat all of my flex on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and eat JUST my daily points Monday thru Thursday.

Idea #2 – If this doesn’t work, then I’ll give up the weekly points altogether and ONLY eat my daily points.

Idea #3 – The old Weight Watchers plan (where I had 34 daily points and 35 weekly points) worked great for me the first time I lost weight. If Idea #1 doesn’t work, then I’m going back to the old Weight Watchers plan with the old point system.

I’ll be honest – I’m a little nervous about trying, but I owe it to myself. Yes, I am losing, but I am losing SO slowly, and a guy my size (370+ pounds) and my age (early 30s) should be able to lose much faster than this. A little experimentation shouldn’t hurt me. I’ll continue to weigh daily and monitor myself.

And ultimately, if I can only continue to lose a pound or less per day, then so what? I’m not going to stop. I figure I need to lose about 190 more pounds. At a pound a week, that can be done in four years. Do I want to be an obese 37 year old or a thin 37 year old? The answer is as simple as that.

Stick with me. I’m staying with it.

And now, two pieces of giveaway news. Last week, I gave away the Eat Smart Scales, and I announced the winner on this page. I heard nothing from the winner, emailed the winner and still heard nothing, so I redid the drawing. If you were the winner, I’m sorry – I made good efforts for a week and unfortunately heard nothing. As a result, the new winner of the EatSmart Scale is Molly Nitka!

And now, the next giveaway! Last Saturday, I held a drawing for MyBlogSpark and General Mills for five boxes of cereal. The entries ended last night at 10 p.m. CST, and I had nine eligible comments. Using random.org, the lucky winner was comment #4!

Congratulations Karin! Please email me your mailing address to jeremy@stellarpath.net.

Tomorrow is date night. See you Sunday!

Related Posts:

• A Surprising Weigh-In
• A Return to Vlogging Weigh-In
• A First Week Weigh-In

This is most definitely a drop at a time weigh-in. This weight is slowly but surely falling off, one drop at a time. I feel like I’m doing everything right, so as long as this weight keeps coming off, I shall not complain. One pound a week is still 52 pounds a year.

January 20, 2012
Weight: 373.6
Change from Last Week: -1.0 pounds
Change from Highest: -29.2 pounds

Yes, it’s slow, and I continue to try and figure out why my weight loss is so slow. I’m a big dude. I should be able to lose faster.

But at the same time, I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

In the past, I’ve hit 370 and stalled. I do not want to do that again. Let’s keep going ahead!

Short post today, but I do want to announce the winner of the EatSmart Scale! Using random.org, the lucky winner was Entry #4, Sabrina Smith!

Congratulations Sabrina! Come back tomorrow for another (non-scale) giveaway!

And to show a little Link Love… including to myself…

At my food blog, Stellar Eats, I just posted my second pizza of 52 weeks of pizza, a Turkey Taco Pizza!

Skinny Emmie, who I had the pleasure to meet last year at the local Fitbloggin’ meetup in Nashville, posted this week about starting to exercise when you are an “ultra beginner.” I think many of us who started working out as the morbidly obese (or even super morbidly obese) can certainly relate!

And Brooke at Brooke Not on a Diet describes how she is once again finding herself on Weight Watchers, a sentiment to which I, too, can relate.

Related Posts:

• A Surprising Weigh-In
• A Put Up or Shut Up Weigh-In
• A Changing Things Up Weigh-In

Because I fully expected to gain this week. We had a late Christmas. I slacked up a bit on the eating front. (Stayed strong with exercise, though. Woo hoo!) I was fully prepared to see a gain of a pound or two.

Instead…

January 13, 2012
Weight: 374.6
Change from Last Week: -1.0 pounds
Change from Highest: -28.2 pounds

I’ll take it.

I’m a slow loser. I’ve known that for a while, and when I go off on tangents and eat too much, I am just exacerbating the problem. I spend too much time waiting for the other shoe to drop and for me to get on the scale and see an amazing gain.

But then I got to thinking about it – I would rather try hard all week and have again than goof off and KNOW why I gained weight. So I am pledging to do this week right.

My goals for next week:

1. Follow my points (including flex points) to a tee. Journal everything!
2. Drink plenty of water.
3. Exercise regularly.

Seems very doable.

And yes, I know that Weight Watchers no longer calls the weekly points Flex Points, but old habits die hard.

In other news, today is Friday the 13th!

If you are a horror fan, like myself, then today is practically a national holiday. I’m very excited that I get to work from home today due to the snow (finally!), and tonight, the missus and I are planning to pop some popcorn and snuggle up on the couch and watch Jason Voorhees disembowel some stupid teenagers. Good times.

One quick note – I held the vote last week to decide who would get the $100, and there was a tie between two organizations. Therefore, I’ll be giving each $50. The winners are the Elephant Sanctuary and 1500 Sanitary Pads for Ugandan Girls. Thanks to everyone who voted!

Let me also share a few links with you this week.

First of all, I finally made (last weekend) a pizza for my 52 Weeks of Pizza! You can read about it on my food blog Stellar Eats.

Josie at Yum Yucky offers proof that working out gives you swagger.

Kerri O at Fit Views shares a paleo mayonnaise recipe. I’m not quite brave enough yet to tackle making my own mayo, but I really do want to try eventually! It’s got to taste better than the chemical-laden stuff you buy in the stores.

Hanlie at Ordinary Abundance describes why she is a hippie. For what it’s worth, I’m apparently a hippie, too.

Come back tomorrow for a giveaway post!

Related Posts:

• A Changing Things Up Weigh-In
• A Put Up or Shut Up Weigh-In
• A Return to Vlogging Weigh-In

I hold a weekly weigh-in every Friday. It is one of my goals this year to lose this excess weight I have given myself. Right now, my goal weight is 180. I realize as I get closer to this goal, I may reevaluate, and I am fine with that. 180 is just a number that exists in my head so I can imagine, “That’s where I’d like to end up.”

I will point out that I am very broad-shouldered (God help me, I really AM big boned) and six feet tall, so 180 may be WAY too low. Regardless, 180 is what I am shooting for right now. We shall see.

As for how I am losing weight, I’ll write a much more detailed blog post in the coming days, but basically, I am cutting out white sugar, white flour, processed food, preservatives, and as many chemicals as I can.

I have to disclaim right now – the first few days of eating clean were HARD. I wanted nothing more than to say “screw it, I’ll just count calories!” and eat everything in sight.

I did not do this, because experience has shown me that, for me, a calorie is not a calorie is not a calorie. When I was in my mid-20s, that was absolutely the case. I could just eat less of junk and still lose weight. In my mid-30s, I cannot do that.

You will read a lot of bloggers say that where calories come from is irrelevant. For some people, this is true. If you are one of them, however, do not despair. A LOT of us have to eat clean (whether it is no processed foods, increased fruits and veggies, vegan, Paleo, or anything in between) to lose weight.

But the best part of this eating plan? I feel amazing! I have more energy, my skin is less greasy, my fingernails and hair are even growing faster (seriously – I actually noticed this), and when I do eat something “fake” and processed, within five minutes, I feel like crap. Eating clean makes me feel so good, it is now easy to stay on track.

That also said, I’m not gung-ho, which means I do “bend the rules” occasionally. Honestly, this is more for a financial reason than anything else.

I would say that I eat 90% clean, 10% off-plan. It may even be closer to 98/2, and there are many days in a row where I eat 100% clean. However, life is too short to give up soda forever, in my book, so I occasionally treat myself. I don’t view this as going off plan.

I track my food, although I do not, at the moment, count calories or keep up with points. (When I do track, I use Weight Watchers point system. Although I am not a member at the moment, I still think very highly of WW and their point system makes more sense and is easier to me than strict calories.)

My rule of thumb I am currently giving myself is that if I can lose weight by just tracking my food (currently by writing down in a moleskin journal I keep with me at all times), then I’ll continue just tracking. If I stop losing, I become more strict and keep up with points.

This week is a First Week (of the year) Weigh-In.

So, where I do stand right now?

January 6, 2012
Weight: 375.6
Change from Last Week (actually 1-1-12): -0.8 pounds
Change from All-Time Highest (was 402.3 pounds, several years ago): -27.2 pounds

It isn’t a large loss, but it is a loss. This week, I noticed that when I am hungry, I tend to go for nuts and other high-fat foods. They are clean, but they are still full of fat (albeit good fats) and calories. I am not limiting them, but I am going to be more aware of going for fruits and vegetables in the coming week. Hopefully, it will increase my weight loss for next week.

I have decided that for the first Friday weigh-in of every month, I am going to review my 2012 Resolutions and see how I am faring!

1. I am going to weigh less each month.
January’s Goal: Weigh less than 376.4 on February 1st.

To accomplish this, I will continue to work out, eat clean, and be mindful of what food goes into my body.

2. I am going to continue to eat clean.

This one is very subjective, so I am not giving myself a monthly goal. However, I am going to continue blogging about eating clean, so stay tuned.

3. I am going to significantly increase my fitness without a gym membership.

Last year at this time, the gyms were so crowded I couldn’t stand it. This year, my wife and I work out at home. We can get just as good a workout at home as we could in a gym, and it’s free! This one is also subjective, but I will soon report on what we do for a workout.

Just know this – you can workout ANYWHERE.

4. On my food blog, I am going to create a different pizza each week for my 52 Weeks of Pizza Project.
January’s Goal: Create and document four different pizzas.

We’re doing our first pizza tomorrow night. No problem. I LOVE pizza!

5. I am going to obtain my ACE Personal Fitness Certification this year.
January’s Goal: Complete the first two weeks of the ACE 20-week certification program.

Yes, I know there are four weeks in January, but I am going to commit to only finishing two this month. I also am continuing the classes for my second Master’s degree, and I have to plan the curriculum for the classes I am teaching that begin this month. Two weeks will be a nice way to get back into studying.

6. I am going to write at least 10,000 words of fiction per month.
January’s Goal: Finish “plotting” and get those 10,000 words written!

I am a wannabe author. More to the point, I want to be a young adult author. I have a novel I am working on, and I’ve already got around 15,000 words written, but there is a plot snarl coming up I need to get sorted out. I can absolutely do this, though.

For me, the best thing I can do as a writer is to NOT STOP. If I take a few days off for any reason (usually because I hit a wall), it is so easy to just stop. I have to keep writing.

Okay, a few other things. I said back in December if that I could reach 369 by January 1st, I’d donate $100 to my favorite charity, and if I didn’t, I’d donate $100 to a charity that YOU choose. This is the survey. I opened comments to suggest charities, and these were the three that came up. Please vote, and whoever is ahead on

All three of these look like good organizations, and I am happy for any of the three to get the money. You have until January 12th to vote. I’ll announce the winner at next Friday’s weigh-in!

And lastly, you have until January 8th to sign up for the very first Healthy Living Postcard Exchange! This is a way to get motivation in the mail. Visit the link above to find out more and learn how to sign up. If you don’t want to join this month, you can, of course, join future months at ANY time.

We’re a week into 2012. How are you resolutions (if you made any) holding up?

Related Posts:

• A Changing Things Up Weigh-In
• A Surprising Weigh-In
• A New Year’s Day Weigh-In

But first a weigh-in!

December 2, 2011
Weight: 374.2
Change from Last Week: -2.0
Change from Highest: -28.6

Woo hoo! A few things I have thought about this week. 370 seems to be my sticking point. I can’t get past it. That makes me a tiny bit sad, because earlier this year, I was lighter than this. But oh well. You can’t change the past, only the future, so upwards (er, downwards) and onwards, yes?

And secondly… every December of my life, every single one since 1978, I have gained weight. Every one.

Not this one.

I’m not going to go crazy and say I’ll lose ten pounds, because I know with Christmas and Vegas, it isn’t going to happen. Frankly, I’m proud of myself for pledging to lose any weight this month, because in years past, I would have just hoped to stay the same.

But this year, I am going to reach 369. The end. I WILL start 2012 lighter than I started December 2011.

And here’s how (I hope) you’ll help me out.

I’m going to give $100 to a charity of MY choice if I make it to 369.

I’m going to give $100 to a charity of YOUR choice if I don’t.

That means I may end up donating $100 to a charity that I don’t have the warm fuzzies for.

One note – I REFUSE to give to PETA or the Animal Liberation Front. I find both to be terrorist organizations, and I absolutely will not give to them. I’d rather burn it than give either organization a penny. Please note, I don’t have an issue with animal-friendly organizations or even an organization that is pro-veganism or otherwise opposed to eating meat. However, and I can’t stress this enough, I detest PETA and ALF (the terrorists, not the loveable alien) with a consuming, fiery hatred. I may write a post someday to explain my hate.

But if, on January 1st, I don’t weigh 369 or less, I’ll put up a poll and I’ll let you decide where my money goes. I’m even okay with it going to an organization that runs polar opposite to my political beliefs (which you’ll never hear me share on the blog, because public political talk is just ugly talk in my book). This is my motivation, and it’s charity in that I’m giving to an organization, even if it isn’t one I approve of.

Sorry, this turned into an almost-rant and I didn’t mean for it to.

So… yeah… put up or shut up time. I’m excited about this, and I think it will help me out.

Because five-ish pounds is DOABLE, even with a holiday and a vacation to Vegas in the midst. I’m still going to enjoy myself. Anyone want to join me?

And because I feel like doing a little bit of linking, let me share some of my favorite blog posts I’ve read this week! (Please note – I asked none of these bloggers for permission to share their links. I’ve never shown any link love. Is this bad netiquette?)

From Getting Fit: No Matter the Pain (actually, from a few weeks ago), Reinaldo wrote a great post about the different types of diets people follow and our attitudes toward them.

Roni Noone at Roni’s Weigh blogged about her new food journaling technique that I am going to try for myself, starting tomorrow!

Steve at 265andcounting BlogofSteve Running on Awesome Next Name Here just wrote about how old pictures can be motivational.

Oh, and the super awesome Josie from Yum Yucky is once again a celebrity!

And lastly, Brandon from A Healthy Dad is kinda-maybe planning a race I can barely wrap my mind around.

Of course, I read WAY more blog posts than this and enjoyed many, many, many of them, but these are just some that happened to stand out to me today. I think I’ll start doing this every weigh-in.

Any blog posts from this week stand out to you?

Related Posts:

• A Surprising Weigh-In
• A Changing Things Up Weigh-In
• A Drop at a Time Weigh-In

Oh yeah! Down 0.8 from Wednesday! And that was WITH a traditional Thanksgiving meal! It just goes to show (me) that if I eat moderately, enjoy myself, and don’t go overboard, I CAN enjoy the holidays and stay on plan.

November 25, 2011
Weight: 376.2
Change from Last week: -2.6 pounds
Change from highest: -26.6 pounds

I do realize that this may not be typical and I may have to give some back next week. But regardless, I didn’t put on tons of weight. I didn’t gorge myself. And I even had a small slice of pecan pie last night that was every bit as good as the three slices I would have had in years past.

Thanksgiving: 0
Jeremy: 1

And on to the shopping…

I’m truthfully NOT a Black Friday shopper. I go, but I’m not one of those who ever camps out or even waits in line. In fact, when I found out that Target shoppers were going to be lined up past the front door to Lowe’s, I suggested we hit Wal-Mart first.

I go to Black Friday sales for ONE reason.

Cheap DVDs. And I knew Wal-Mart and Target were both going to have some cheap DVDs and Blu-Rays that I wanted to attempt to get my hands on.

The plus side of having such a short shopping list? If I don’t get it, no big deal.

First stop… Wal-Mart

Our first stop was Wal-Mart. Our town has two Wal-Marts, and we always go to the one that is on the other side of town because it tends to be less crowded. Even on Black Friday, it was less crowded. I’ve seen our Wal-Mart with a bigger crowd than this on regular shopping days.

We picked out four Blu-Rays, and although Tina had her heart set on getting a $38 Shark Floor Steam Cleaner, we couldn’t even find the displays.

After getting in line, (thanks to some very nice people who let us cut since we didn’t have a cart and literally had only a few things), Tina saw the Shark sitting, unattended, by the register. After asking everybody around if it was theirs, no one claimed it, so we ended up getting the cleaner, too. Win!

Second stop… Target…

Our town only has one Target. Dear Jesus, this place was packed.

After making our way around the store and asking a few Good Samaritans where the DVDs were, we finally found the movies. I had my heart set on the $7.99 Psych TVonDVD sets. Alas, the first DVD stations we found only had movies. Fortunately, yet another Samaritan pointed us to the back of the store, and we were able to get EVERY DVD box set we had on our wish list, including the entire series of Heroes for only $7.99 per season. Super win!

But then… we had to get in line.

Super suck.

The problem was that four lines were feeding into one mega line. The truth of the matter is, they needed a line referee because people kept cutting. After we had been in line for forty-five minutes, someone ahead of us was complaining because it had already taken them fifteen minutes to make it that far.

However, we reminded ourselves that we had everything we came for, and if we had to wait for a while because some people chose to screw up their karma by cutting line, then we were still going to get everything they needed. And they were going to have slashed tires in the parking lot. Win win.

But yeah, the line sucked. And continued. It took us about an hour to FINALLY check out, and we semi-bonded with the people in front of us, so all in all, a successful trip.

And yes, we got WAY more DVDs than we needed, so we’re counting this the rest of our Christmas shopping for each other, and except for a few relatives, we are now DONE Christmas shopping.

It’s Christmas!

I love Christmas! We’ve had our tree up for a week. I plan a blog post already to detail some of our ornaments, including a few that are fitness and weight loss related.

I’ll be back on Friday with a geeked-out Power Rangers post, because I haven’t done one of those in a long time.

To my American readers, please continue to have a wonderful holiday weekend. And to my non-American readers, please have a wonderful weekend!

Related Posts:

• Pre-Holiday Weigh-In and a Motivational Image
• A Changing Things Up Weigh-In
• A Surprising Weigh-In

Now I may be all bloated and full of salt on Friday, but I am STILL going to weigh-in. Let’s just see how Wednesday and Black Friday weigh-ins compare.

I’m about to show you a weight loss motivational picture, but before this turns into something else, let me post one final Thanksgiving image for some holiday cheer.

A gym in Brazil (I think…) posted pictures such as this for their advertising a few years ago. A lot of people got upset. Fat jokes or things that others consider insensitive truly don’t bother me. And for that reason, I find this picture both motivational and AWESOME.

And because I want to look like him and I have a man crush, I’m posting this picture, and I’m reminding myself, “Would he be splurging non-stop for the next five weeks? Don’t think so.”

Related Posts:

• A Changing Things Up Weigh-In
• A Surprising Weigh-In
• A Put Up or Shut Up Weigh-In

I have been trying to concentrate on eating healthy. For one, since I am sick, I felt like my body could heal itself better if I gave it real food not full of preservatives. And for another reason, my diet is the only way I’ve been able to lose weight for about a week and a half now. Between the sprained foot that has taken me out of the “running” for Run For Your Lives and the sinus infection, I’ve been benched from the gym.

Unfortunately, my work schedule has not lightened up at all. I am still pulling 12 hour days four days a week and a normal work day on Friday. I’m not complaining; I still love my job, but dang. Fall semester is rough. I don’t want to wish it over because fall and the upcoming Christmas season are my two favorite times of the year, but man, oh man, the spring term is SO much easier!

When I have been home, I’ve been resting. I’ve had a kitty who has been resting on the couch with me trying to make me feel better.

So, since exercise has not been helping me lose weight lately, I thought that perhaps if I eat really clean, that might help. Did it?

It did.

I weighed in this morning at 372.0.

October 15, 2011
Weight: 372.0
Change from Last Week: -2.4 pounds
Change from Highest: -30.8 pounds

I am going to resume exercising today, though. Nothing too strenuous. Tina and I are going for a walk.

But I also came to a BIG, money-saving conclusion during my illness.

I really, really, REALLY enjoyed not getting up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym.

After reading Steve Kamb’s Nerd Fitness for the past year plus, I’ve really come to the conclusion that you CAN get fit anywhere. (Seriously? Have you seen his abs? I’ve got a major man crush. Sorry Steve. Hope that’s not weird.)

I have free weights at home. I can do push ups and ab work anywhere. I have more exercise videos than the Library of Congress, I have a Wii with several workout games, and I live in a town that gives me access to at least six different parks with walking trails.

I cancelled my gym membership. I am planning to exercise solely from home. Aside from the fact that Tina and I could use the money (her student loan debt is, as most college graduates can sympathize, significant, and every penny saved is a penny toward that). In addition, by working out at home, we’re also saving money on gas and time.

I want to get a Polar heart rate monitor that lets me track my calories burned, but for the next several months, I’m going to see if I can stay as motivated to workout at home as I can going to the gym. Honestly, I feel really good about it. I think I might even have the desire to work out more. For a while, I got sucked into the mind trap of feeling like I had to go to the gym to workout, when the fact is… the world is my gym.

How do you get your workouts in? At the gym or at home, or both?

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This really isn’t even a weigh-in. Let me just do a bit of word blurg (a nicer word than vomit, don’t you think?) and describe everything that has happened lately. The good… and the bummed me out.

First, the good.

I weighed in two Fridays ago at 370.8.

Woo hoo!

I weighed in this morning, because I realized I hadn’t written a single blog post in almost two weeks, at 374.4.

You know what, though. I’m not too sad about it, for two reasons. One, there is a reason for the weight gain, which I’ll explain in a bit. And two, I’ve still lost inches! I realized that I had gotten into the third hole of my belt.

As a result, I measured myself and saw that my waist was 51.5”, which is two inches down from the last time I measured on September 9th. Woo hoo!

So, let me just get everything else out that has happened here very quickly.

Run For Your Lives is in two weeks on October 22nd.

It does not look like I will be running.

Why?

Because I freaking sprained my FOOT on Sunday! Seriously, who sprains their foot?!

Well, I do. I sprain my foot. Tina and I went for a jog, and while I wasn’t really feeling the workout, I pushed through and finished it. I felt like I was in a decent place for the race. I didn’t suspect I would be capable of running the entire thing, but I did feel like it was possible that I might be able to jog and walk the race and finish in under 42-45 minutes.

However, by late Sunday night, my foot ached. I wasn’t too stressed about it.

The next morning when I woke up, it hurt worse. My left foot ached so bad that I could only walk/hobble by putting all of my weight on my heel. I was SLOW. One of my colleagues saw me when I finally trudged in to work and said, “You should really probably get that checked out.”

“But… Zombies!”

Well, that argument didn’t really hold up, so I decided to bite the bullet and go to the WKU Health Services Center. Fortunately, it is located about one hundred feet from the building my office is in, so it wasn’t too far of a trek.

After X-rays and a little foot manipulation, it was determined that it wasn’t broken (whew!), just badly sprained (suck!). I was given an anti-inflammatory and crutches and ordered to stay off of my foot as much as possible for the next week.

“But doc, zombies!”

No go. He said that I was to do no strenuous, weight-bearing exercise for the next week. More to the point, he said, “I appreciate that you are trying to be physically active and losing weight is fantastic, but a man of your weight, especially when you have already had stress injuries like this one, should not be jogging. Exercise, definitely. Weight-bearing exercise, even. But no high-impact activities like jogging. After you’ve lost some weight, we’ll talk.”

I can’t be mad. He said it in a very delicate way, which I appreciate. I’ve had doctors in the past who would have told me, “You’re too fat. Fat people shouldn’t jog.” He was very appropriate and personable about it, which was nice.

So… as much as I want to be a runner, it’s going to have to wait.

I’m still trying to decide what to do about Run For Your Lives. Tina and I have already reserved our hotel room, so we are going to DC for the weekend. As for whether we’ll race… well, ordinarily, I would just plan to walk the race. However, this race is released in waves, and I don’t want to be walking the course when the wave behind me comes running up. Any suggestions? I hate to throw in the towel, but I think I’ve been benched.

But wait, the suckfest continues!

I also have a sinus infection. I’ve got a Z-pak, but I’m REALLY hoping I’ll be well by Saturday. After all, Saturday is our One Year Anniversary!

Fortunately, fall break starts tomorrow. I’ve got literal stacks of papers to grade and tons to do, but I am going to be able to do them from home. No teaching on my feet for hours. So hopefully, the rest will help me heal.

I’ll try not to disappear again!

On the plus side, I am eating well. I’m all about real food at the moment, regardless of caloric content. Doesn’t this breakfast look amazing?

So, what’s new with you?

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