Feb 28

Feb 28 It's a Trap!...Weekly Weight Update

Busy season is underway. It has started off a bit slow but is quickly becoming very, very busy. I can't complain much as our accounting firm does a great job to keep staff as happy and comfortable as possible. Every Saturday one person brings in breakfast for the rest of the staff. Every Saturday the firm buys lunch for everyone in the office. And everyday our office is full of goodies to eat. It builds morale. It also builds the gut. It's a trap!

Candy abounds during tax season. There is a giant bucket of treats in the office right next to mine. It haunts my soul. I swear I can smell it from my desk. I try to avoid it. I often fail. Just look at that picture. There are two peanut butter cups and a Snickers right on top just begging to be consumed faster than the T-Rex ate the bloodsucking lawyer at the beginning of Jurassic Park. (Yes kids, there was a series of Jurassic movies before Chris Pratt with his handsome face and 14 abs came along in Jurassic World. Go watch Jurassic Park. It is good.)

Our kitchen is always fully stocked during tax season. This is just a small sample of the goodies kept on hand. You see those Pringles cans? Can't you just feel the salty chip hitting your lips? Is you mouth watering just looking at them? Mine is and I'm just writing about them. This picture doesn't even do the snack table justice. This is from the second official day of busy season. As we creep closer to tax day we will receive gift baskets from clients and business associates full of sweet and salty treats (they are wonderful people for sending us stuff). Soon this table will be covered.

I don't have a trick for avoiding these traps. I can't avoid the areas of the office where they are kept. All I can do is will my way through the coming weeks. More than once a day I'll be walking down the hall with a can of Pringles, get back to my office, get frustrated with myself that I even picked up the can at all, and walk back down the hall to the kitchen to put the can back.

Sometimes I have the willpower to stave off the Force-like draw of snacks. Other times I cave to the cravings. All I can do is try my best and keep on keeping on.

Last week I talked about gearing up for busy season by making sure to take my twice-daily constitutionals. Weather doesn't always cooperate with me and I'm stuck in-doors. I'm certainly not one that can't go outside in the rain. I don't mind a little rain on my shoulders. I do mind having to then go back to my desk in wet pants. So when it is raining I have to find an alternative. This week had some rain which meant I was walking up and down the stairs in our three-story office building. There are two things I learned from these 10-minute long stair stepping sessions: (1) Walking up and down flights of stairs for 10 minutes can really make your quads burn, even if you aren't trying to work up a sweat but simply get away from your desk for a bit. (2) People give you weird looks if you are repeatedly walking up and down stairs with headphones on and a smile on your face. Haven't you ever seen a guy walking before?

Non-Scale Victories

Scale-based victories are great. They are what I live for and what the Sunday blog is all about. It is a weekly weight update after all. But you know what, sometimes you have to look for those non-scale victories to give you some joy. Sometimes it is your pants fitting better or having to go shopping because all your clothes are too big. Sometimes it is being able to carry the full laundry basket from the basement to the bedroom without getting winded. For me, it was simply being able to sit down.

When Rizzo and I bought our house about 2 1/2 years ago we bought this chair. There was one that was in a place Rizzo lived at some point (I don't remember if it was hers or a roommates) and she said it was great. When we first bought it I tried it out but was never comfortable in it. I felt like the thing was going to break under me every time I sat down. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that I would hear creeks and cracks when I slowly slide my massive frame into the soft cushion. Seeing as this chair is stationed on my side of the bed it sat there used only by our cat Pigface for his evening slumber.

I didn't even really think much of it when a few weeks ago I started sitting in the chair more and more. It never really crossed my mind until this week that I had avoided this chair because of my weight. Now I spend at least a few minutes in this chair each night reading before bed. Rizzo was right, it is extremely comfortable. It just took me 2 1/2 years to get to a place where I could enjoy the comfort.

Sometimes non-scale victories will have to carry you through when scale victories don't come. This week Sunday at Weight Watchers was not as kind as it could have been. This week I went up. Wait for this. .2 pounds. That's right, I packed on .2 pounds to raise my weight to 207.6 and to make the overall weight loss 59.8. I basically maintained which is great considering the slow down of running and the temptations of busy season traps. I make it sound like this upsets me but maintaining isn't so bad. This tells me that I need to be more careful when it comes to the treats in the office but maintaining is a good thing. If all I do is maintain through April 18th then it will be a success.

Damn you busy season and damn you Cherry Blossom 10 miler. It seemed like every time I turned around Rizzo was going out for a run or Rizzo was going to her morning exercise class. How am I supposed to keep up with a woman that goes running 22 hours a day? She is a machine. This week Rizzo racked up 39.5 miles compared to my puny 36.5. That gives her the week victory and the overall lead. Right now she is up by 1.9 miles with 136.1 compared to my 134.2. There are two days left for me to make up the difference but I don't think it will happen. The official results will be posted next week but I think Rizzo will be taking a trip to Red Door Spa.