"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those
who dream only by night."~Edgar Allen Poe
Diary:
B: bowl of raisin bran, soy milk
S: protien bar
L: chicken & green beans, xs, vitamins
S: ham and cheese slices
D: peanut-butter/banana sandwich, homemade chili, orange
g: elliptical 1.85 miles, 371+ calories, walk 1 mile, sauna.
Notes:
boy was I tired yesterday evening. I just snoozed off after work and it felt good. I missed the blog, and I still feel a little tired.
Saturday is the first April weigh-in and measurement, so let's recap.
As of March 11, 06
- Chest 56.00
- Waist 66.50
- Hips 56.00
- Difference Overall 13.75 inches (lost)
- Weight 421.80
- Estimated Body Fat 34.84%
- % of Total Weight Loss 13.03%
Prediction is cloudy. If this was a normal period, I would predict 3lbs per week, and hope that I lost 1 inch of waist, however this was no normal period. It started with the end of the St Patrick's Day Challenge, which I decided to take a few days off and celebrate my goal with my challengers and cheerleaders. The next week I got the flu, and didn't work out at all that week, this last week I have been on the recovery, back at the gym, but really not 100%.
I have a feeling then, that I may have not made any progress. If I did lose, I probably gained some of it back from my sick week. That is of course dissapointing if true, but honestly I don't feel guilty as it was a legitimate reason to stay out and not a planned repeatable event.(Ok, here is the truth, Friday was the final weigh-in for the "Biggest Loser" Challenge at work, so I already know my weight.) I went across to the hospital with my only cheerleader at the office. Her name is Lana, and we walk to the clinic together for the check-in. She has been really committed to winning, and we both are cheering each other on. Turns out that she won the challenge. Most of the other competitors lost 4% to 8% body weight, but she blew them all away with 16% total weight loss! She really looks different. It is exciting to see her starting to look 'curvy' instead of 'blob shaped'. I am really proud of what she has accomplished in such a little time. That is amazing. She is going to continue to work-out as she now has found little things (like arm fat) that is annoying to her. Oh, she won $250 for winning the challenge. Cool.
I opted out of the official challenge a day after the initial weigh in for a few reasons. 1) I am a contractor and felt strange competing against employees. The environment isn't quite that friendly yet. 2) The scale the group was using for thier official weights was under 350lb total, so I couldn't weigh-in with the others. This meant my weigh-in would be unofficial and I didn't want to have anyone be upset becuase of this fact. 3) Because they were measuring by Percentage of Total Weight Loss, I was at a disadvantage from the start. I would have to lost 40lbs for the same percentage as someone smaller losing 10lbs. The only real way to measure would be by % of Fat Loss, but that is a tricky and complicated calculation that some people just wouldn't be able to do.
So, that disclaimer being said, what was my unofficial count? From my heaviest I have lost 14.22% total weight. I would have made 2nd place.
10 years ago, while I was in Hong Kong, I got caught up in the commercialism of the place. There were shops and things to purchase everywhere. It was a true buyers paradise. I don't remember the details, other than the whole thing was a nightmare that I don't know why I did, or how I even got away with, but I decided / was conned into / having a suit made for me.
Here is the deal - I think.... When I started the Global Semester trip, I was wearing size 54-56 pants, I think. The Global Semester was a 7-month journey through 12 countries. A group of 20 students and 2 leaders studied, sightsaw, and lived in mostly 4 seperate cultures during the event. We stayed in Egypt, India, Hong Kong and Japan each for 1 month, and the following countries for less time: Switzerland, Greece, Isreal, Jordon, Nepal, & mainland China. In most of these countries we were using a common form of transportation - our feet. We walked and saw architecture, art, and just local 'stuff'. Well, sometime in India (half-way through the semester), I ripped my pants, due to a condition I call 'blowing a gusset'. It isn't what you think.... What happens is when I am in-between sizes, my thighs are one shape, but my waist and hips are another. This difference causes me to have baggy parts of pants and other parts tight. This condition ends up with ripping the baggy areas, usually in the crotch. There you go, I said it. It is embarrasing, so it is out in the open. I rip my pants when I am losing weight. If I stay fat, my pants just stay the same and doesn't happen as often.
Where was I..... ok, so I was in India and obviously walking more and eating less, resulting in a gradual weight loss that had now caused a blowout in my pants. This was a problem. No 'fat man' store to buy pants in Bangalore. I did find a guy who made me a couple pairs of 'pants', but they were really like a light-material sweat pants, not a pair of pant material that I expected. But I lived with this - until Hong Kong.
While in Hong Kong, I was approached by a street vendor for a tailor. I felt this was a great opportunity to have the gussets mended on my pants. This is where the story gets a little hazy... I remember bringing my pants to him, and talking about what I wanted. Shortly thereafter he talked me into just having him make me my own custom-made pants. That discussion turned into making some shirts too, and then he talked me into getting a suit. (It would be just a few dollars more....)
Ok, here is what happened. From wanting pants mended, I somehow ordered 4 pants, 5 shirts, 3 suit jackets, 1 tuxedo, and a full-length italian leather jacket.
Here is what I do remember as if it were yesterday. Two days later, at 3AM the telephone in the room that Ryan and I were staying in starting ringing. It was my mother. She was called by Visa, asking if someone had stolen my credit card or if there was some fraud. They flew a flag when they saw 'thousands' of dollars being charged on my credit card in Hong Kong. I am sure this was unusual. What was some country kid from Nebraska doing charging 3-grand to a place on Humphrey's Avenue in Kowloon?
Of course, my mom freaked. (I was scared to death, not sure if my mom thought I had lost a bolt in my head.) I tried to explain the whole thing, and remember that conversation clearly. Mom asked if I had been trapped into making this deal, but you know, I didn't feel that I was. Maybe they were shady with the way they sold the items, but I felt that I made the decision. The call ended with the purchase going forward, but me feeling like a true immature idiot.
I went to the Tailor twice more for fittings and picking out material, etc. It was cool, I felt like I was a celebrity, because they had bolts and bolts of cloth from eveyone in the world. I looked at all sorts of patterns and colors and textures. I was treated very well. (of course, I was spending a lot, but I took advantage of it.) It is something I would recommend, now, to anyone. At least one time in your life, go somewhere that you will be pampered. It is very uplifting..
By the time we were going to leave Hong Kong for Bejing, the suits were done. Now was the other problem. I still have to travel to two more countries, and there is no way I am going to fly with 5 suits, 1 tux, and a huge leather coat. So, I did the scariest thing. I went to the Hong Kong port and found a big box and put all these new clothes in a 'Chinese slow boat' and mailed it to my sister. The place I took it had little english, mostly mandarin, and I didn't know what would become of this box. I paid very little for the shipping, and the box was just wrapped in string. It felt very suspect. I put a few other items in that box (artwork from Nepal, nick-nacks from Egypt, small rug from India, a radio and some bowls I bought in Hong Kong, etc) that probably was worth over $5000 at the time. Now, I would predict the contents of this package to be well over $20,000. I basically just told the package 'so long, I hope to see you on the other side of the world.' and then mentally chalked up that $5000 as lost. My confidence that the package would actually get anywhere was slim to none. Either way, I was ready to go for the China trip and it was time to go.
It took a few months, but the box arrived at my sister's home in Minnesota, and inside was a trove of treasures. It was like opening a time capsule.
So fast forward to today. I was organizing my clothes to see what gaps I will have in my journey. I noticed that I don't have any size 54 pants. I have three pair of 56, one which actually fits right now and should be labeled 58, and tons of 52 and 50s, but no 54. Kay, take note. When I get to 54 we should go on a shopping spree for new clothes. I found a odd-shaped pants that was mixed in with the 56's, but much smaller. It wasn't labelled and took a while for me to figure out that this was one of my custom-made HongKong pants. since they aren't labeled in size, I had to measure them against other pants I had. I have determined these pants are size 46.
So today I found the rest of these clothes. They are really nicely made and good materials. They still are 'in style' (does a suit ever go out of style? Well, maybe a 70's style leisure suit...)
I am excited about wearing these clothes. It is going to be so cool. When I get down to that size, it will be as if I just gave myself a $3,000 gift. I am ready.
(Hmmmm.. I just had a revelation. I think maybe I missed something that now I just remembered. Did my parents have to put send money to Visa for this purchase? I think I still owe my folks money for this mess, becuase I wouldn't have been able to pay Visa until months later when I got back from China? I need to follow-up on this mess. I think maybe mom and dad got the shaft on this one.... I will have to make it up.)
The immature idiot feeling is now gone, and the feelings of hope and anticipation are all that are left. Would I have done it all again (buying the suits)? Probably not, but who know. As my family and friends will attest, I am weird, and it is impossible to predict what I would do. Either way, life is good, no?
more later
Chazz
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