Day 17

Down to 239 now... I've lost almost 21 pounds. This morning I looked up what a pound of fat looks like. First of all, it looks pretty gross. Second, it's bigger than I thought it would be. A pound of fat is about the same size as a can of chili, a bottle of water, or a McDonald's sausage, egg, and cheese McMuffin (ironic, I know). That's what I'm losing each day now- an entire McMuffin. Feels pretty good.
Progress is a strange thing. We try to measure and calculate it, we try to increase it. We are hell-bent on achieving our goals however we have to. Something great happens when we quit trying though. Something magical and informative about our efforts, and about ourselves. When we just make a good plan and stick to it, we progress. Plans generally don't require the constant improvement that we add to them in attempts to better them, but rather just need to be followed. When we quit focussing our energies on improving our plans or creating better plans, and instead focus on keeping the existing plan, I think that we see far greater progress than we would by constantly changing them. There's a lot to be said for consistency, even if the plan isn't the greatest at the onset.

I'm experiencing a lot of this now. I'm sticking to my plan, and day by day, I'm losing an egg McMuffin. I have settled in to my diet now, and I think that though I am certainly hungry and craving crappy foods often, I am comfortable. Trading out my evening juice for chicken broth has been a good call. I'm cutting more calories, varying my diet, and able to eat something hot and savory in the evenings. The organic broth is not at all fatty, but has the sensation of being fatty- a nice addition to my diet, and a good band-aid for the cravings that my brain is producing.

If I continue at my current rate of weight loss, I stand to lose an additional 45 pounds or so. That'll be a total of 65 pounds lost during my two month diet... A literal mountain of McMuffins shed off of my body.

There have been several great motivators for me during my diet. A combination of willpower enabled by simply being tired of being overweight, good friends and family supporting and encouraging me and telling me that I can't quit, a blog that I've set out to capture my experience and share it in with hundreds of readers from 8 countries now, and the prospect of rewards when I finally achieve my goal all keep me focused. Mental barriers that would prevent me from continuing when I'm week are pounded down by this framework, this "architecture of my diet". I couldn't quit if I wanted to... I'm in too deep!!

I believe that this is what is making this diet work for me more than anything else possibly. I can't quit. I have a system, and people are watching to make sure that I stick to it and safely achieve the goal that I have set out to achieve. You know, most diets don't work people say. Well, they never started a blog and made such a big deal about it. That was my objective from the start though- to put something in place that I knew that I wouldn't be able to buck and get out of later. The Zak 20 pounds ago is forcing the present Zak to continue, essentially.

The greatest challenge to my success has been just sticking to the plans and being patient. I am working through the struggles one day at a time, and finding support when I need it. I'm looking forward to being thin- I can't remember what it's like. I'm going to know again in about 44 days though. I can't wait.

Isaiah 40:27-31 has this to say:

Why do you say, O Jacob,

and speak, O Israel,

h“My way is hidden from the Lord,

iand my right is disregarded by my God”?

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is jthe everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

khis understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

31 but lthey who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings mlike eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

So as I continue on to achieve this difficult goal, I can be encouraged by knowing that I am bolstered up when I am week, and that as I am patient and wait on the Lord, I will be sustained and will end up better than I was when I started. My plan will work as I wait patiently for it to.


~Until tomorrow.