First of all, sorry to those who were looking for a Weigh-In on Saturday. Life has been busy the last few weeks, which has been evidenced by completely failing to post anything other than Weigh-In’s here… But then I failed to even do that. On the plus side, the reason I missed it was because I was so excited to spend Saturday with my family that we got up and left the house before my brain caught up to the normal routine. Oops!

That said… I love Chili… but it doesn’t love me. I was pretty sure I had maintained my weight for the week, though I know I hadn’t lost anything. Then, on Saturday, we went to the 11th Annual North Country Chili Cookoff. I’ve been wanting to go to that for years, and it was a great event. However, any event where the main purpose is to eat 30-plus types of Chili is going to wreak havoc on a weight-loss plan.

Add that to a busy week that included more eating out than I might like, and multiple cancellations that kept me or my workout partner from the Army gym (and he has to sign me in), and you can see why I gained.

This week’s statistics can be found after the jump:

Measurements

• Weight: 340.6 lbs (336.6 lbs last week)
• BMI: 48.87 (48.29 last week)

Thoughts

Well, clearly I’m not pleased with the whole gaining four pounds thing. However, I’m not going to dwell on it. Last week I got a little comfortable, and ended up with too many meetings and social events that involved food.

Obviously, I just need to get back on track doing the things I know work: drinking water, eating smart, and exercising. I’ve got a bottle of water with me right now. I’m planning smart meals for the week (though I’m locked-in to Chinese on Thursday). And I’m about to hop on my recumbent bicycle. And I hope to hit the gym at least once this week, (my partner can’t get me in today, and Fridays just aren’t working with my work schedule). In the mean time, I was given a Total Gym XL, and I’m planning to learn how to use it this week, and begin doing that as well.

I know a number of you who are following my blog are trying to lose weight as well. If you had a good week, awesome! If you had a bad week, don’t beat yourself up! We get enough negativity and backhanded compliments from others as it is. Get motivated, learn from it, and get back to the daily grind!

Here’s the long and short of it all. I’ve found this week to be by far the hardest week of 2010 thus far, and not just in the realm of healthy living. Sunday I found myself at the lowest weight I’ve hit in years, 338.2 lbs. However, starting Monday, I began a slow upward climb on the scale, despite decent eating habits.

Additionally, I hit the gym on Monday for a good workout time with my friend Josh. It was the most physically draining workout I’ve had yet… And it resulted in some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt, in a severe case of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). I could barely walk most of the week, and had to literally crawl up the stairs to go to bed at night. That really put a damper on the whole exercise thing.

Work was more stressful than usual, and involved numerous meetings. I wasn’t home for a number of meals, and instead of bringing healthy stuff to eat, I hit local food establishments a few times. It was great to meet the new owner of Keddy’s in Carthage and try her new menu, and I’m sure I’ll eat there again since it’s convenient to the office and I am a big supporter of local business, but I wasn’t as health-consious with my food as I could have been this week. That isn’t to say I went crazy with my calories, but I’m sure there was more fat, and less fiber and water than in previous weeks.

Yesterday was probably the worst day. I was scrambling to get work done, and somehow managed to not even count or weigh in. Epic fail. After work, I went out bowling with a political group I am a part of, and had two slices of pizza and some soda. It was technically dinner, but again, I wasn’t as vigilant as usual.

All of that added up to a net gain for the week. Doh! The week’s statistics can be found after the jump:

Measurements

• Weight: 342.2 lbs (340.0 lbs last week)
• BMI: 49.10 (48.78 last week)

Thoughts

Up 2.2 lbs?! I’m not happy with that. As the title says, I know I can’t win ‘em all… but I’m still frustrated with that result. It is what it is, however.

I know what I need to do this week to get back on track: First, I need to exercise, but not kill myself in a workout by trying to be a brute. I’m no athlete, and I can’t act like it and expect my body to play along without working into it. Second, more water. I need to “turn to the bottle”, in this case a Nalgene, a little more often than I did this week. Third, I need to be better about food logging and weigh-in consistency.

I know some of you who read this have commented here and privately that you are also on a journey towards health, weight loss, or something similar. Keep it up! You may not have had a bad week yet, but they are inevitable. That doesn’t mean we should give up. Learn from your situations, and if you made mistakes you can control, correct them. Keep going!

Hope you like salsa!

I’ll be honest, this one makes me laugh. Taco Bell has launched an infomercial for their Fresco line of reduced-fat meal options. They call it the Drive Thru Diet, but they are quick to point out that “Drive-Thru-Diet is not a weight-loss program.” Uh-huh. Okay.

Their main spokesperson is a woman named Christine, who lost 54 pounds over the course of two years eating the Fresco line. And just how did she do that? I’ll let Christine explain it:

As you know, the Drive-Thru Diet menu is not a weight-loss program. It’s about making different choices. For me, I didn’t want to cut out my fast food so I started choosing Fresco items from the Drive-Thru Diet menu and making other sensible choices. I reduced my daily calorie and fat intake by 500 calories to 1250 calories a day, and, after two years, I ended up losing 54 pounds! These results aren’t typical, but for me they were fantastic!

Okay then… Christine’s testimonial sounds an awful lot like legal terms and vague generalizations to me, but I guess that’s what one expects from a testimonial posted on the website of one of the nations most popular fast-food joints. Now that we know this isn’t a weight-loss program, despite the marketing approach, I guess we’re all good.

So, what is the Drive Thru Diet? Essentially, it’s a lifestyle that regularly includes items from the Fresco line. Items in which they’ve taken a number of their most popular menu items, removed the cheese and flavorful sauce, and added heaping portions of “fiesta salsa”, also known as diced tomato chunks with liquid. According to the Los Angeles Times, it saves about 50 calories an item. Yay…

Don’t get me wrong… I love me some Taco Bell. It may not be real Mexican food, but it’s quick, easy, and tasty. And admittedly, eating it too often is one of the reasons I got fat in the first place. But the truth is that eating Taco Bell in moderation, just like anything else, will result in you being absolutely fine. It’s all about calories and fat (which, admittedly, are cut marginally by the Fresco line). However, if you eat the 10 Taco meal, regardless of whether it’s original or Fresco style, you’ll blow up bigger than the Goodyear Blimp in no time. It’s not rocket science!

I’ll ask again: What is the Drive Thru Diet? Essentially it’s a marketing gimmick. Maybe I’m just cynical, but I think this is nothing more than Taco Bell emulating Subway’s ad campaign based on Jared Fogle, who lost 245 pounds in a year eating their sandwiches, and kept it off for the past 11 or 12 years. Jared is the man, and Taco Bell thinks Christine may be their woman. Will it pay off?

I guess we’ll wait and see… I know I printed my coupon for that free taco! And I’ll be counting it in my daily food log when I eat it, too.