Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 90: The Return of Thinner
"I know there are all kinds of theories out there about how often you should weigh yourself when you're trying to lose weight."
[Photograph: Ed Levine]
I returned from three days of cold and rain on Cape Cod to my beloved Thinner, though truth be told he did not welcome me with open arms. In fact he greeted me with a weight of 220 pounds. That freaked me out.
So as the week progressed, I looked for signs of life. I got down to 218 pounds by Thursday, so I had a chance of at least minimizing the damage caused by not having Thinner with me.
In fact, I really didn't go crazy on the Vineyard without Thinner. I managed to avoid Mrs. Blake's pies, though I must admit we did stop at Pepe's in New Haven for lunch on our way there. But I have come to one inescapable conclusion: I need a Thinner in my daily life to continue to carefully monitor my weight. Thinner is my Serious Diet blankey.
I'm not particularly proud of that fact. But it's the truth.
I know there are all kinds of theories out there about how often you should weigh yourself when you're trying to lose weight. And I've read up on a lot of them. But in the end it all comes down to what works for any given person. For me weighing myself daily on Thinner has worked, and that's really all that matters, isn't it?
The Weigh-In
Thinner has not been particularly kind to me this week, though, as I noted, I have made slow but steady progress as the week went on. Tasting charcuterie, salumi, and sliders yesterday with my friends Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn, co-authors of the fantastic book, Charcuterie, certainly didn't help, but I think I succeeded in just tasting everything that was put before us. But we are about to find out if in fact I did: 217. Up two pounds from two weeks ago. But with my trusty Thinner back by my side, I'm confident that I'll get back on track.
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4 Comments:
Knowing you can stay on track, is key. Good attitude! Nice brown thinner. Mine is white, and always so dingy.
Cantaloupe Alone at 9:45AM on 10/23/09
no one loves to eat more than me, LOVES to eat more than me. i LOVE to eat. L. O. V. E. to eat. yum. the tastes, textures, smells, colors, and joy of feeding others and/or sharing. the beauty of transformation of foods, the gift of whats on the plate. i love it.
so, over the last 3 years i guess it is now, i've lost about 180 lbs. lots of different efforts, strategies, many efforts, many different ways, but about 2/3 of the way down i latched on to my own Thinner, though to be honest, mine doesn't work that often and really i should call it: fatter cause it doesn't give an accurate reading. still, i find comfort in the numbers, and hopefully the direction. when its going the wrong way i steer clear of the lil' thing. when feel like things are better under control, i'll step onto it again. like your writing style about your thinner and basically the whole thing: the efforts, decisions, etc. I know that YOU love to eat as much as I do! in a way, its kind of fun having the balance of eat+move=weight as we'd like it.
marlena at 9:49AM on 10/23/09
As a not-so-subtle hint my mom gave me a Thinner as a Christmas gift a few years ago but my weight still edged upwards until a combination of low energy levels and a brief unrelated illness prompted me to re-examine my eating habits this June (2009). At 6' 1" and 260 lbs I was fortunate to have a build such that the grossly excess weight was not evident to most that knew me. But now that I've lost 35 lbs and still losing (albeit more slowly) people have actually norticed and although I didn't start using the Thinner until this year and only after I'd lost the first 10 lbs or so - it's become a daily ritual (1x morning and 1x at night).
Mine appears to be remarkably consistent and accurate but I don't bother with the BMI body fat feature - I'm skeptical of how accurate that function could possibly be. What really matters to me is how I feel and the weight level, as it has dropped - has been correlated a reduction in my glucophage number and cholesterol levels (granted - in June I was put on medication for those but the drastic reductions would not have occurred from medication alone).
Like Ed I am now seeing greatly decelerating loss levels and it's frustrating. 260 to 240 was a cinch... 240 to 230 took much longer.... the next 5 lb reduction took 2X as long as the previous 10 lb loss.... and on it goes.
phaelon56 at 10:21AM on 10/23/09
Ed, we were totally in New Haven at the same time. Pepe's was out of clam pies by the time we got there though sadly.
Jenn Sit at 2:52PM on 10/23/09