The official diet started on July 29, 2007. We had a small party for my youngest son’s second birthday, and I ate a lot. As usual. I like to eat. So out of curiosity, I got on the scale that evening before bed. The digitial screen read back to me “216.8″. That is two hundred sixteen point eight pounds. My first thought was “Egads, that’s a lot! I can’t get any bigger, this has got to stop.”

So I went to the laptop, and devised a plan. Most plans involve a computer, at least for setting them up properly. I made a weight chart, and put in the day’s weight. I determined weigh-ins would be every Sunday. I know very well that people are heavier in the evening, but for the sake of consistency I vowed to weigh myself every Sunday evening. I made a date column in the chart that went until the end of this year. Then I decided I needed goals. So I added a column for goal weights, and put in a number for the last Sunday of every month.

Last night, August 26, was the last Sunday of the month. My magic number was 209. To lose 7 pounds in one month seemed very reasonable, and not hard-core diet-nazi insane. Last night, after a healthy dinner (”naked” burrito from Qdoba and a diet Coke) it was weigh-in time. I hopped on the scale. Now, I fully expected to be under 209, because I had made it down to that weight last week. Sure enough the scale read back to me “205.8″ - EXCELLENT.

It should be noted here that my scale also gives readings for percent body fat. I know these readings are likely inaccurate, but they can still provide a means to track progress. If they are way off, at least I’ll be using the same method of way-off measuring on a regular basis. My body fat last month was 26.2%. My goal yesterday was 24.8%, and I was at 24%! Woo-hoo!

The Diet Tip of the Month

As I have mentioned, I’m not on a crazy fad diet. I don’t have a name for it. I cringe when I mention the diet to people because I know the first question will be, “What diet are you on?” I’m not on A diet, I’m just on a diet. You know, consume fewer calories than you burn. Or don’t eat like a big fat pig. Or try to work out instead of chilling on the couch eating Bar-B-Q potato chips. And that is the secret of this month’s success. I moderately increased my daily water intake, and I drastically reduced the amount of food I ate. I still ate some sweets, some carbs, and a good bit of meat, but I didn’t try to eat until I couldn’t move. I also slowly started a work out regiment (sp?), but I hurt myself playing softball so I haven’t been as fully active as I would have liked.