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Week 1: Success! [J39.9 BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [JESSE 39.9] blog at http://jesse399.blogspot.com/ but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

The first week of Jesse 39.9 is going well. I lost about 5 pounds, from 230.2 to 225.4 (remember on the photos of the bathroom scale, I have to subtract the weight of my clothes). I'm not really surprised, because this always happens when I stop drinking soda and eating bad food. Next week will be harder.

My body is punishing me a bit and I'm going through a bit of withdrawal from lack of caffeine and sugar. I've been tired this week and a bit listless. It doesn't feel good. But, as they say, no pain no gain.

I literally have not had a sip of soda during the last week. I can't remember the last time that happened and it's quite unlike me. I'll be talking a little more about that demon later on.

I did, however, decide to have an orange scone and 1/8 a cup of so-called "Iced Cream" this weekend. Here's hoping that doesn't kill me.

Jesse 39.9 [J39.9 BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [JESSE 39.9] blog at http://jesse399.blogspot.com/ but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

I've decided since I'm going to be 40 next year, that I need to solve my weight issues now. I'm sure a lot of people say that and don't last long. I will succeed where others (including myself over the last two years) have failed. I'll tell you how, but first, some history.

The biggest changes in my weight during my adult life are shown on the graphs below, first showing the last 7 years, then the last 20 years:

Generally, I have struggled losing weight since I got my first apartment in college in 1994. The Great Stomach Flu of 2007 knocked me down to 187 pounds, the lowest in 13 years. After I got divorced in 2010, I started running 20-30 miles a week and eating a carb-free diet. The reward from this was a loss of 40 pounds (the diet also caused kidney stones, but that's another story for another day). When

I started getting back in the dating game in December 2010, on my doctor's advice, I stopped losing weight. After meeting Kristi in April 2011, I became much happier and started eating more (plus Kristi is a really great cook and butter has something to do with that). Although I never really recovered from the gain, I managed to keep it in check during early 2012 when I upped my exercise schedule (we'll go more in depth with exercise graphs later).

That brings us to today; I'm now 75 pounds heavier than I was two years ago. By May, I'll be 39.9 years old. Between now and then, I intend to lose 39.9 pounds... hence the name of this blog (it's also an inside joke on my divorce blog which was called "Jesse 2.0." This blog (like Jesse 2.0) is mainly for me to keep me on track, but if some of the techniques I use help you too, all the better.

Reasons I think I'll succeed this time:

- I know that I have done this before; I know I am capable of losing this much weight.

- My wife Kristi and her daughter will be there for me. It's easy to lose weight when you live alone, not as much when you're both tired and neither wants to cook. But she has committed to using less butter, helping me portion control, and keeping us out of the drive-thru.

- I still have Sudafed on my side. Without it, I probably wouldn't have lost the 40 pounds back in 2010. I take it for my allergies, but a side-effect is loss of appetite. I'm never hungry, I'm just used to eating too much.

- YOU will also be on my side. I'm reactivating the "J-CAM," a webcam at my job, to keep myself honest (I decommissioned it in 2012 due to technical problems). The whole world can now watch me at work and lambaste (mmmm... basted lamb...) me on Social Media if a candy bar or soda can ends up at my desk.

So here's where I'm starting (subtract 2-4 pounds for clothing)... around 230 pounds. Tomorrow I'll discuss how it's going so far, and bad habits that led to my 75-pound gain. You can keep up with my progress here on Blogger, on my Runkeeper profile, or on my public Facebook Feed.