The first two-month phase of my weight loss ended May 1 on a disappointing note. Back at the beginning n March 1 at 234.8 pounds, I’d set a goal to drop 14.8 to 220, and though on April 27 I landed at 221.4 and seemed on track to achieve it, I then boomeranged the following three days until I was back up to 223.8 at the beginning of May.
It wouldn’t be until May 14 — two full weeks — that the scale would show me at 220. Frustrating.
So for my second five-week phase begun May 1 I set a goal weight of 215 with a deadline of yesterday. Again the signs were promising: on May 29 I enjoyed my biggest one day differential, dropping to 216.8 from 221. I knew it was too good to be true, still I had hope. But sure enough after a weekend of some relative indulgence I was back up to 218.8 on Monday. On Wednesday’s deadling I was at 217.2, and I wondered how long it might be to find me to 215 (and I hoped it wouldn’t be another 14 days like it took me to get to 220).
Well wonder no more and hope springs eternal: stepping on the scale this morning: 215.6. This is an excellent place for me to be (for now) because it was the weight I was at in 2006 (after the 55-pounds I lost over six months that year) when I had many of the pants and suits I wore then (and still do now) taken in. There are few things more magically satisfying and morale-boosting to a dieter than putting clothes on that suddenly fit after having not for a couple years.
My third phase begins today with a deadline of July 7, and my goal is 210, which at basically 1.25 pounds dropped per week is one I consider completely achievable in that time frame.
My ultimate goal? Slow and steady down another 16 pounds from 210 to 194. Why that odd even number? Blame that on the ridiculously inflexible and impersonal Body Mass Index (BMI)*, which will categorize me as “overweight” until I get down below 194.7. So for once and perhaps only a fleeting moment in my life I’m going to be out of that broad (pun intended) category.
*194.7 is the BMI’s immovable barrier between healthy and overweight, but consider this craziness: the BMI considers 144.1 to be the border between healthy and unhealthy weights for anyone like me at 6’2″. I guess I need to refresh myself with the definition of “healthy” because I don’t think it means “fully emaciated,” which is what I will already be looking like at 194. At 144 the only thing I’d be good for is as an extra in a prisoner of war camp movie.
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