a long-overdue diet plan...also, talk of bikes and weddings

Those of you paying attention to the sidebar and weigh-in posts may have noticed that I haven't seen any significant weight loss for well over a year. Since this began as a weight-loss site, that fact is a bit embarrassing.

In that time, I have half-assed various solutions to the problem, but I haven't given anything my best effort. Truth is, I really, really wanted to lose weight with exercise alone. Month after month, I stubbornly refused to admit that my body just doesn't work that way...at least not with the exercise that I was doing and the food I was eating. All I've really proven is that I can maintain a 199 to 202-lb body weight from here to eternity. That is not really what I have in mind for the rest of my life.

So. It's back to South Beach for me. I haven't decided whether I'm going to do phase 1 or just skip straight to phase 2. Both have their advantages. I could use the psychological boost of the big initial loss in phase 1, but phase 2 is less of a shock to the system...basically how I'm eating now, only cleaner (a lot cleaner). Right now, I'm leaning toward a phase 1 start, since part of the reason I have made no progress in the past year is that I try to eeeease into things by throwing in all these conditions and modifications, and then get discouraged by my lackluster results before I work my way to a plan that actually, erm, works.

So, today is the first day, and it has been nearly phase-1 compliant. It would have been totally on-track, but I had a mishap with the eggs I was going to eat this morning. I cracked them, seasoned them, whisked them...then spilled them all over the counter as I bent to get the skillet from the cabinet. Since those were the last two eggs in my refrigerator (cue the tiny violins), I had cereal instead. But it was hot oat bran cereal! With 6 grams of fiber! Sigh.

In non-food related news, I'm calling the shop tomorrow for my bike build estimate. I probably could have called today, but he said to check back Monday or Tuesday. I don't want to rush him, especially considering that there's no chance that I'll be able to build before mid-September. The spirit is willing, but the wallet is weak. I spent far too much money while on vacation, and with my dad's wedding at the end of next month, the recreational/travel budget in August and September is stretched past the screaming point. Truth be told, I wouldn't have gone on vacation at all if I had thought about money beforehand, but really...who're we talking about here? Of course I didn't think about money beforehand. So now I'm trying to figure out how to get an extra $2k into my budget without selling my firstborn (I'm already selling the Pilot).

I'll work something out, though--worst case, I'll put off the bike build another month. I'm loathe to do that because of the duathlon, but chances are that I'm going to suck so hard on the running parts that a faster bike won't make a bit of difference in my overall standings anyway. Which, in case you were wondering, I predict will be somewhere around dead f---ing last. :)

Songs of the day (links removed):

Closer to Fine
If I Had a $1,000,000