Weight Loss Goal: Lose 20 lbs by August

I'm overweight. Obese, actually. I weight around 220 lbs when I should weigh somewhere around 120 lbs. Honestly that seems a little low even though I'm under 5 feet tall. My eventual goal weight is the same as it's been for a long time: 135 lbs. But I'm going to do it in steps.

Right now the plan is to try to lose in 20 lb increments. I'm giving myself until August to lose the first 20. It's doable and I'm not going to use any fad diets or anything like that to do it. Instead, I'm making lifestyle changes. I'm cutting out fast food. I'm going to eat 3 meals a day instead of 1 or 2. I'm going to start exercising. And I'm even going to quit smoking.

My weight has been an issue since I was in middle school. In fifth grade I was a skinny twig of a thing and then sixth grade rolled around and I started gaining. Some of that was puberty, but some of it was the fact that I was being bullied a lot and I started to eat my feelings. That trend would continue for a long time. I don't know what my heaviest weight was, but I'm guessing it was somewhere around 230. Then college came.

I didn't gain the "freshman 15". In fact, I lost about 20 lbs my first year of college. I attribute it to not snacking and being more active. I was walking to and from class. I didn't have a car, so I was walking to get places. I lost even more the summer before my junior year because I was working a really active job where I was on my feet for seven hours at a time. I didn't look amazing or anything (I was still hovering around 190), but it felt good to see a number below 200. But the job went away, my habits changed, and the weight came back.

And it's stayed there ever since. I stopped walking as much as I used to when I got a car. I haven't been snacking or anything, but I have been eating LOTS of fast food, drinking sugary beverages, and being idle for most of the day. I'm actually surprised that I haven't been gaining weight, but that may be attributable to the fact that I smoke, I live on the third floor of a building with no elevator, and I'm trudging up and down the stairs for a cigarette once every hour or so.

Regardless, I'm making changes now that I'm hoping will have a positive impact on my life. I've eaten breakfast for the last three days (yogurt and granola or a bowl of cereal and a banana), my lunches have been healthy, and I haven't been eating out at all this week (except for Tuesday, but there's a long story as to why). Don and I have been making dinner at home all week and have already planned out our grocery list for next week. We're going to start getting up at 5 am next week so that we can get an hour of exercise in before showering/eating breakfast/preparing lunch/going to work. And the last cigarette I will (hopefully) ever smoke will be crushed under my shoe on Sunday night.

I may try this and fail. I may slide back into bad habits. But it takes 21 days to break a bad habit and I'm hoping that the same is true for starting new, healthy habits. I have Don to kick me in the ass if I start straying back off the path to healthy me and I have this blog to help keep me honest about how I'm doing.

Hopefully by August I'll be 20 lbs thinner and well on the way to becoming something new and better.

-J

Completed Goal -- #85: Clean Out My E-mail Inboxes

Yesterday I completed one goal on my Day Zero list:

#85: Clean out my e-mail inboxes

I had two that I specifically wanted to clean out--my work e-mail and my personal e-mail. The personal e-mail took all of about twenty seconds. My work e-mail, however, took me a good hour or so. I had about 5,500 unread e-mails (not to mention the gazillion e-mails that I had read but never deleted) to contend with. In fact, I hadn't cleaned that inbox out since the fall of 2010! But now it's a clean slate with nothing in it and it feels so nice. If I can keep it that way it'll be a miracle, but at least it's empty for the present moment.

This also means that I can put $10 in savings for completing a task. When I have $10, that is. Or, you know, a place in which to save it.

-J

Things That Make Me Happy -- #1: British Comedy

Every Friday I'll be posting about one thing that makes me happy in order to complete goal #82: Identify 100 things that make me happy.

Today's topic is: British comedy

Via markandrewholmes.com

Growing up, I was a big PBS kid. In addition to Sesame Street, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, and Reading Rainbow, I also used to watch Britcoms with my grandparents. Ever since then I've preferred them over American television shows. The humor is better, the social commentary is more biting and prescient, and the shows are of a higher quality all around. Today, nothing makes me laugh harder or make me feel better than a good Britcom. Here are a few of my favorites (in no particular order):

1) As Time Goes By

Via BBC

As Time Goes By follows the story of Jean (the ever-fabulous Judi Dench) and Lionel (Geoffrey Palmer), former lovers who reunite decades after they first met. A funny, romantic, and brilliant love story, I grew up watching this with my grandparents. The humor is a huge selling point, but it's really the characters and their interactions that made this one of my favorite Britcoms. Jean and Lionel are really sweet together and the working relationship between the somewhat-uptight Lionel and the mildly-annoying-but-eager-to-please Alistair is hilarious.

2) Monty Python's Flying Circus

Via Wikipedia

I discovered Monty Python my freshman year of high school, but it wasn't until college that I actually watched Flying Circus. While the fourth season is, frankly, awful, the first three seasons of this show are incredible. Whether they're learning how to defend themselves against fresh fruit, having an argument, or just taking a walk, Monty Python's humor is smart, surreal, and, often, sexy (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).





3) Black Books

Via Channel 4

This show is actually brand-spanking new to me. As in, I discovered it earlier this week. Black Books follows the strange day-to-day adventures of Bernard Black (Dylan Moran), a misanthropic drunk of bookseller; his hapless shop assistant, Manny (Bill Bailey); and their friend Fran (Tamsin Greig), a woman who can hold her liquor about as well as she can hold onto a man (sorry, love, but it's true). The show is hysterical, which is all thanks to snappy dialogue, an ingenious cast, and the wacky situations that the brilliant writers (Moran among them) put these strangely lovable characters into.

4) Waiting for God

Via GPB

Tom (Graham Crowden), who often seems a few sausages short of an English breakfast, and Diana (Stephanie Cole), who hates everything and everyone, are living in a retirement village run by a complete nincompoop and his too-cheerful assistant. The two form an odd friendship/romantic relationship that allows them to survive the absurdity of life while they wait for the end of it all. Insanely funny and featuring two of the greatest characters ever to suffer inside an old folks' home, Waiting for God is one of those shows that makes you wish American television would realize that actors don't need to be young and "hip" to bring in an audience.

5) Russell Howard's Good News

Via Funri

I know there are going to be people out there who are thinking, "Wait, really? There are way better topical news shows out there." My response is, "Yeah, don't care. I love this guy." Known to many as a former panelist on Mock the Week (which is also one of my favorites, but I'm limiting myself to five), Russell Howard's very own show on the telly combines his childish humor with news of the week and internet clips. Why I find this to be an effective way to run a show is beyond me, but I think it's hilarious. I think a huge part of it is that he points out the genuine stupidity of the human race while still reminding us that there are great people out there doing amazing things (the "Mystery Guest" and "It's Not All Doom and Gloom" segments of his show). Plus, and I feel really shallow saying this, I can't help but think he's the most ridiculously adorable thing in the world.


What are some of your favorite Britcoms? Share them in the comments section.

-J

Spotlight on Day Zero: Goal #76 -- Get rid of all the stuff I don't need

Every other Wednesday I'll be writing a post about one of my uncompleted goals for the Day Zero Project. Today's goal is:

#76: Get rid of all the stuff I don't need

In the last two and a half decades I have managed to accumulate a lot of crap. Books, clothes, mementos, knick-knacks, materials for hobbies, furniture--you get the idea. For the last seven years, I've been able to keep most of that stuff stored at my grandparents' house, which meant that the amount of stuff I had in my dorm room or apartment was only mildly horrific. Now that my grandmother and grandfather are, sadly, both gone, all of those boxes and bins are currently residing in one half of my room. The other half is covered with piles of clothes and clutter.

Now, I'm an inherently lazy person. And a huge procrastinator. I've been wanting to get rid of all of this junk for ages and yet it's still here, mocking me. With my lease up at the end of July and the three of us moving into separate places, I've only got a few months in which to declutter everything, leaving only the bare essentials and a few things that I couldn't live without.

The momentous task before me is not insurmountable but it feels pretty damn close. If I wanted the entire internet to judge me I'd post pictures of all of the things that have taken over my life because it would drive home the fact that there are department stores that have less items than I do. I know that I just need to get going and do it, but how do you decide what's worthy of keeping and what isn't? Are the playbills from shows that I've been involved in any less important than my high school yearbooks? Which books should be kept and which should be donated? And what about all of the things that have been given to me over the years? How do I decide which gifts are worthy of a place in my life and which ones aren't?

A few months ago I read a book called The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Living Guide by Francine Jay. You'll notice that it's also listed as my current read on GoodReads. The book, which explains "how to declutter, organize, and simplify your life," caught my eye when it first came into the library where I work. I'm not one for self-help books or Feng Shui or any of that. I was just looking for a little push in the right direction towards getting all of that junk out of my apartment. The book is a straightforward read that attempts to cultivate a minimalist mindset while giving you tips on what to keep, what to store, what to donate, and what to throw out. I'm rereading it now because my goal is to have #76 completed by the end of June and it wouldn't hurt to go over what Jay suggests again.

In addition to Jay's book, I've also been looking online for articles about getting rid of crap you don't need and I came across an article from UpgradeReality: "Lessons from Tyler Durden & Ben Stiller--Stop Your Possessions From Owning You." I'm a huge fan of Fight Club (both the book and the movie) and I find Durden's perspective on "stuff" to be refreshing (even if I don't agree with his methods for ridding you of your possessions). We really aren't what we own, especially since I don't even use most of what I own. Attributing importance to a pair of pants or a keyring or a desk is ludicrous.

Courtesy of best-movie-quotes

Even more importantly, though, is the fact that I want to move across the country sometime in the next year. With the amount of stuff that I have right now, I'd need a cargo plane to shift it all out west. By culling my possessions, I can ensure that I'm mobile. And, using methods discussed in Jay's book, I can make sure that I don't ever end up having too much junk ever again.

Of course, reading about getting rid of my stuff and actually getting rid of my stuff are two different things. That's why I've made it one of my Day Zero goals. Hopefully by this time in July I can sincerely say that I've lightened the burden of my possessions and can check that goal off of my list.

-J