One crow value meal, super-sized, to go.

Weigh-in this afternoon? Yeah, you could say it was a good one.

I was -2.6 this week (all that walking, worrying and stress ... and no, I don't recommend that as a way to drop weight), putting me back over the top, for a grand total of -75.8

Since there are no "off program" events, like the Birmingham trip, and since this wasn't an off-the-chart oddity (dropping 5 pounds in one week is highly unusual, not to mention a sheer quirk), then I am now officially at the goal I set for myself nearly 18 months ago, when I joined Weight Watchers.

On May 5, 2008, I wrote about the doubts I had as to whether or not I could follow through on this commitment and drop 75 pounds, and went on to say:

I hope I'm wrong, though. If I am, I'll gladly eat crow. (How many points is that?)

I understand crow tastes like chicken. Guess I'm fixin' to find out. :-)

LEFT: My DL picture, 2 February 2008 ... nearly 300 pounds!
RIGHT: Victory picture today outside the WW Center in Savannah.

*********
So what's next?

I have a secondary goal of dropping further, and getting down to a weight beginning with a 1. At this point I lack 19.6 pounds until I get there. HOWEVER: I am finished stressing about my weight, about being anal and meticulous about point values, and getting agitated whenever my awesome bride wants to do something else for supper, after I've eaten more points for lunch in assumption of a lighter evening meal.

Habits have changed. Many talk about this being less about "dieting" and "losing weight" than it is a "lifestyle change." Numerous times in this space during my regular updates on this journey, I have spoken of my severed relationship with Coca-Cola, with Squirt and with 44-oz. Mountain Dews from the Gate station down the street.

Some foods I will have to continue avoiding. Cashews still call my name like Olive Oyl toward Popeye when she's been abducted by Bluto (or Brutus, depending on which set of cartoons are on). That's a food I could very easily get back into snarfing at my desk, inhaling an entire can in less than two days.

Now to the truth, ugly as it may be to some:

1) Weight Watchers works. Dropping pounds at a slow, deliberate rate is the best way to do it. And the chance of the pounds coming back are far more remote than if one takes the quick and dirty route, e.g. Atkins. Couple years back, my friend in Alabama dropped 75+ pounds in less than 9 months via Atkins. Guess what? Much of it is back on him, and then some.

2) But much as I believe how well the WW program works, I also believe it has a long way to go for it to be a truly inclusive company. There is an embedded hostility to men I see -- not in all of the leaders and receptionist, however it's present in more of them I've encountered than those who are welcoming to members who possess a frontal limb.

3) With some events coming up in the next few months, I have made the decision to end my participation in Weight Watchers. I made the commitment for 75 pounds, and I was successful. WW is a for-profit corporation, not a civic club. It is a company with a product to sell, so I feel no guilt in discontinuing membership, nor should they feel betrayal in my doing so.

I shall continue my journey toward BWA1 (Beginning With A "1"), and if my weight shows an uptick, then I'll throttle back on foods. I already know the Points™ values of what I eat - they won't confiscate my Points™ calculator, so in that way I still have their "keys to the kingdom."

*********
Saturday, I'm attending the 10:00 meeting and will ask for my 75-pound stone from Miz Tina, the woman who presides over the meetings in Rincon, and the one who looked at me that Cinco De Mayo 2008 day I joined WW, and thought I was too set in my ways to be successful at losing weight.

Something happened, and stubbornness marinated in male ego took over and played a role in helping me to get here. I'm going to look Miz Tina in the eye, and tell her she was mistaken. Boy, did she call this one wrong.

Credit and thanks go to the following people: my wife Seraphim ... Kate/Susan ... Melissa (thanks to her, I kicked my sugared-soda habit) .... and, most of all, to Nettiemac. Without Nettie, I'd probably still be pushing 300, with sleep apnea, stamina problems and the beginning of a lower back problem.

I love you all. Know that.

*********
We have a good bathroom scale, and my intent is to do a weigh-in each weekend as I step out of the shower. As you know, I've dubbed that my "nekkidweight."

If - heaven forbid!! - I were to backslide and find myself inching back toward, say, 240 ... then Weight Watchers will still be there, I know it works and I'll walk in and rejoin. Simple as that.

I will certainly make a post when the BWA1 day arrives. For now, while I'll continue to occasionally touch on the topic of weight, I am finished with weekly updates, and I am hereby retiring the Pound-O-Meter®, which you've seen on the left-hand column of this blog since May 2008.

And there you are. Time marches on, and the weight marches down.

Ciao for niao.

--Skinny-Ass Tal

A small gain ...

The wages of Birmingham, Alabama ... and (wonderful) places like The Greenbrier Restaurant in Madison, and the hush puppies, the same recipe I ate when I began my love affair with those fried pieces of delectable edible pulchritude, at such a time as I was able to hold one.

+1.6

Now I'm at -73.2 down. I now lack 1.8 until I get back to 75 pounds. I'm hoping this can be accomplished by Halloween, or at the latest November 5 -- my 18-month anniversary on WW.

Ciao for niao.

--Tal

Is this a new frontier of etiquette??

So my in-laws chose to make a day trip to Alexander City, Ala. to watch my son in his school's band tournament. My nephew is becoming a band geek himself, and truly wanted to see his cousin in action.

No problem. I remain amazed at how they've accepted my son as one of their own. The only time 'step' is uttered is to describe Seraphim. Since Tiger already has a mother, it's only right that my wife is (properly) considered as his stepmother.

While at the tourney -- which, due to a last minute schedule change, caused me to miss my son's performance entirely!! (past years, they went behind schedule, giving me at least a 30 minute leeway, but nooooooo) -- my in-laws and sister-in-law struck a conversation with my ex-wife. They even exchanged pictures they each took at the event.

No problem there, either. I have no objections to my current family - be they my own, or Sera's - interacting in that way with Josiebelle. We have what you'd call a 'necessarily civil' relationship ... working together for the sake of our son, despite the underlying truth that neither of us can stand the sight of the other.

But earlier today I noticed that both my SIL and my MIL have friended Josiebelle on Facebook.

BIG problem. At least as I see it. There should be boundaries here, ya know?? As we both have our FB settings ("friends of friends"), we can access the others' pictures. That way, we can both see anything that concerns the fruit of our loins. My son is friends with both his mother and his father, as well it should be.

However, I don't think it's, ummmm, "proper" to have anyone other than my son straddle that line. Tiger is friends with folks in Sera's family. Tiger is friends with folks in his mother's. Again, that's fine and okay.

What's NOT okay are people in my immediate midst crossing that line. I'm not about to friend anyone in my ex-wife's direct circle ... family, friends or whomever. And were any of 'em to shoot me a friend request (one would hope NOT), it would be ixnayed faster than one can say "ice machine"!

I mean, would I go out and friend Nettiemac's ex-b/f "The Goon" were I to see him on FB??!!

Granted, I never made the wishes explicitly known. I just didn't think it was necessary ... I figured, given the relationship I have with Josie, that such a dynamic be respected. Clearly my own feelings on the matter were not of any concern to them on the subject.

There are some things I post to my MIL's site that I'd just as soon my ex-wife not have on the screen in front of her when she logs onto FB. Stuff between Sera and myself, stuff that is of no goddamned business to "the opening act" and her Manitowoc Mafia.

*sigh* This is why I am not very quick to trust people.

Any thoughts on this, please bring 'em on. This is really bugging me. (Even though, ironically, my in-laws have more in common with my ex-wife than with me, at least religiously. I can just see it now ... they'll get together to stage an intervention on my lost, heathen soul, and throw Cokesbury Hymnals at me until I give in and submit to their brand of Methodist® fundamentalism!!)

Ciao for niao.

--Talmadge "Boundary Issues" Gleck

An all-too brief taste of success

I knew I'd be up this week. I just knew it. 5 pounds without some kind of 'correction' would have been too much to believe.

But the fates were most cruel ... I was hoping for no more than +2.2, keeping me at 75.0 even.

Try +2.4. I am now just 2/10 of a pound below the 75 level. Well, shit.

One good thing, though: I won't feel the 'pressure' of staying above goal when I head to Alabanana for a few days next week. As usual, I don't count points during those times -- that said, though, it won't be like last year's Birmingham junket. I've come a long way since then. And I sure as hell won't be making a dive for the Thickburgers. 23 points? That's friggin' obscene. A heart attack on a greasy bun. But anyway....

Allrighty, Saturday I'm going over to Alexander City and watch my son's band play in the Lake Martin band tourney. And then over to Birmingham for some fun, frolic, research and roadgeekin'.

When I get back, also as usual, I'll be back on the wagon. And I'll reclaim 75 ... or my name isn't Talmadge.

Ummmm, wait a minute. It isn't. Well, you get what I mean.

Ciao for niao!

--Talmadge "Birmingham Bound" Gleck

Facebook killed the Blogger star?

Or so it seems. I've been sharing stuff with friends via Facebook and have allowed this blog to grow weeds and become like the many fabulously abandoned and derelict motel and restaurant properties along US-301.

There will be more to say in the coming weeks and months. Quite a few substantial changes in the cards for these Glecks, so you'll want to keep tuned to this flea-powered daytimer AM.

The big news to share right now involves WEIGHT.

Look at the "I'm Melting! Melting!" column to your left to see how I've been doing. As you can see, I went through a phase where - most comically, if not frustrating - I plateaued to the tune of exactly ZERO change, three weeks in a row. I stayed at 223.4 pounds, with a cume drop of -71.8 ... then last week (09/17), I creeped downward by 4/10 of a pound. Yeah, okay. At least it was preceded by a minus sign.

Then came weigh-in late this morning. I didn't know how I'd do, and early this week I'd been stressing in a BIG way over a couple of things (see "substantial changes", above).

Clearly, that was to my benefit.

I stepped on the scale, and the WW receptionist said, "Well, you've lost.", and then reached for the calculator. My heart jumped, thinking maybe - just maybe - I'd dropped 2.8 pounds, enough to get to my big goal of 75.

Since last Thursday, I dropped exactly -5.0 pounds. I HAVE OFFICIALLY MADE 75, passing it by 2.2. -77.2 pounds since May 5, 2008.

So there.

My next goal is to make damned sure I can keep at least 2.2 pounds of that off, so as to stay above 75. And then make my annual trip to Birmingham without worry.

Then I'm going to continue with this journey, without the calendar or obsessive goal-making, hoping to simply be at -100 pounds before May 5, 2010 - my two-year anniversary of leaving 300 pounds in rear-view mirror.

It feels weird, truth be known. A good weird, still weird.

For the first time in nearly three (!) months, I get to say "ciao for niao"!

So, ciao for niao.

--Talmadge "GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Gleck

Catching up.....

Well, how about that. Nearly a whole month has passed since last I posted in this space.

Guess I orta put some more words up here, lest anyone think (wishfully) that I've fallen off this planet's face.

Weight, weight, don't tell me: I'm pretty much back to where I was about a month ago: -67.0 total (228.2 pounds). This morning's weigh-in had me down -0.6 ... say it with me: "If it starts with a minus, I'm not gonna whine-us." Last week was my first since our visit up to Virginia to spend some time with our friends Kate/Susan & The General, and to see their new daughter Leah for the first time (Both she and Melissa have since blogged about what has gone down in personal lore as - perhaps - the most bizarre roadtrip I've ever made), and with all the cool places to eat up there, I simply 'didn't count points' and took whatever lumps I was dealt.

Such lumpage came in the form of a +2.8 jump just before the Fourth. Not too bad - given that I admit to having 'fudged' a bit Thursday prior to leaving (06/18) ... I weighed in with shorts, which shaved at least a pound off what it would've been otherwise. My reasoning was simple: psychological. I wanted to guarantee a minus sign before going off-program for the week. So you could say I effectively gained a pound out of the deal, something I'll take and run.

The time with the Kosiors was everything time with good friends should be, and then some. I'll have some more things to say about it in the coming days or so, and sum it up with a simple and humble thanks. You're both awesome folk.

In the meanwhile, life goes onward and back downward. 75 pounds by Summer's end ... can Tal do it?? Stay tuned to most of these same blogs to find out.

Ciao for niao.

Another pound bites it

Nothing much to say except I'm down an even -1.0 ... so I'm satisfied. Total now is -67.0

Oh, and I'm looking forward to our little roadtrip next weekend. Promises to be fun.

That is all.

Ciao for niao.

--Talmadge "228.2" Gleck