Terry Farrell
Record staff
It’s been four weeks since Erica and I started our 60 in 60 challenge, to lose 60 pounds between us in 60 weeks, combined.
How’s it going so far?
Just four weeks in, and we can already see, and more importantly, feel, a difference.
For those of you who have not been following along on our weekly blog at comoxvalleyrecord.com (in the opinions section), let me fill you in.
In the first four weeks, I put nearly 100 kilometres on my new running shoes, while Erica put about 40 hours of walking into hers.
As we mentioned in the first column, we are not doing this by dieting, per se. We both love food too much.
We have made only two significant changes in our diets.
I have removed what I refer to as stagnant sugars from my daily consumption of food. The sweets are off the desk. No more chocolates. No more candy. No more pop.
A month in, I can tell you it hasn’t been that difficult, considering how much candy I used to eat.
And how much candy is that? Well, let’s just say if you hear of drastic layoffs in Hershey, Pennsylvania, due to a sudden drop in chocolate consumption, I can be partly to blame.
This year was the first time in many years that I did not go shopping on Nov. 1 specifically to buy boxes of Halloween chocolate at half price. Halloween chocolate… and Rockets… and Popeye cigarettes (they will always be Popeye cigarettes to me). Yes, I would load up the week after Halloween, every year.
In fact, this year we didn’t even load up FOR Halloween. Something tells me word got out that we were offering Fibre bars at our door this Halloween - we only had two “trick or treaters”.
But the logic behind that purchase is, if there are leftovers, at least they have some nutritional value.
Meanwhile, Erica has stopped the late-night snacking. The dogs have even stopped expecting to hear that 11 p.m. trip to the kitchen. (They would scamper to the fridge from wherever they were, as soon as they heard Erica move from the living room.)
Other than a weak moment on my part, involving a jelly bean-stuffed chocolate bar, we have been true to our words.
The other dietary change we have made was not planned. Our portions have shrunk; not consciously - we just both realize we don’t need to eat as much as we had been.
And it’s all been working.
After not even a month, I need a new belt. My current one does not fasten tightly enough anymore.
The other day, Erica had to switch pants before going to work. Her comfy work jeans are now too loose for her.
It’s working, people!
And here’s the proof:
Four weeks in, we have lost a total of 16.8 pounds combined.
We feel great. And it’s starting to show!
Now it gets tough. We know that the easiest weight to lose is the weight that has been around for the shortest period of time; the “transient” weight, so to speak. The next step is to attack what I like to call the “resident” weight; the pounds that have pretty much made a home on our bodies. These pounds have been here awhile. They moved in many years ago and have no desire to leave on their own accord. You know, like the child that returns home in his or her mid-20s and stays there for … ever. Speaking hypothetically, of course (Matthew and Ian, there will always be a spare bedroom for either of you). But it is a good analogy. Once the shock of that weight moving in has subsided, it becomes rather comforting.
So, now it’s time for me and Erica to get out of our comfort zones, so to speak.
We don’t expect next month’s loss total to be as high. But it will be just as satisfying.
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Have you joined the 60 in 60 Nation? Send us an email (farrell60in60@gmail.com) to tell us your weight-loss story. It could end up in our next column.
Terry Farrell is the editor at the Comox Valley Record