Two Guys Lose Weight: Resisting the urge to be bad is so good

NOTE: This is a blog about two guys attempting to lose weight over a six-week period. They kicked off their weight-loss “strategies� on Jan. 10.

I woke up Sunday and weighed myself on the way to get the paper from the front lawn. 160, even.

I was a little shocked. That’s 10 1/2 pounds lost in a little over a month.

All these years and I never thought I had control over my body in that way.

I celebrated with taking a nice hike in Runyon Canyon. It was beautiful and apparently one of the last ridiculously warm weekends we will have for a while, unfortunately.

As someone who spends way too much time in front of the computer, it’s nice to get out and be above it all for a time.

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There’s one hill that used to kill me. It’s mind-blowing to me that I can scale it now without much difficulty; it wasn’t that long ago that I had to sit down after finally making it up there.

Normally when I hike there, I go with a good friend who is loving that I am experiencing better health. She’s always been very healthy and has worked on me for years to take up this mindset. After we would hike, we’d eat something good for us and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

Without her, I found myself in an odd situation. I passed by one of my favorite fast-food establishments, and I thought, “You’re way ahead, go splurge, eat your favorite meal.�

I could taste it as I thought about it.

What I really wanted was fries. Hot fries with salt and ketchup.

But if I were going to cheat, I would want them to be piping hot. As I thought about it, I considered the likelihood that the fries would indeed be perfect, and the odds were against it. They’d probably just be average or below average, I convinced myself, and I kept driving.

It felt wonderful to be absolutely OK with eating something bad but choosing not to do it.

Instead, I went to another drive-through, El Pollo Loco, and got a chicken avocado sandwich with an ear of corn instead of chips. When I got home, I took one bite with the bread and then took the rest of the bread off and just ate the chicken breast, avocado and lettuce.

If you think I’m a well-tuned machine, that would be incorrect. I did go a little nuts on sushi Saturday night with two lovely young women. Sake was also partaken of. And beer. I knew that was in the stars so I worked out extra long on Friday at the gym.

It seemed to work.

The goal remains to be under 160 by Tuesday. Let’s hope the Valentine’s dinner doesn’t blow it for me. But if it does, maybe you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

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