Weigh-in Wednesday: Jan. 17, 2024
Ignore the odd whirring sounds coming from my office NOTHING TO SEE HERE
Before the New Year, I wrote of Lunches of Great Sadness. I told you about how I swapped out boring lunches and swapped in almonds, pecans and walnuts, which are also boring, but at least they're healthy. Did I stop there? No, reader, I did not. I made another change, and I don't think I'm going back to regular lunches at work again.
I like something tasty to drink with a meal. (Ever enjoy a Big Mac with a cup of warm water? Nope! There’s a reason.) I’m on a health kick, but water is still my drink of last resort with food. So, I ordered a protein powder I like called Isopure to solve the lunch drink issue.
Only problem: To make the powder into a drink, you need a blender. I went on Amazon and purchased the smallest one I could find – a Magic Bullet Portable Blender. Yes, I now own an Office Blender. My attempt to decrease the importance of lunch in my life has led to me bringing minor appliances into the workplace. As my friend Bridget Phetasy likes to say, capitalism always wins.
Here's the unexpected thing about my Office Blender – I am self-conscious about it. I have an office that has a door, and the first time I fired my blender up, the woman who sits outside my office looked at me with a puzzled expression as if to say, “Are you electronically processing foodstuffs in a modern office setting?” Words came out of my mouth in reply, but I don't remember what they were – something about protein powder … stirring with a spoon won't make it dissolve … followed by apologies and me slowly hiding under my desk.
It's not REALLY that loud, but anytime you hear a blender in a place where you're not expecting to hear a blender, it's going to attract attention. If I hear a blender on an airplane, I’m asking some questions. And making new friends.
Now when I blend my protein drink, I close my office door and place the blender on a coaster to further muffle the sound. Every time I do this, I half expect my coworkers in the offices adjacent to mine to bust in and demand to know what in the name of Jimmy Buffett I am blending during standard work hours. This has never happened, but it remains my greatest fear.
Besides the sound, there's one other downside. If you're like me, you have a family, and they eat, and you spend most of your life doing dishes. Dishes in the morning. At night when I get home. At night before bed. All weekend long. Dishes. Always, dishes. One day, my children will say, “I never knew my father, but there was this nice man in our home who was always doing the dishes.” The dark side to office blending: You have to wash the thing after every use, which means more dishes.
I was lamenting this fact to a coworker the other day – how I have to take the thing apart AND soap AND rinse AND dry each part. It doesn't take too long, but as a life goal I'd like to be moving in the general direction of doing fewer dishes, not more. Anyway, she looked at me with a knowing smile because she had already solved for this problem. She told me to put the soap and water in the blender and run the blender. Rinse. Leave out to dry. It cleans itself. It is at such times I am reminded of the quote, “Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.”
Drum roll, please...
Starting weight: 187
Last week: 180
This week: 179
Goal: 170
Feeling: Good
I know the goal says 170, but if I lose the love handles before then, that's the goal, and I'm stopping these weigh-ins. (But I will keep writing!) Keeping 170 penciled in there for now. But when the love handles disappear, we're moving on. I'll keep you posted.
You may have noticed I added a new category – Feeling. I really do feel 100 percent better – more energy, better sleep – since I started in October. I want that reflected here because it's actually the most important part of all this.
Shout-outs
In response to last week's piece in which I touched on a number of topics while responding to an email from a friend, Aaron wrote: “Hi Joe, fellow early 90's Bobcat here. A big thank you -- I've enjoyed following your journey here and relate to much of the internal struggle. I've dropped 14.4 lbs since losing my desk job of 29 years at Yellow Corp when the trucking company went bankrupt in July 2023. Much of my weight loss has come at the hands (literally) of my new career as an automation mail processing clerk at the US Post Office, one I'm excited to report is pushing me to new physical strength and flexibility that I didn't realize I could handle. From working on my feet most of the day to hustling and slinging more than 100k letters into and out of a mail sorter machine every day, etc. I'm burning calories non-stop at work and truly enjoying it. During the 2+ months that I was unemployed in late summer, I renewed my efforts to walk 3+ miles a day, and that helped prepare me for my unlikely landing spot at USPS. My eating habits at work naturally have changed, as I'm more engaged and have less opportunity to snack. I believe this change will help me continue toward my goal of 175 (began at 200 lbs Aug 1). Enough about me -- you keep up the great work, and once you're physically up for it, get back to grinding with more strength and flexibility workouts as they'll definitely help take the pounds off!”
Aaron – Always great to hear from a Bobcat. Congrats on dropping 14.4 pounds. That's quite a feat. I'm sorry about your job, but I'm glad you wound up with another one you enjoy and that has benefits to your health. Your comment serves as a terrific advertisement for a career in the USPS! I think it's obvious that human beings were not designed to sit on their butts in an office all day. I suspect the office of the future will optimize for movement because it has so many benefits. It's why I have a standing desk and walk around as much as I can, which is not the same, but at least it's not sitting. Good news: I am working out again at the gym, post-Toe, and am back on my grind. Please let me know when you hit 175 so we can all bask in the glory of your accomplishment. Thanks for writing!Laura wrote: “Again, this is so relatable - the whole caring/not caring thing. With me it's either I want to try to be healthy or I just want to eat without thinking. I am now 64 y/o and I am not on any medications (other than allergy/asthma) and I want to keep it that way. I look forward to retiring soon and I want to be an active old person and not one who spends all morning at McDonald's drinking coffee.”
Laura – this is an obvious reference to the Mayfield Hts., Ohio, McDonald's, and I am here for it. And if that wasn't your intent – well, it's what they do in my hometown McDonald's.
“What I have been thinking about is my own body perception. I lost 1.3 pounds this week and what I was going to wear this morning was too big and I had to find something else. The problem is, I don't see it. When I look in the mirror I don't see anything different. I feel good and I feel proud of myself that I've lost weight, but I can't not see (as an English major that was hard to write) the same problem areas still there. Is this common?”
Yes! I thought I was the only one. My shirts and pants are looser, but I look the same. Someone, obviously, is placing slightly larger clothes in our closets every night.
“Anyhow, in reference to Big Boy, I am sure we've been to a lot of the same places. As an Italian-American and former east sider I went to many weddings back in the day at Sherwins, La Vera and LaMalfa (where my reception was). I remember the food also. Good luck this week. Keep at it!”
Many great memories of weddings and breaded chicken cutlets at these venues. Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane.
Do you want a buddy to check in with on some goal of your own? I'm here for you. Leave a comment or shoot me a message.
I got nothing this week.....I don't have an office blender. I like to eat my lunch rather than drink it. And I'm discovering some food intolerance along the way, one of them being yogurt which is used in many smoothies, When I cut that out of my diet I felt much better, but now I'm afraid there may be others. So not only do I have to worry about eating healthy foods, I have to zero in on which of these healthy foods is making me feel like Violet Beauregard. Vegetables and fruits, which are full of good-for-you fiber, can also make you feel bloated and miserable.
What if it's salad??
No loss, no gain for me this week, just feeling sorry for myself. I'm in this for the long run, so I'll keep plugging along.
And by the way, I think it's every McDonald's where seniors hang out all morning. Back when I was a student at Regina High, the hangout was the one on Mayfield in South Euclid. Good luck!