Hallmark holidays make me SAD

As I was walking into the grocery store tonight, I saw a steady stream of men (and they were all men) carrying roses in various forms: arranged tastefully in a cheap vase, bundled together in a relatively raw state, and in chocolate form.

Valentine's Day has always struck me as the most ridiculous of holidays. Do people really need to be forced into buying gifts, cards, flowers and candy because...well, why is it, exactly? I won't repeat the arguments, but to me it's just misguided effort to go to any great lengths to placate your partner because the calendar flips to Feb. 14. Birthdays, sure. Anniversaries, you bet. Valentine's Day, not so much.

Walgreen's actually has "personal gift advisors" in their stores this year to take any effort and personalization out of the process. Now, if you have to go to the drugstore and ask someone what kind of crap you should get for your significant other, you have bigger problems than remembering that it's Valentine's Day.

(I do like that the PGA will even package your sweetie's stuff in a "special ready-to-give gift bag"--even though it'll cost you.)

For as long as there has been Valentine's Day, there have been crudgemudgeons crusading against it. Some have decided that the 15th should be celebrated as Singles Awareness Day, which is about what it sounds like. SAD, unfortunately, is in danger of falling into the same commercial traps that VD fell victim to ("send yourself flowers" is a suggested activity). So I think that ignoring it is probably the best way to go.

Just so you don't think I'm completely stone-hearted, I am OK with a few exceptions. Going to dinner is fine (just make your reservation well in advance). Giving cards to the young ones in your life is nice (I do that). And you can never go wrong with Sam Cooke.

Happy 45th day of the year, everyone!

P.S. Also at the grocery store, an otherwise cute pre-teen girl approached an employee stocking Shasta and asked, "Where's your guys's chips at?" Heaven help the Utah public education system.

Week 3

OK, clearly I'm not at my ideal weight. Can I break out of my funk?

April 11: 233.6
July 29: 225.4
Aug. 3: 225.4

This week: 0
Overall total: -8.2
Percentage: 3.5%

Week 2

Hmm. Maybe my scale is broken...

April 11: 233.6
July 22: 225.4
July 29: 225.4

This week: 0
Overall total: -8.2
Percentage: 3.5%

Week 1

Well, it's better than gaining weight, but I'll need to step it up. This week, more time at the gym and more salads...

April 11: 233.6
July 15: 227.8
July 22: 225.4

This week: -2.4
Overall total: -8.2
Percentage: 3.5%

A little background

I'm sure my goal of losing 50 pounds in a matter of a few months might sound unrealistic--but I've had a taste of that kind of success before. A few years ago, while idly searching for weight loss solutions on the intergoogles, I stumbled across the website of Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a New Jersey physician. Dr. Fuhrman's book, Eat To Live, intrigued me for what it wasn't.

So many weight loss schemes--and that's what they are, more or less, tricks and scams that don't work--portray themselves as simple and without any real effort required. "One easy rule" or "guaranteed weight loss system" are appealing for about three seconds, before you realize if those programs actually worked, then nobody would be overweight.

But Dr. Fuhrman doesn't mince words: this is not an easy plan. I'll expound on it in the future, but what it comes down to is: No meat. No dairy. No bread or pasta. No salt. No sugar. Still with me? What you can have, and have in abundance, are fruits and vegetables. In fact, Dr. Fuhrman suggests you eat a pound of raw vegetables and a pound of cooked vegetables a day.

It's a big adjustment. Actually, it's downright tiring to eat that much food. But here's the thing: it works. Fiber intake goes way up, caloric intake goes way down, and the body burns its existing fat for energy. It's a pretty simple equation, really. Consume fewer calories and the rest will more or less take care of itself. And the calories you are consuming are in the form of vegetables, full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and who knows what other good things. While almost all vegetables are OK to eat in virtually unlimited amounts (exceptions are starchy ones, such as corn, cooked carrots, and especially potatoes), the royalty of vegetables are the leafy greens, and the king of their court is kale.

I'll devote future posts to particular foods, and maybe include some recipes--and more on my previous forays into weight loss.

Prologue

I figured that because I've been keeping track of my weight for a while, and because I'm already down from my peak, that I can count that toward my 50-pound goal. Sound OK with you?

April 11: 233.6
July 15: 227.8

This week: -5.8
Overall total: -5.8
Percentage: 2.5%

The disappearing man

I'm losing 50 pounds.

OK, well, I'm about to. I haven't started yet. But the point is, if I tell the world about it, I'll be motivated/shamed into following through.

Some ground rules:

I will weigh in every Wednesday morning. If I have worked out that morning, I will step on the scale after the workout. I will use a digital scale, whose battery I have just replaced.

Each week I will share my total weight, as well as the change from the previous week and change since the beginning.

My goals are this:

Lose 25 pounds by August 22.
Lose 50 pounds by October 17.

As the weeks progress, I'll color in my rationale, my methods, some history, and why I picked those dates.

Let the losing begin!