Spacegoat’s Portal

Hello all. I’ve been riding a metaphorical roller coaster since my last post. Last week, the week before memorial day weekend, I was in Illinois for a course. I stayed in a hotel for 5 nights, and I did not cope well. The hotel had continental breakfasts with some healthy choices so I was covered there, but I had to go out for lunch and dinner.

My diet was pretty much out the window the first night when I had a big mushroom Swiss burger at Chili’s. I tried tracking my points the next day but it became such a guessing game that it became sort of pointless. So I decided to loosen up a little. I would have still been OK I guess. I didn’t eat anything gargantuan. This place called Jason’s Deli was near the hotel and I ate there a few times. They had this awesome pastrami and corned beef sandwich. *drool* It was big. Easily a 1500 calorie meal with the chips, but I don’t think I would have gone over 3000 calories, being indulgent once a day.

I was doing OK on my exercise too. The hotel didn’t have an exercise room unfortunately. So I walked a lot. I went down to historic down town Naperville a couple of times, and waalked around the river over there. It was nice. The area kind of reminded me of Uptown here in Minneapolis. I had a couple of days walking over two hours. Not all at once. I was getting really bored there so walking was something to do.

So I could have maintained. Maybe a small gain, but I can accept that. That boredom was a bitch though. The basic cable at the hotel sucked. The TV itself sucked. A Walmart special CRT TV, all warped and fuzzy, and low rez. Anyway, the Twins were in town playing the Sox, so I was looking forward to watchng the games during the evening. But no, they didn’t carry that channel. Or maybe they have some sort of blackout rule or something. I dunno, long story short, the boredom drove me to drink. I bought a long island iced tea mix on Wednesday. On Friday I found some scotch for cheap.

Now I’ve had a past with alcohol. Before my little eureka moment a couple years ago, I was a big drinker. I think booze played a bigger role on my weight than food. I would drink 2 or 3 times a week. By “time” I mean at least a twelve pack. I never considered myself an alcoholic. I’m not one of those pussies at AA who are powerless against their alcohol. But I knew I couldn’t turn things around for myself without stopping the binge drinking. And I did obviously. I quit for several months, and I’ve learned to resist the “thirst” and now drink every month or two when the occasion arises.

Last week was unusual though. I dunno, maybe it was the boredom, mixed with the stress of being alone, away from home, what happens in Naperville stays in Naperville. But you know, while I may not have a problem with not drinking, I seem to have a problem when drinking. That is to say I drink like a fish. I woke up at 5AM on Saturday. The bottle of scotch was empty, and I don’t remember finishing it. I was in bed when I woke up, so I know I had the presence of mind to go to bed. I just don’t remember doing that. Needless to say I felt like death warmed over. I went back to sleep for a few hours but I had to fly home that day.

And what a miserable day that was! If you ever drink so much you black out, the best thing to do is to spend the day in a dark, quiet room. One of the worst things to do is run off to an airport and spend a day traveling. Ugg! A drive, a flight, a train, and a bus ride later, I finally got home at about 3:00. I went right to bed for a good nap.

The next morning (Sunday) I checked the damage caused by by binge eating and drinking. I was up to 203lbs. That set me back to my April 22nd weight, about 4 lbs. So I gained a month in a week. Well… not quite.

I’ve been kind of motivated since then. It was a fine memorial day weekend and I enjoyed the weather by walking lots. And I’ve been walking lots every day this week. I dropped down to 201lbs by Wednesday and this morning I dropped to 198lbs. Sure, I know I didn’t lose that much weight in fat. I think it’s water weight. I think what happens is your body retains more water when on a sustained calorie surplus than a sustained deficit. That’s why you lose more in the first two weeks of a diet. It makes sense anyway.

Whatever. I’m glad to be back to my old routine, packing lunches, making my own meals, not drinking.