Off-time update - June 18th, 2011

So, as you may have noticed, I did not start my new cycle on this past Wednesday as I had originally planned. This is for two reasons: First, this week held my finals as well as a fairly heavy work week, which kept me from getting to the store to get soup fixin's like I have been purchasing lately. Couple this with, on top of that, my dad's birthday and Father's day as well, and it's been pretty full and left the coffers somewhat bare, despite the two paydays this week. Second, I have been putting further thought into my plans and adjusting to fit conditioning levels at first, and how to ramp those up.

Today I also provided myself with further motivation to get this ball rolling faster. As mentioned several times in previous entries, one of my main drives to do this has been to fit into a Timbers jersey, which run small. My plan has always been to purchase a replica jersey in an XL size. I know now that I can fit into a XXL size, barely (although that may have even changed in the last couple months), but I don't want to stop there. Unfortunately, today was the last day I had (for the foreseeable future) to go and purchase one at a good-sized discount compared to normal cost as well as if I borrowed one of my friends' season ticket discount card. The adidas employee store, where I was going to get this with a 50% discount (except on Timbers jerseys *grumble grumble*), was out of the XL replicas. The price was $50, meaning if they had also had the red jerseys in stock I could have got two at a very good price. However, not wanting to go for a large, I instead selected (at an additional $30 more than what I had intended to spend, yet still $30 less than the regular retail price) the XL authentic jersey, which runs slightly smaller than the replica does.

My new Timbers XL jersey

To those of you who are saying right now "wait, you have money for a Timbers jersey but not your diet?", well, let me explain. Last month, which to be exact is one month from tomorrow, the 19th, I was featured as an extra in the shooting of several Alaska Airlines/Timbers commercials, the first of which has now aired. The pay for this was $100 (not bad for approx. 6 hours of work!), and I resolved immediately to put that towards buying my Timbers jersey. Essentially, it was money for very little work on my part, and a means to an end (if you're curious to see the commercial, you can see my shoulder, as I was in the very last row on the plane, at the 17-second mark here).

Now why am I so happy with getting something I didn't want? Well, I can explain. As stated, the jersey I wanted already ran small. The one I ended up with runs even smaller than the one I wanted. This means that in order to fit into this jersey, I will have to lose even more weight than I was going to target with option A. This is very good. I now have even more inspiration because this jersey is essentially useless to me unless I can wear it. And I want to wear it, and wear it proudly. This is inspiration at its finest, as my friends agree.

I am going to put this in a place where I will see it daily when I wake up, and use that to fuel my program. I'm going to take that photo, which was taken with my cell phone, and make it my background so I'll see it whenever I look at my phone, and remember what my goal is. I want this to be the image that I see in my mind's eye whenever I start to waiver, start to slack. I will fit into this by the end of this MLS season, I promise you.

I'm still hoping that you'll keep it up with the feedback and encouragement as I take this next step in the weight loss journey. I'm making meal plans, finding recipes for low-calorie high-protein and low-(simple) carb meals that will build muscle and burn fat. I'm getting pumped. The weather is (sort of) getting better and that means more time out on the bike, and longer and longer rides. I'll say this, now that I'm older and don't have the free time like in my youth, it just amazes me just how much time I spent riding my bike around when I was a kid, even before I had my paper route. I miss that.

Thank you all for reading, and I'm glad you're taking this trip with me. I'm thankful for your support.

Cheers!