It was the last day of April 2010 when my brand new WiThings WiFi connected body composition analysis scale arrived. Imagine my excitement. To tell you the truth in difficult times like this it was not an easy decision financially-wise, not at first glance anyway. But having been in a long time struggle to see some real progress and having had ended up hating my previous electronic scale, I decided to replace it with this -more than a dreamy- contraption.

I decided to start weighing next morning, the first day of May 2010. Now try to imagine my shock when I stepped on the sleek glass surface only to find out that my weight had overnight jumped from a supposed 249 to a real and terrifying 273 LB.
A multitude of negative feelings darkened my heart and fogged my mind. I tried to imagine WWDD [a proven helpful technique to SILVERBACK Tim and to other close friends], but smashing the d@mn thing didn't look like a sound decision LOL.
Neither starting to run non-stop till I lost these extra 24 LB felt feasible, it would take me something like several days, and I do not possess the fighting gator DNA my lucky friend DACIUS does.

All my close Spark Friends faces passed through my mind, and the possibility of making them feeling "let down" by me was persistent. I sat down and relaxed to deep think over a cup of iced coffee.

"New Scale, New Measurements, New Measures" was the title of a blog never to meet the public eye. In brief, during the past three months I have focused exclusively on nutrition and rest, struggled for patience and perseverance, and kept track of my weight daily. Yes daily, for two reasons. First, to constantly "feel the heat" of the next day impending weigh-in, and second to build a character and gain a brand new perspective of accountability and "cool" towards the scale.

I can say now that things went rather good. Below you can compare the 3 last months difference to judge for yourselves.





Impressive yeah? A few things worth noticing.
Out of the 25 LB lost in total, only 5 came from lean mass and 20 from pure fat, a nice percentage considering the complete and willingly chosen lack of any exercise, during these three months. Taking into account the plateau that tormented me between Christmas and Easter, I knew I was really close to a relapse, so between the two "evils" i chose to focus on enjoying food and relaxation in place of trying harder and failing as I have had so many times before.
History proved me right.

Another thing to please me is that besides the fact that my BMI is still way over the healthy range [32.9 lies in the obese part of the range] both my lean mass and fat mass fall into the optimum zone.
An added plus is that I practically experienced no binges, persisting hunger or uncontrollable appetite and no mood swings even though I was not overexcited or overly happy. I read and cooked and logged all the food I was eating, myself, to eat what I liked perfectly prepared and to know exactly what it was costing me, nutrition wise. I enjoyed the whole process and learned a lot new tricks about cooking food and super sweets, along with mastering control over irresistible temptation. I consumed between 1600 and 2000 Cal. per day as both SparkPeople and King Tim proposed [30% Fat, 25+% Protein, 50-% Carbs]. I also tried to get 8 hours of sleep a night, I only managed to reach around 6 to 6:30 hours.

Now about the Serious Loss! Unfortunately it does not pertain to weight shedding, but to the sudden death of my dear friend -and neighbour from ever- Mary from across the street.
The shock I experienced was powerful and most painful. And I am not overreacting, I have experienced similar -if not more difficult- situations before.
But Mary was so healthy, lively, vibrant and full of energy that the shock was unbearable. The night before the departure we were chatting over cocktails in my garden and she was enjoying some healthy light canapés, my creation.
For once more in my life, I felt the futility and fragility of human existence and strangely enough I did not feel the slightest urge to succumb to comfort eating. Quite the opposite, I just wanted to cry, I tried to breath while crying and drink lots of fresh water. It lasted for several days, I was keeping Sparking in the meantime but in silent mode.
One last thing as a warm farewell to Mary in the Hands of the Angels. As you may have noticed my first blog ever was the one devoted to Mary's transition to her next life. I was very reluctant to blog as I do not feel I have achieved so much, or being so successful to be a paradigm to other people. Add to this the uncertainty of keeping my plan to reach my goal. I did not want to disappoint people who believe in me. But at the deepest point of my despair, the only people I wanted to share this, was you my friends! It felt like sharing with you would somehow alleviate the pain and believe it or not it did. At the moment there was no thinking, just pure instinctive Action. And it felt Good. And It Helped. Much more than expected!
Expect a blog dedicated to friendship and brotherhood, soon to follow.
For now a Sincere Thanks Girls and Guys.


Even though I am feeling deep blue, I promise you Victory.




Special Thanks to you MaryAnn DREMARGRL for consistently persisting and pushing me to break free and blog.
You were so Right, Dream Girl.
The following photo is wholeheartedly devoted to you!
I am breaking free beloved, and if I show signs of introversion, PLEASE feel free to kick some @$$, mine in particular.




Let's make it a Super August, shall we?

Andreas, currently a "Deep Blue" Liquid

www.youtube.com/watch?v=
ysXbW0sPNcM&feature=related