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Love, your prettier..."Ideality vs Reality
Wow. A whole week between posts! How very strange. Not that that’s good or bad in and of itself—just different. I suppose it’s like breaking any sort of routine or habit. Like the week after finals or when they suddenly (and without warning) make you turn around and skate clockwise at the roller rink.
Did you miss me? I know all my spammers did. Especially this guy:
I’m really happy Mike thinks I write well and that I should write more about it. That’s what makes it all worth it.
Anyway, I’m back today. If you’re wondering what I did with all my copious amounts of free, non-blogging time this past week, I basically spent it at work. ’Nuff said.
If you’re wondering how the Magical Mystery Tour went this week, then you’ve definitely come to the right place. Today I wanted to talk about the difference between what’s ideal and what’s real. Ideality is getting that six-week term paper done four days after it was handed out. Reality is getting that six-week term paper done four minutes before you have to hand it in.
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
The usual story. I’d love to say, “Gosh, why do these things keep happening to me?” But I can’t. Not when the answer lies close at hand in an empty box of Cheez-Its.
| Week 46 | |
| Starting Weight | 224.0 |
| Current Weight | 196.14 |
| Change from Last Week | +1.07 |
| Lost So Far | 27.857 lbs |
Here’s the usual chart. I think it’s official: I’m in a rut. Granted, I’d rather lose 27.857 pounds and be in a rut than lose 3.729 pounds and be in a rut. But a rut’s a rut no matter where you are. That being said, I haven’t gone back and looked at the big-picture graph lately, and I probably should. Right after I get back from the store, replenishing my Cheez-It supplies.
So what else didn’t go as planned? Well, in the 34 minutes a day I’m not at work, not in the car, and not sleeping, I thought I would move forward on the new book. (I did promise to tell y’all about it more. I haven’t yet. I will at some point.)
Exhibit A, the number of pages I was going to write:
Exhibit B:
All joking aside (okay, that wasn’t a joke) I did make some progress. But it’s all (what I call) research & development. No actual work on the book itself. Stay tuned for more details. Especially you, Mike. I know how much you like my writing.
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on June 15, 2009 at 9:53 am
The “Mike’s” of the world are very annoying and some are better disguised than others. I’m usually pretty good at blocking them out but I’ve got one guy I “let in” that I’m no regretting – his comments are sort of on point, but still it’s getting old… The price we pay for having a blog I guess.
on June 15, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Um, at least you didn’t have my fat frying feast this weekend!
I was too afraid to get on the scale and hope that I can at least maintain for the month of June!
on June 15, 2009 at 3:49 pm
I’m in a writing rut myself. I’m working on my dissertation (or, I’m supposed to be) and I just started a new job and am moving and trying to lose weight and yeah…I’m full of excuses too. Anyway, at least you were able to get some research done. I promise to write this week if you do
on June 15, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Hey, that guy got caught in my spam filter too! I’m sorry if it might burst your bubble, but had the same thing to say about my post.
And I hear ya with work. I’ve been putting in some extra hours for our deadline looming ahead of us here as well, friends have been needy and wanting to spend time with us (oh, darn, the horrors of being social), and all that running training stuff. I’m ready for a break all around.
on June 16, 2009 at 1:45 am
We had the same week!! That is so weird!
on June 16, 2009 at 9:54 am
Charlie, my journey and yours are remarkably identical, the only difference being that I was on vacation rather than being at work. I also did exactly nothing while on vacation and then I returned home but my food intake and stomach partying ways stayed on vacation. It’s crazy how when you don’t eat less and move more those charts get you every time isn’t it?
Do you read this guy? http://losingweighteveryday.blogspot.com/2009/06/day-274-password-is-consistency.html
You and he share a lot of the same ideas about weight loss and he’s a really good writer too.
on June 16, 2009 at 10:02 am
Hey nice post, very well written. You should write more about this.
on June 16, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Well played, sir. Well played.
on June 16, 2009 at 11:00 am
Somehow, “setting time aside” often results in not a whole lot happening. I find I’m more productive when I have MORE on my plate (no pun intended).
on June 16, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I can’t wait to hear about your new book!
There are so many things I would like to do in a day, but not enough hours!
on June 16, 2009 at 1:11 pm
I know. I’m hoping to amend that by winning the lottery, but then I found out you have to actually buy the tickets.
on June 16, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Hey Charlie
Nice to see you.
Great going on the cheezeits! Did you know they are the No.1 leading cause of writers block? lol
Tusc
on June 18, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Mike is really into my writing too.
on June 18, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I’ve been in a rut too, but 8 days ago I decided to cut refined sugar and white flour out for one day… it’s now day 8. I feel less groggy and moody [yea my husband says] and I lost 4 pounds. I’m finally under 140 [last time that happened it was January]. Maybe a little diet shake up is what you need. Good luck.
on June 19, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Not sure if i should be jealous that your getting such high quality spam, or just enjoy my political spam i keep getting =) I keep having those “aw crud” moments. I actually threw my scale out the window. Ok i boxed it up. It might be therapeutic to take a sledge hammer to it.
on June 22, 2009 at 9:39 am
And here I go with a caboose comment again. Consistent! That’s me.
It is interesting to me, pretending not to diet with a family member (as in both pretending) it is a stricter pretense for whichever one is actually seeing smaller scale numbers at the time. Once either of the two of us has a 2-3 day run of no change or a creep up (even a teensy one) – that is inevitably the one of the two of us who will be suggesting a beer with dinner that night. Sabotage loves company!
And I think you might write well about that, too.
on August 22, 2009 at 6:40 am
I like the graphs in your blog, they make me chuckle out loud.
Although I was surprised at seeing the plan for the week at what looked like gaining something like 10 pounds… but then realized that chart was for writing not for losing.
Also… how is it that it’s really 7000 days? You’ve been bloggin’ since 1990? or is it you just put it all into excel at some point. Did excel even exist in 1990?
anyway, thanks for the inspiration and for the laughs. Keep bloggin’
on August 24, 2009 at 7:46 am
It’s been 7000 days because I started keeping track of my weight, nearly daily, on May 1, 1990. Although Excel has been around since 1985, I’ve used several different applications (not to mention operating systems) to keep track of the data. It’s been in Excel for probably the last ten years now, just for portability.
Thanks for stopping by!