One year at goal weight

Last year when I left for the D-III Final Four, I had pretty much finished my journey to my final goal weight of 180. As I left for Salem, Va., I was pretty sure that I was going to need some more time to finish that off -- that trip is usually marked by a fair amount of beer, some food and the like.

Of course, it's also marked by a lot of stress, work and a lack of sleep, and those factors combined to help me burn more calories than I took in. So when I got home, I was at my goal weight, to my shock.

Six weeks later, if you recall, I was still there, centered around 180. Over the course of the year, I've gradually worked that down as well. I was hovering around 175 for most of the past four months, then after I was sick a couple weeks ago and it hurt to eat, I found myself centered around 172, and I kind of like how that feels for now. I started at 234, which is what I weighed when I came west for Neil and Alicia's law school graduation. There's a better picture than this one, one with Neil and Ryan which actually helped inspire me to make a change, but I can't find an electronic copy.

Now it's been a year, and it feels like this could be for the long haul.

Alas, there are still foods that I have trouble with sometimes: I still like bread, which doesn't do much for me; french fries are tough to ignore (except fast food fries, I can pass those off or even just leave them in the bag); the cookies Cate bakes; etc. But there are all manner of things I can ignore, like ice cream, hot dogs, anything with cheese.

There are a couple of bad eating habits I'd like to cut back on as well, most notably my Diet Coke intake! During the D3 seasons I feel like I need the caffeine in order to put in the hideously long hours, but I'm sure I don't need all the phosphoric acid. Or the aspartame. Considering it's not good for my singing voice, either, I'm trying to replace some of the caffeine with drinking tea, and I've been feeling alright.

Thanks, as always, Cate, for your support. I remember trying to do this by myself and failing utterly. I could not have come here without you.